Mobo's love 'em of loath 'em?

[[2068]]

When you're doing 70 knots on tarmac, keeping an eye out behind you is still recommended
Pete

Fractionally more seriously, I have a good idea of the effect that the wake will have at different speeds and distances, so not much need to look back at every boat passed. In some areas, looking back frequently is a VERY good idea (Poole Harbour: Condor Ferry!)

But also, there's a wake hierarchy.

Being somewhere at the smaller end of the mobo scale, encountering a large Ferry / larger mobo wake means the following procedure: Slow down, "Wake! Hold on!", aim to cut at about 45', power up to keep the nose high, then cue various "yee-hah" sounds as we go up and down with a bit of side to side. Writing a stern letter to the Ferry Company doesn't really come in to it.

Similarly I have had jet skis, and a few smaller ribs that encounter our wake aim for it and go "yee-hah". Again, no stern words exchanged.

But for some reason, sailing yachts aren't part of the wake love-in, despite the water being mostly covered in, errm, waves. (Yes, I know that passing stupidly close so that sails end up flapping, boat rocking, etc. is not good, but that's not what I'm talking about).
I'm starting to think this might be a sheltered water thing.
- Half way across Lyme Bay, or Mid-Channel, complaining about "wake" hardly ever happens, because the place is full of waves anyway.
- On a more typical day in the Solent (F4?), there is this idyllic state where a sailing yacht will proceed well, the IOW is sheltering everyone from the really big stuff, but there will still be some wake tolerance as they're bouncing around in the chop anyway, and are better stabilised by a properly powered up sail.
- On a windless day in the Solent, all the sailing yachts will, by definition, be Grumpy, as they have had to turn the engine on. The smallest ripple from anything with a larger engine produces paroxysms of rage.

The last time I went past Hengistbury Head, I encountered waves much larger than any Ferry wake. I'm in the process of drafting a stern letter to Christchurch Borough Council, requesting that they remove it, and Christchurch Ledge, immediately...

dv.

 

[Kelpie]

The wake you create, and the effects it has, it drastically altered by the ambient sea state. A choppy sea will eat up the wake very quickly, whereas in still water even an apparently tiny ripple of a wake can send a yacht penduluming from side to side horrible.
Also, we don't tend to be part of the 'love in' because going through someone's wake kills your speed and we don't have the instant power to accelerate out of it. It's more like hitting a speed bump. Not much fun!

 

[gjgm]

Can you guess how I voted?

Approaching the river today, speed limit for stretch of river 6 knots..

Spent more time watching than getting moorings and fenders ready...

They where fun to watch though:
1) There reaction to the photo, immediate speed reduction.
2) Watching them go through the Dinghy Fleet,
a, The guy on the Fly bridge of the motor boat was using hand signals and shouting to tell the dinghy's what to do, from what I could see..
b, The three Ribs (A third raced in and joined them, all commercial) ended up pointing across the river...

What is the largest wake in these photos? 30-40cm ?

 

[oGaryo]

The wake you create, and the effects it has, it drastically altered by the ambient sea state. A choppy sea will eat up the wake very quickly, whereas in still water even an apparently tiny ripple of a wake can send a yacht penduluming from side to side horrible.
Also, we don't tend to be part of the 'love in' because going through someone's wake kills your speed and we don't have the instant power to accelerate out of it. It's more like hitting a speed bump. Not much fun!

Check out this video from last weekend where I had to spend an age picking my way through yachts at the mouth of the Medina to eventually enjoy what a planing hull Mobo was built for. The yacht that popped in front of us (about 6mins in) coming out the yacht haven to then block my passage whilst making ready their boat didn't help much either I'm afraid. once on the plane I found myself meandering around the Solent to give saily types a wide berth or pass at the stern so as to not impede you guys making way efficiently. Trouble is, there's sooooo many of you in the Solent, it's sometimes difficult to find a way through without causing some wash.

No doubt there'll be something I did wrong in the video, there always is lols

 

[flaming]

Whilst I hate this "them and us" rubbish, to explain why wakes can be an issue.

I go racing. We practice hard, and we race to win. When we don't win we like to know why not, and what we can do to change that in the future, when we haven't won despite sailing well for outside factors, it's a little irritating.

A couple of years back we were racing in a light winds race in the Solent. Winds were in the 6 knot region, and we were doing very well for a heavy underpowered boat at the first mark, just ahead of the pack and just on the layline with about 50m to go. Unfortunately at this point a large motorboat appeared and crossed in front of us, not at an unreasonable distance from a collision avoidance point of view, but close enough that a very substantial wake hit us, knocking the wind out of our sails and taking our speed from circa 4 knots to less than 1. Because of this we were now not making the mark. We couldn't tack because of the fleet on our hip, so we ended up having to gybe round and slot back into the pack in about 10th. We fought back to about 5th, but the win was never on after that. And before you say "well it was equal for everyone" no, it wasn't. We were closest, so got a steeper wake, and we were the only boat that failed to make the mark because of the wake, the others were just a little overstood so got away with it.

So first to 10th because of the wake of a motorboat. Were we cross? Yes, you bet we were.

 

[[2068]]

The waves I encountered off Christchurch Ledge were horrible 2m holes - letter demanding removal of Hengistbury Head is now complete, and sent.

 

[Fire99]

Also, we don't tend to be part of the 'love in' because going through someone's wake kills your speed and we don't have the instant power to accelerate out of it. It's more like hitting a speed bump. Not much fun!

But, sitting on the fence, it is the nature of the beast. Even the sea generates waves. Motor boats have to tolerate yachts that won't deviate their course for toffee and racing fleets that can make navigating a river like pinning the tail on a rabid donkey doing a highland jig. All can be irritating at times and all of them are always in the right.

 

[E39mad]

Having just experienced the Mobo'ers of Croatia (we chartered a sailing yacht), the bad Mobo'ers in the UK could be viewed as positively saintly!!!

 

[[2068]]

So first to 10th because of the wake of a motorboat. Were we cross? Yes, you bet we were.

I can see that would be annoying, rather like randomly sending out an Ice Cream van during an F1 race.
But harder to solve, unless races are held on waters that are closed to non-racers, or so deserted that nobody else is there anyway.

 

[Kelpie]

But, sitting on the fence, it is the nature of the beast. Even the sea generates waves. Motor boats have to tolerate yachts that won't deviate their course for toffee and racing fleets that can make navigating a river like pinning the tail on a rabid donkey doing a highland jig. All can be irritating at times and all of them are always in the right.

When the sea generates waves, it's usually because there's wind in proportion to the sea state. So you have power to get through the chop.

Anyway, I have no place complaining, will get off my high horse and back to my deserted corner of the world...

 

[flaming]

I can see that would be annoying, rather like randomly sending out an Ice Cream van during an F1 race.
But harder to solve, unless races are held on waters that are closed to non-racers, or so deserted that nobody else is there anyway.

Well yes.

And of course the biggest irony is that the time we're most annoyed about wake, light winds, is exactly the time when most motorboats are having a jolly old time roaring about making it!

To be honest whilst annoying, it wasn't dangerous and I can't really complain that the motorboat acted deliberately or maliciously in this incident. The guy who nearly sent my spinnaker trimmer overboard when he decided to go between us and another yacht - a 20m gap at most - at about 15 knots in a 40 something foot flybridge - then turn round and give us the "self gratification" sign whilst laughing at our collapsing spinnaker and swinging boom was a different matter. Our whole crew would have cheerfully decked him, and the other crew would have joined in too.

 

[Fire99]

Anyway, I have no place complaining, will get off my high horse and back to my deserted corner of the world...

In all fairness you do have a point.. I guess with Motor boats, they are often big shouty things and when the minority do something annoying, it's not exactly subtle. But hey, I find Jetski's annoying more often than not but when we ran aground whilst racing a squib, guess who came and gave us a pull.... ? Yep, a couple of Jetski's.

 

[Kelpie]

In all fairness you do have a point.. I guess with Motor boats, they are often big shouty things and when the minority do something annoying, it's not exactly subtle. But hey, I find Jetski's annoying more often than not but when we ran aground whilst racing a squib, guess who came and gave us a pull.... ? Yep, a couple of Jetski's.

I can honestly say I have never actually seen a jet ski in real life. I rank them alongside dragons and other such beasts.

 

[[2068]]

I can honestly say I have never actually seen a jet ski in real life. I rank them alongside dragons and other such beasts.

Imagine something that sounds like a flock of Bumblebees on a very important mission, that approaches quickly in groups of three or four, goes across your stern a few times, around in circles, then buzzes off in a completely different direction without trying to take any of your picnic.

 

[DaveS]

I can honestly say I have never actually seen a jet ski in real life. I rank them alongside dragons and other such beasts.

You're lucky. I got annoyed with one being an @rsehole in Handa Sound of all places.

 

[Elessar]

Well yes.

And of course the biggest irony is that the time we're most annoyed about wake, light winds, is exactly the time when most motorboats are having a jolly old time roaring about making it!

To be honest whilst annoying, it wasn't dangerous and I can't really complain that the motorboat acted deliberately or maliciously in this incident. The guy who nearly sent my spinnaker trimmer overboard when he decided to go between us and another yacht - a 20m gap at most - at about 15 knots in a 40 something foot flybridge - then turn round and give us the "self gratification" sign whilst laughing at our collapsing spinnaker and swinging boom was a different matter. Our whole crew would have cheerfully decked him, and the other crew would have joined in too.

And most mobo people would be there helping you.
Your thoughtful race example will make responsible mobos think about racers more than any of the angryman anecdotes. Good tale.

 

[onesea]

What is the largest wake in these photos? 30-40cm ?

So 6 knot speed limits do not apply then? (I was doing 6 knots at the time).

They had already seen me taking a photo and started slowing down, in a narrow channel passing within 20 foot either side.. With no option to change heading to stop the worst of the rolling. It is not very pleasant to say the least, its also to do with he frequency and angle..

IMHO The people who say who cares there are waves at sea probably have the least understanding..

In that river I have had boats pass like that:
Had the cockpit filled,
Had my daughter scared Sh*tless by being bounced around in the dinghy (she would not go out to the boat in a dinghy for several weeks),
Second time round (a bit wiser) it just cost me a Mars Bar and a change of clothes (she decided the Mars Bar made a change of cloths worth whilst),
My feet regularly washed on the deck,

Open waters they are an irritation, which can often be as much there noise than wash...

In harbors .... That's why in the summer my first thought is which way is the quickest way out of the Solent. I also avoid the entrance to any major harbors although not being the flying Dutchman I do put into port more than every 7 years

And most mobo people would be there helping you.
Your thoughtful race example will make responsible mobos think about racers more than any of the angryman anecdotes. Good tale.

I do not care about the responsible ones, I could actually like them (if not there boats). Its the irresponsible ones that are APITA, then thats no different to us yachties...

 

[SamanthaTabs]

It's just down to attitude, obnoxiousness has no holds on type of boat.

 

[[2068]]

>>"IMHO The people who say who cares there are waves at sea probably have the least understanding.."

It's not "who cares", but on a day with flatter water and less wind, you notice the wake more.
Half way across Lyme Bay in an F4, this is less of an issue.

 

[Rum_Pirate]

It's the wash from mobos that I hate. They look forward and don't see the carnage behind on otherwise flat water

My 22'0" mako with twin 90hp Yamaha engines makes much less of a wake at just above planing speed compared to the wake and wash created at lower speeds.

OK agreed at 2mph it doesn't make that much disturbance.