More racing in Chi entrance

[rogerroger]

I know this has been done before - some of us annoyed / confused at the dinghy racing just inside the entrance to Chichester. It's annoyed me before - but usually these high speed dinghies at least kept to the area inside the entrance channel, off Sparks, where, although quite narrow, at least is begining to widden.

Leaving yesterday - there was actually a yellow racing mark placed right in the narrow channel - off Hayling beach! Quite insane! It's tricky enough as it is without having these plonkers shooting around above the harbour speed limit in a very narrow and choppy stretch of water.

Lookng back towards the north, there a mass expanse of water up towards Emsworth to race in - it was neap tides, blowing a NE'ly so no excuse to moan about a lack of water or wind.

I refuse to give way to these idiots, I stood on. I think it's high time something was done about this.

/forums/images/icons/cool.gif Roger Holden /forums/images/icons/cool.gif
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.first-magnitude.co.uk>First Magnitude</A>

 

[iangrant]

Agreed!

Ian

 

[oldharry]

Know the feeling well Roger. Have you complained to the Lt Col at Itchenor? If not, please do. If enough of us complain perhaps he will take a little time off from environmental issues (planting more trees to make it look pretty), and look at whats going on on the water........?

 

[rogerroger]

I think it's time I wrote to express my concerns.

To me it's a little like having a handgliding club at the end of runway one at Heathrow...

/forums/images/icons/cool.gif Roger Holden /forums/images/icons/cool.gif
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.first-magnitude.co.uk>First Magnitude</A>

 

[Chris_Robb]

I cannot quite picture where they laid the mark. off Hayling beech - ie the south beach?? in the small cut??

As a member of Hayling Island Sailing Club, please could you email the commodore commodore@hisc.co.uk as they should be responsive to this type of problem.

Races are set by an officer of the day. There may be an inexperienced one, and the club will (should) certainly want to know of problems.

 

[hillyarder]

common sense

I know this is a much over used and little understood phrase but really it is just a simple case of using some. I have nothing against dinghy racers, I have been one and continue to do it, but for heavens sake why can't the OOD use his or her noddle. When racing all thoughts of reasonableness go out the window, perfectly pleasant people turn into boorish fools. I dont therefore blame the racer but the dimwit who laid the marks. I bet most of the dinghies didnt fancy racing where they were. I dont think we need a big campaign to alienate ourselves from another section of our fraternity but I think writing to the club would be a good idea. I had a difficulty with a dinghy in the summer, I dint bother writing, but now wish I had.

 

[Guest]

Re: common sense

It may not be HISC there are a number of clubs in Chichester Harbour as I discovered many years ago when we witnessed 2 dinghys tack in from either side to a Centaur, I wrote to 4 or 5 clubs before we found the correct one but I guess HISC is a good starting point

Pete

 

[brianhumber]

Hmm, if Lt Col is not planting trees he is racing his dinghy with the ISC so what are our chances of getting a change of mark positions. However if we do not let him know its causing a problem it is our fault as much as the clubs.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: common sense

There is (or at least was) a Chichester Clubs federation. maybe that would be a good place to write?

Just Googled it...

Chichester Harbour Federation
Gosden Cottage
146 Main Road
Emsworth
Hampshire
PO10 8HB
UK

 

[oldharry]

That worries me even more if Lt Col is sailing with ISC - they seem to be the worst of the lot dodging amongst the moorings and playing chicken tacking in front of larger boats in the all too narrow fairway there.

I'll swear the ISC Mirror fleet wait behind moored boats to tack back across the bows of some unsuspecting larger boat demanding 'power gives way to sail', expecting us to have brakes fitted? It happens too often for it to be a coincidence.

And its even worse in a cat: dinghies dont always notice theres a second hull carving along 2 or 3 metres parallel to the first..... I once ended up with 2 astonished Toppers going 'down the tunnel'!

And before any dinghy sailor objects - how on earth do you stop 5 or 6 tons of cat even at 4 kts with rapidly decreasing manoeverability as speed falls away, and with a 2.5 knot tide under it if a dinghy tacks in right under the bows? And yes they were OK - frightened, but OK.

Seems to me we have much the same problem as the Raggies V Stinkpot arguments - neither has any real idea of how the other sees things, or of the particular problems we are causing each other.

The obvious solution seems to be to have an agreed area for the clubs to do their racing - there is after all plenty of water - and which avoids the main fairways, leaving the deep water channels and anchorages free for non-racers. There is a huge stretch of adequately deep water at HW between the channel and Thorney island, for example, yet the dinghy fleet is often to be seen crowding up the buoyed fairway. Mix in the X boats coming down, a couple of sailing schools hard at it, and several dozen cruisers, powerboats etc, not to mention Fred and his mates peacefully having a fishing competition in the middle of it all, and some of you (lucky) non-Solent types will have a better picture of what we are on about....

 

[skiffsailor]

Yawn...

Do you lot complain about the M25 not being the quiet country lane it once was?? Face the facts or move out of SE England!!

)

 

[Guest]

<<move out of S.E England>>
Bit strong, I live in S.E.England and dont have the probs that our Solent cousins have. In fact I dont consider the Solent to be the S.E. Down here on the Medway/Thames estuary we have the odd prob with racers verses the rest but I think the main prob is that the Solent IS THE M25 of the sailing world and seeing as I like neither of them I stay away from both as much as possible.After all "road rage" is common on the M25 so why should we be surprised that "boat rage" is not un-common on the Solent. I understand that many (maybe to many) people like to boat on the Solent thats their choice, I however choose to do my boating in a quieter area and cannot comprehend why anyone would want all this agro and higher marina charges. Therefore I respectfully request that I can stay in the S.E as I rather like it here<s>

 

[sailbadthesinner]

i think you miss the point
the complaint is not about the fact it is busy but the fact that the racers are discourteous and unthinking at best and a bloody accident waiitng to happen at worst.

Beer! Now there's a temporary solution.

 

[Guest]

Saaafety boat on VHF ....

To identify the club - you can also look for the safety boat which should be literally on top of dinghy's .... often with name on it etc. He will also have a handheld VHF - possibly on M1 or M2 ... etc.

 

[hillyarder]

Yawn yourself.

say something constructive.

Its an interesting debate. Thre is right and wrong on both sides. Which is always a nuisance. There is a lot of water and plenty of room for a lot of different activities. It requires thought and effort to sort it out.

I dont mind the motorways but I wouldnt fancy it with Shumacher overtaking on the inside.

 

[skiffsailor]

In the words of Hillyarder below, "Say something constructive". I've come across plenty of rude, arrogant/ignorant cruising folk in my time, many of whom ARE accidents waiting to happen. You only have to sit at any quayside pub and watch people trying to come alongside!!

As stated many times previously, most racing dinghies assume that cruising boats will continue their course and will take avoiding action. However there are still racers who insist on calling starboard etc, which I agree is not always helpful.

I would contact Tim Hancock, the commodore, or even better, go down to the club on a Sunday, and ask the Race Officer what the club's views are.

Try emailing:

secretary.manager@hisc.co.uk
commodore@hisc.co.uk

 

[Chris_Robb]

Re: Saaafety boat on VHF ....

HISC uses Channel 37 ( M1) Call the box call sign Sandy One and aske them what they are playing at!

 

[Guest]

Hi,

It isn't just racers. Sailing on the ebb from Bosham with the wind behind me I was "ambushed" by two mirror dingys just as I came in to the main channel by Itchenor. They were playing some sort of tag dropping a ball into each other's boat.

I had to let the genoa fly and scandalise the main in an effort to slow down. They only just avoided being mown down and going between my hulls. A safety boat appeared rather belatedly and the "supervisor" started screaming at the kids. Too little too late.

On the way up I was shouted at for going up the channel while a race was about to start. The start line was right across the channel and there were dingy's milling about all over the shop. I had to start motoring to avoid crashing into the moored boats. Lowering the outboard into the water and getting it started isn't an instant process and I was lucky not to finish up giving a couple of parked boats a good ding!

This kind of incident happens so often in Chichester Harbour. There seems to be little respect for the cruisers as racing is considered paramount (by everyone that is actually racing).

Close hauled in the main channel I've even had a pair of dingys on port tack scream at me that they are racing and I should bl**dy well get out the way! So now what? I don't want to plough on regardless of the dingy racers as they have the right to enjoy themselves on the water too. Maybe there needs to be fewer moorings in some areas and there can be marked off areas where they can start and stop races, do their learning and so on.

After all, you wouldn't expect to have a kiddies cart race on the M25 now, would you? You'd teach them in a roped off area away from dangerous and busy main roads where you could effectively supervise them. You wouldn't expect to start a car race on the main highways either.


Regards



Fred

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

 

[duncan]

It happens all over the country,and we can only continue to give thanks that no one gets seriously hurt.
The main person I have had cause to have sympathy for this season is Poole Harbour Control, listening in to the radio calls from race organisers (particularily - there have been others) has left me in total disbelief that they remain so relaxed and quiet - no doubt they have been through a samaritan training course.
As stated earlier in the thread there is right and wrong on both sides; but I would add that the rules, as they are, do their best to cover as many situations as possible and, as in other walks of life, relying on an absolute right tends to lead to accidents in the long run. Few accidents are followed by both parties wondering how they happened - at least one (and often both!) party is ready with 'it was his fault because....'

 

[oldharry]

Re: why sail from Chi at all?

I sail from Chi harbour because I happen to live less than half a mile from it, and my bread and butter supplier is nearby. I choose not to add to congestion and pollution by keeping my boat somewhere else, and burning gallons of fuel every time I want to visit the boat. I shall be afloat 20 minutes after I log off from here. So dont tell me I should not sail here: I like it well enough thanks.

An awful lot of us (I beleive about 8000 boats) in Chichester enjoy one of the finest natural harbours in the UK, if not the world. Its a very beautiful place indeed. The point is that certain sections of the boating community here (as elsewhere) seem to think they have some god given rights over the rest of us, regardless of Col Regs, Seamanship etc. Their behaviour does nothing for the sport they enjoy, and can ruin the pleasure the rest of us get from this place. More seriously, their actions actually endangering both life and equipment.

I never have been a 'round the cans' sailor - but I can understand well enough the thrill of racing at whatever level. All I ask of the racers is that they allow me a reasonable share of the pleasure they enjoy in using our harbour without rudeness, swearing, and stress (of which I get an ample supply at work) - is that unreasonable?

There IS room for everyone here even if it gets a bit like the M25 at times, but, going back to where this thread started - there just is NO NEED to place racing marks bang in the middle of a narrow and busy fairway. There is LOADS of space elsewhere. Yet most clubs seem to do it quite regularly.

Its stupid. Its dangerous. It will lead to further regulation for all of us. And sooner or later it will lead to an unnecessary tragedy.

As for youngsters on the water - again education and direction is all that is needed. Theres stacks of room for them to mess about safely - I'm all for it. Fooling around in Mirrors and Toppers, and getting wet in the process is all part of the fun, and I reckon is far and away the best way to learn how to handle a boat safely when it really does matter. I love seeing the youngsters taking their boats with them when they go swimming - they learn more practical boatmanship in one afternoon doing that than in a months in the classroom.

But NOT under my bows with a 3 knot tide running in a narrow fairway. PLEASE! No one would use the fast lane of the M25 to teach their kids to ride their bikes - so why let them loose on the marine equivalent in their dinghies?



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by oldharry on 20/09/2002 12:55 (server time).</FONT></P>