MOTORBOATERS,,,PLEASE

[Guest]

I've just come off of doing 4 days on the Medway Regatta as safety officer and whilst I do not wish to start another motorboat/yottie arguement on this forum I do have a request to make. That is, if you powerboaters out there see a boat anchored up flying loads of flags and a black anchor ball the chances are its a committee boat dealing with yachts racing and we get extremely p***ed off when you come flying past at 30 knots less than 2 boat lengths away with a 3 foot bow wave and throw us all over the deck. I offer the following pointers to aid in good relationships between the various water users.
1) Committee boats have loadsa flags flying
2) Normally such boats have one either a completely BLUE or ORANGE flag flying
3) Normally they have loadsa people sitting on one side of the boat.
4) There is normally an Orange piller mark or a normal Navigational mark at 90 degs to the boat less than 200 yards away and on the same side as all the people are sitting.
5) Yachts in the area maybe flying an odd coloured flag from their backstay, there are to many different ones to name here, but if you see a yacht with a flag (other than an ensign) on it's backstay, ITS RACING.
6) If you see such a boat. PLEASE PASS EITHER BEHIND THE BOAT OR THE NAV/ORANGE MARK AT SLOW SPEED and give us a wave (not bow) and we will respond with a wave too!
Please guys give us a break, motoring at high speed past any vessel anchored is bad enough, but when we are trying to finish racing yachts its a real pain to have powerboats passing across the line at 30 knots and rocking the deck.
I hope this will be heard and understood, thanks all
Peter

 

[ParaHandy]

Have you been following Mr Stoney's recent press interviews? As CEO of MCA he carries a fair bit of clout and he keeps repeating that the target they are after (to reduce incidents and maintain safety at sea) are motor boaters. His recent characterization was of people from the city purchasing powerful motorboats without the ability to handle them. He's got it in for them and, unhappily, any legislation which ensues (in the event that other avenues of approach fail) will hit us all.

 

[jimi]

Most are OK but there are a few prats perhaps we should have a joint initiative with the motorboat forum to name & shame those in either the stinkie or raggie camp whose behaviour is outwith the acceptable. I was used as a post for a slaloming (sp!) speed boat in Southampton Water on Saturday. I've got the boat name of the offender! Starts with w & ends in s 9 characters.

Jim

 

[Rob_Webb]

Osborne Bay

I would love to hear from anyone who was in Osborne Bay yesterday driving one of the numerous RIBs/motorcruisers, who can justify their action as they weaved through the 100s of anchored boats/children in dinghies/swimmers at 15-20+ kts. After a short spell at anchor to 'relax', I left in dispair. And not before coming worrying close to some dunderhead in a small motorcruiser who had just anchored so close that I had to scrape his transom to retrieve my anchor.... and he looked confused about what was happening!

 

[Mike_02]

You should try doing what i am going to start doing.

Any boat that approaches me at speed i wil fire fruit or something messy at them from a catapult.....the message is simple....come near me and you will get something that you don't want...!!!!

 

[iangrant]

I thought the small motor boat anchored in the north channel looked rater nice - I was praying some fat container lumo might happen along but unfortunately one didn't - Great fun to watch a Sunseeker (Blue Ensign) miss it by inches doing 30 odd knots!! Tee hee. Divine retribution.

Ian - (We raggies don't care about the wash) -

 

[ParaHandy]

I think these forums tend to squeeze out the wankers so we'd be preaching to the converted?

Interesting stuff from RNLI. Last year, launches to power & sail pleasure craft increased by a whacking 34% and, in that category, exceeded 50% of all launches. Without that increase, RNLI launches would have dropped by 6% instead of which, they increased by 10%.

 

[heerenleed]

What a bliss....

that this problem is international. To add to the fun in our country however, there's lots of Germans in rented stinkpots (to be recognised by ther captain's hats) that always try to get into the locks before you, never wait for their turn and use boat hooks to fend themselves off.

Picture it....
Once in the locks at Bruinisse, along came this German in his (obviously) rented stinkpot and wanted to come alongside our freshly painted boat. When they came close, the man on the foredeck wanted to fend off using the boat hook. He pointed at our immacculate topsides with the iron point, upon which my partner hit the hook away with his hand. Too obsessed with the skippers order to fend the boat off, he again pointed at us with his hook. Again my partner hit the hook away from our shining new paint. And again the German raised his hook and pointed as us. In a reflex, my partner took the hook and now pulled, the German had to bend forward in our direction, just enough to get an old-fashioned box in the ear.
The complete lock had followed the scene and subsequently laughed their socks off.

After this, the German woke up from his trance and was now able to listen to our polite explanation that one does not fend off using metal (or any other) hook, but that it was this what fenders are made for.

Anyway, as we have so many Germans to shout at when they offend in any way, we are much less prone to frustration as you lot. Hmmmm... the thought just crossed my mind that you might want to use us Dutch for the purpose....


Happy sailing anyway....

Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[AndrewB]

Using the boathook.

Hmmm ... its not so much a matter of fending off, as pulling yourself towards.

I was in Burnham marina and watched someone manoevre very neatly into their berth by the technique of hooking onto the neighbouring boat's aft cleat for just long enough to turn their own boat's head around the narrow angle.

It reminded me that once upon a time using the boathook like this was perfectly normal practice, specially when yachts had unreliable engines. But I too was bawled out last time I did it ... about 15 years ago. It seems a pity that we are all so obsessed with keeping our shiny plastic toys so immaculate that such useful and seamanlike dodges are no longer acceptable.

Of course, if your Germans were trying to hook anywhere else but on a cleat I would quite agree with you.

 

[rich]

you aint seen nothing till youv'e seen the condors [ferry] wake,i was out in my mates new boat 20 ft it came so close we had no time to turn , my dauhter 6 was all most washed over board......

rich ) Why pay, when you can do it yourself?

 

[Mirelle]

No, thanks

Here on the east coast of England we get many Dutch visitors and usually they are quite charming. I have just been chatting to the owners of a very smart Lemsteraak rafted alongside my boat and putting us to shame by her perfect varnish, etc.

 

[Guest]

Off topic - Medway Regatta

Hope it all went well for said regatta - I suspect you had flukey winds Sat /Sun (we certainly did!), but at least it was warm! Keep saying we're coming down to join you - maybe next year!

dragon lady

 

[heerenleed]

Re: Using the boathook.

He really was nowhere near a cleat. Anyway, when entering a lock you should have your lines ready. Istead of using your hook, just pass a loop of your lines if you wish to come alongside. If my partner was close enough to get hold of the hook, he was also close enough to take a line.



Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[incognito]

I was once the innocent offender in one of these 'them-and-us' situations.... I used to race in the Mudway, and came closer to a moored fisherman than he liked. He stood up and cast in my direction. I was lucky that he missed, as it might well have torn the sail. I was, of course, furious - but on later reflection, realised that I was the pain in the butt, not him. From then on, I have kept well clear, even if it did mean tacking before I wanted to.

There is the danger, though, that such motorboat might take umbrage, not see your side of it, and use you as the centre for some wheelie turns. In that case, you would end up definitely the loser. And the type of motorboater who is so pig-ignorant that he can't see the error of his ways might also be a mean sod who would do something even nastier in return.

 

[pandroid]

I see some moron has just been prosecuted for doing 45 knots (!) on the Blackwater (speed limit 8 knots). Another guy (doing 30 knots) gave a false name and address when stopped. Later claimed it was a 'joke'

I'm amazed they caught 'em

 

[Doffy]

Flag officers and starters are fair game, keep you line away from channels and entrances, I know you don't like to be far from the bar.
I remember one officer for a fleet use to set wonderful lines, he arrived at the launch with two bottles of gin in the wife sfront basket on her bike go out to the committee boat drink and not batter a eyelid about large waves.

 

[oldharry]

Going back to peter A's original posting - racing dinghies flying racing flags is fine except they do it all the time - even in the compound on monday morning!

So you will forgive me if I take a little less notice of 'racing flags' than I perhaps should, Peter.

But then, me being a 'stick and stringer' you probably would not notice me coming past anyway.

 

[KevB]

I guess boat racing in a public place should be made illegal, a bit like racing cars on the public highway. Would you race around the M25? Would you expect to see F1 cars racing around the M25? Would you expect to have to give way to a car racing around the M25? Probably no to all the above.
How would it be if every weekend x amount of motor boats raced around a given area feeling they had the 'right' of way because they were racing? (No sarcastic comments that they already do. Please!) Motorboat racing doesn't often happen unless it's a very large well-organised event. Maybe racing in sailing boats needs to be more organised and controlled?

Maybe you shouldn't anchor (or race) in such popular thoroughfare's. Why not go out to sea a bit to do your racing? Just a thought. You'd be a lot less of an inconvenience to a lot of people, sailors included.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I suspect that there will be quite a few yotties with you on this one as well, Kev as they get just as much abuse from the racing fraternity as we stinkies do, maybe more 'coz they cant get out of the way as fast. I often wonder what right somebody has to set up a race course in a busy shipping channel eg the deep water channel off the Bramble Bank in the Solent and then expect everyone to keep out of the way.

 

[dickh]

Re: No, thanks

I agree, most dutch visitors are charming. A few years ago we returned from our summer cruise in our 20' boat to find a 30' dutch boat on our mooring, with the owners obviously ashore. As it was late and a calm evening, we moored alongside, with plenty of fenders and left a note wishing them a pleasnt holiday. When I returned the following weekend my boat had been left perfectly moored with my fenders and all my warps neatly coiled together with a note inviting us to visit their marina in Holland. We did visit Holland two years ago and it is an excellent cruising area. And we'll be back next year.

dickh
I'd rather be sailing...