nathanlee
Well-Known Member
As I was sailing today, I was thinking, as you do when you're alone...
All this recent talk of motor cones got me pondering the matter, and this is my answer. The colregs are wrong.
If one is under sail, even with the engine on, it is still difficult to manoeuvre the boat. This is especially true if there's a reasonable amount of wind. The colregs presume that a sailing boat can operate as a motorboat if under power, but this is totally incorrect.
A forced gybe is dangerous, and certainly on bigger boats, takes some time to organise. Surely the rules should be that if a boat has it's sails raised, then sailing boat rules apply.
All this recent talk of motor cones got me pondering the matter, and this is my answer. The colregs are wrong.
If one is under sail, even with the engine on, it is still difficult to manoeuvre the boat. This is especially true if there's a reasonable amount of wind. The colregs presume that a sailing boat can operate as a motorboat if under power, but this is totally incorrect.
A forced gybe is dangerous, and certainly on bigger boats, takes some time to organise. Surely the rules should be that if a boat has it's sails raised, then sailing boat rules apply.