NOT a troll, but why do dingy sailors/racers...

Whitelighter

Whitelighter

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...seem to forget that we MOBO's (and larger cruising yachts I suspect) need water to float as well, have very little steering if not actually making way and have several £000's of drives sitting below the boat which we are keen to prevent touching the bottom.

What this means is, when you set your racing marks and finish line right across the channel, and it is low water springs, I don't care if you are racing, I don't care if I am under power, I don't care if the only part of the Col Regs that have been understood is the basic 'power gives way to sail' bit, I am not going to run my boat aground for anyone, regardless of how much they shout and curse (HISC would do well to note this last point).

I would be tempted to display the correct day marks for 'vessel constrained by its draft', but I don't think most have read the manual that far...
 
ah well it *is* in colregs and under the circumstances you describe rule 9b applies to support your view. If in doubt about their intentions then use sound signals as per 9d).

Sadly, lots of dinghy sailors are merely taught "power gives way to sail and that's that" which ain't always true.
 
[quoteI fear 5 blasts on the ships horn might just agitate them some more /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]Aaahh yes, but while they are searching for the Andrex you might be able to cruise on through.

I wonder sometimes about local NMs regarding blocking channels ?

At Weymouth for instance there is a NM about laying of pots etc within a 5 cable radius of the harbour entrance. Potters ignore it and the HM doesn't follow up.

Sorry, going off on one now......

Recently the harbour was closed for hours because a boat brought into the harbour a suspicious object. This was in direct contravention of a NM which states that it should have been left 1 mile outside. Was anybody prosecuted or even told off, no. Why, because the *&^%$* HM told them to bring it into the harbour. DOH!

OK, finished now, thank you.
 
Having a dinghy and a mobo I know the story from both sides
and before I went dinghy sailing I used to get annoyed by dinghys cutting across my bow
One thing with a dinghy is you dont have a option of going astern where as in a mobo you do.
In a dinghy you have a lot less control than a twin engine mobo and are in a much more precarious situation with regard to going in etc
i think it all comes down to trying to understand the perspective of the others view point
jez have a go a dinghy sailing its great fun and after initial purchase doesnt cost a penny (hardly)
After blating about in various mobos for the last 3 years it gives you a lot more challenge and excitment
Regards
 
the other thing about dinghies is the they can turn on a sixpence, and think nothing of tacking inches away from another boat. Mobo's don't realise this, and get nervous when the dinghy appears to be on a collision course when still 20' away.

Most of the time they are perfectly aware of what's going on, and have a plan.
 
Hi Sami, I spent my formative years dingy sailing, and most of my miles have been on sail boats, only recently did I convert to power.

Thing is, I always tried to avoid the main channels, as the worst that would happen if I hit the mud was pull up the dagger board and push off. HISC seem to make a sport of getting in the way - regularly.
 
Annoys me on night passage when you somehow see a lobster 'stick' protruding.... surely they could be classed as danger to navigation?
 
Whilst i agree that HISC should get their act together on sailing instructions wrt mobos and yachts I think your comments are crass,naieve and frankly insulting to very experienced sailors.Or do you consider yourself of Olympic medal quality?
p.s. if you have a problem,please approach CHC aka Chichester Harbour Conservency who work their hearts out trying to keep a stable situation.
Ducks and Hugs
Delphi /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Jez - with some of the racing dinghies in Chi harbour I think you'll find they draw the same if not more than you! The problem is - they know how deep it is and if they hit the bottom it is only a scrape rather than new props!

The Harbour federation and conservancy do try to get everyone using the harbour in harmony - and as such a start line should NOT take up the whole of a fairway ....

Perhaps Mobos should join up before passing through racing fleets (ok the whole harbour then) and take another in tow ... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I think you missed the point Delphi. Racing days (of which there seem an awful lot at HISC) it is virtually impossible to get down the channel without crossing at least one, if not several racing fleets,

Why DO they use the main channel as start/finish lines?

Crash tacking a dinghy is not a problem: crash tacking several tons of long keel sailing boat is not funny anytime, particularly in a confined channel, and risks damage to the gear in fresh winds. Just as forcing a mobo into the shallows risks damage to the sterngear.

One of the last trips of the season, I was forced to crash tack no less than three times by the same racing fleet. I know my boat wins in a collision situation with a dinghy, but I would really rather not prove it. At one point it seemed they were using me as a racing mark, and kept coming back for more.

A few years back a boat sank at East Head. Divers were down, marker boats were out, all the appropriate signals were showing. Arrives the dingy fleet from HISC. "POWER GIVES WAY TO SAIL" was the cry .... straight on through the diving zone.

How b****y silly CAN you get?
 
Jez,

With my dingy hat, may I say how, in the main, most of the mobo fraternity in Chi harbour are more than courteous, considerate and often go well out their way to use the same waters ‘in harmony’ with us dingy folk. Thank you to the likes of your good self.

Guess your resident at Sparkes as you refer to HISC, who aren’t by any means the only SC in the harbour with a very active year long race program. I am btw a member at HISC.

Anyways ‘we’ also keep a cruiser/racer up at Northney, we have a 2.2mtr draft, so are only to aware of some of the issues that can arise in keeping enough of the damp stuff underneath you all the time!!

Only we can suffer in a different vain, say during low water springs, we can be sneaking out/in over the bar with around 0.1mtr clear draft bellow the bottom of the keel. A mobo passes just opening up, or indeed slowing for the entrance, either which way producing large wake. Which is enough to bounce us on the bottom. A differing view from the flip-side of the coin...

There are plenty of classes of dingy, at HISC and else where, whos draft is quite possibly more than you imagine, and most certainly a slow speed, draw more than a Penta/Merc outdrive.

Happy days in Chi!!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I dont think thats the dinghy sailors fault.. The "officer of the day" sets the line

There were several dinghy starts this year in the area of Mill Rythe (red can)
Line set about half way across the fairway and the favoured end of the line being the end in the fairway. Thus of course the dinghys jostling for position before the start are right in the way of anything trying to pass in deep water.
The congestion caused was considerable and i personally saw 2 near misses where boats trying to pass had very little room/options/time. virtually all boats, raggies and mobos slowed down while trying to pick thier way through the dinghys
The "commitee" boat was not involved as it was on the eastern end of the line, In shallow water (safe from any complaints)
It did seem to me to be very ...."unhelpful"(too polite?).."arrogant"(too strong?) of the OOD to set the line like that.
I dont know who the races were organised by.There are a lot of clubs in chi... HISC is prob the nearest club, and i did not see the MRSC rescue boat in the area
 
[ QUOTE ]
Only we can suffer in a different vain, say during low water springs, we can be sneaking out/in over the bar with around 0.1mtr clear draft bellow the bottom of the keel. A mobo passes just opening up, or indeed slowing for the entrance, either which way producing large wake. Which is enough to bounce us on the bottom. A differing view from the flip-side of the coin...


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I can see how that would be a major issue. I have always tried to ensure a safe distance when passing other boats exiting the harbour, especially over the bar. Must be a major concern to think you would be bounced off the bottom due to excessive wash - hopefully most avoid it?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Whilst i agree that HISC should get their act together on sailing instructions wrt mobos and yachts

good, then we agree on the principle point

I think your comments are crass,naieve

I don't understand why you would think this? I think the original post was polite and refrained from any kind of a buse or name calling. As for Naieve, I have seen many HISC fleets and experienced more than my fair share.

and frankly insulting to very experienced sailors.

It is not the very experienced sailors I have a problem with. I acknoledge that the vast majority in Chi are safe and considerate. As always, it is the smaller majority which stand out due to a lck of understanding, stupidity or over zealousness.

Or do you consider yourself of Olympic medal quality?

Certainly not. Though when I raced (occasionally in Chi) we always seems to try to stay away from the main channels. It seems now some of the clubs seem overly drawn to the cahnnels

p.s. if you have a problem,please approach CHC aka Chichester Harbour Conservency who work their hearts out trying to keep a stable situation.

I think that is a bit severe, and would hope that we can raise our individual levels of consideration and anticipation without wasting the CHC's valuable time.

Ducks and Hugs

Thank you, I like a good hug

Delphi /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
 
I asked a good friend at HISC about dinghy racing and the harbour speed limit the other day, he gave me such a look! I never did find out what the situation is. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Marty - the last one to cause trouble /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Though when I raced (occasionally in Chi) we always seems to try to stay away from the main channels. It seems now some of the clubs seem overly drawn to the cahnnels

[/ QUOTE ]
Ah - then we can blame English Nature or whoever that wants the mudflats to silt up creating loads of places for the wading birds ... but less water for us to sail on.... for example - just outside our club you used to be out of your depth at high tide - now it is about waste deep .... just one more area that we can't use. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
The only boats that have a speed limit in Chi harbour are those Under Power .... saily vessels are excluded (can of worms opening up here!)
 
[ QUOTE ]
The only boats that have a speed limit in Chi harbour are those Under Power .... saily vessels are excluded (can of worms opening up here!)

[/ QUOTE ]

That is the rule as I have understood it. Main because a dingy at 15knts doest really make much wash. If I went around at that speed the Witterings would be gone much quicker I suspect.
 
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