Racers Vs cruisers

[Daydream believer]

This thread is really about bad mannered ignorant oafs & I think to connect them with racers is somewhat unfair. True whilst racing some crews see the red mist but most cruisers understand that & tend to use a bit of common sense, cut some slack & keep out of the way. Most cruising sailors do not have to deliberately obstruct a racing fleet although sometimes it just happens & we should learn to live with it. My experience of racers is that a crew member would give me a wave of thanks & when I am racing i will certainly thank any cruiser giving way. If they do not, then I accept it & stick to the rules; unless they themselves are overcome with the situation in which case it is better to give them room.
When it comes to returning to a marina berth the racing is over & we should all be on equal footing. All the crews barging into the bogs & taking over when one is trying to get a peaceful shower is one annoying feature I dislike.
But banging into someones boat by a racer is actually a lot less likely than the other way round. Most racing crews can handle their boats & take a pride in getting it right. The average cruiser with wife & 2 kids, however, can sometimes struggle & make the odd mistake.
To start blasting off or to be totally a bombastic buffoon has absolutely no place within the sailing community. Mistakes can & should be sorted amicably, Irritating as they can be.
It sounds as if the OP probably has a more placid nature & being confronted by a person of this nature has come as a shock to the system. I think most of us would sympathise regardless of what damage was done.
I would say that to label all racers as the same is simply wrong.
I know that if I hit someones boat I would be extremely sheepish, embarrassed & apologetic
However, on confrontation with the arse described i would suggest that a good face to face argument - at which I am well versed having come from the building trade- would be the best approach. He would not walk away without feeling suitably insulted.

 

[Quandary]

What sort of eedjit do you need to be, to start a thread on a public forum because some insensitive fool has annoyed you, extend your ire to include over half of the active sailing community and then go on to publicly promise to vandalise the protagonists boat? Accusing the adversary of arrogance is the icing on the cake. How stupidly arrogant does one need to be to imagine that criminal vandalism is justified or that you could or should get away with it?

 

[Blue Sunray]

What sort of eedjit do you need to be, to start a thread on a public forum because some insensitive fool has annoyed you, extend your ire to include over half of the active sailing community and then go on to publicly promise to vandalise the protagonists boat? Accusing the adversary of arrogance is the icing on the cake. How stupidly arrogant does one need to be to imagine that criminal vandalism is justified or that you could or should get away with it?

Not so very different from you then, but with rather more justification.

PS it's not a good idea to post when you're just back from the pub.

 

[Iain C]

Seems to be not much love for dinghy sailors here in a few places. Bear in mind that most racing dinghy sailors will be, by default, fairly skilled and very unlikely to hit you. They will also have a very good knowledge of the rules, and be very used to missing other boats by a very small margin. Their dinghies will also tack on a sixpence, in a few seconds. And bear in mind that a lot of modern, high performance dinghies are FRP foam sandwich...very good at being stiff and holding 400lbs of rig tension, but impacts and puncture wounds are a disaster and they won't to miss weeks and weeks off the water getting repaired. They are very, very unlikely to hit a yacht unless it's a non-racing newbie who can't yet sail properly.

 

[RupertW]

I think the lack of love for dinghy racers is based on the clash between a cruising boat pottering along a channel putting sails away and fenders out and high adrenaline very shouty dinghy sailors making silly demands about giving way whilst criss crossing the narrow channel.

For example in the years I had my boat in Plymouth I found the dinghy sailors in the harbour delightful but when I was in Northney marina I found them total pests. From their viewpoint both sets of racers were doing the same thing in wide waters but from my viewpoint in Chichester harbour I was going to keep going up the starboard side of a channel come what may.

 

[Quandary]

Not so very different from you then, but with rather more justification.

PS it's not a good idea to post when you're just back from the pub.

Sober now, and still can not see how pouring paint over someones boat and telling the world before you do it is remotely sensible but obviously you guys have different standards? The old punch in the gob or the Glasgow handshake which we favour up here seems like a much more honest response, not that I have done it much recently.

 

[Sandy]

Sober now, and still can not see how pouring paint over someones boat and telling the world before you do it is remotely sensible but obviously you guys have different standards? The old punch in the gob or the Glasgow handshake which we favour up here seems like a much more honest response, not that I have done it much recently.

Down south solicitors letters are the usual tools of the trade.

 

[Tomahawk]

I think you missed the point I was making.

...

As for doing something positive, I will have my revenge, I know which yard their boat is currently standing in, and paint does have a habit of splashing doesn't it?

SO - whoopee-doo to you too!

Taking account of another thread about inconsiderate parking at boat yards..

You could help out with a spot of antifouling for him... when his car is parked nearby?

 

[awol]

You guys don't do subtle, do you? Paint, antifoul - a bit obvious. A couple of nails in a jar of water for a few days will produce a rust red mixture which can be applied artistically to the keel/hull joint; calling his MMSI at stressful moments during racing; broken split pins or deformed rings can be left at the foot of his mast; even a spurious recall on the appropriate channel at a race start - just don't get caught!

 

[Ballyhoo]

What sort of eedjit do you need to be, to start a thread on a public forum because some insensitive fool has annoyed you, extend your ire to include over half of the active sailing community and then go on to publicly promise to vandalise the protagonists boat? Accusing the adversary of arrogance is the icing on the cake. How stupidly arrogant does one need to be to imagine that criminal vandalism is justified or that you could or should get away with it?

The reason I started this thread is that the skipper and crew of the boat that hit me whilst we moored on a marina finger, used the excuse that they were a racing boat, to justify not carrying or putting out any fenders, and any resultant damage was an acceptable risk. They showed no concern for me or my boat and rebuffed my request for contact details, (which I had to get from the Marina) They then ignored me when I wrote to them personally. My question is why does being Racers make any of that justifiable or acceptable behaviour.

My comments about paint are in jest, but I made the point, that if they can be an arse then so could I. It amounts to the same standards of behaviour, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap".

 

[Quandary]

There are ass orifices everywhere, not all of them race, you met a particularly arrogant one and I can understand your annoyance but rest assured what goes around comes around and his character will be well recognized by those he encounters on the race course, his come uppance will not be long delayed, pity you will not be there to enjoy it.

 

[Blue Sunray]

his character will be well recognized by those he encounters on the race course,

Already has been.