Should the skipper be capable of doing everything on board?

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  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Thinking about it

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Will not do it on principle

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
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Vic, get over yourself!

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When I made that post there were 8 votes, VOTES, I did not say anything about remarks.

8 people had VOTED to say that the skipper should be capable of doing everything on board.

I have sailed with a disabled skipper and owner, sadly passed away now He was most definitely not physically able to do very much at all except be taken for sail, but it was his boat and he was therefore still skipper as he had been for the all the years that he had owned and sailed the boated before being reduced to life in a wheel chair.

Those 8 had in effect voted to to say that he should not be skipper.


" blind, lesbian, single parent, unemployed, Polish, Moslem, paranoid" are quite irrelevant. I don't not understand your motives for trying to bring them into the argument.

It is not my "high horse" at all and I am not fighting any particular campaign either I merely made a point that I am perfectly entitled to do.
If you do not like me doing that and are prepared to object in such an offensive matter I deduce you were one of those 8.

"intemperate attack" In no way was my comment that but this reply is and is bl**dy well intended to be on YOU!!
 
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Has to be A - no skipper should expect anyone to do anything on board that they either won't or don't know how to themself .

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That's the important point - the skipper should be prepared to do anything onboard - from freeing a tangled spinny or going up the mast to unblocking the heads 'cos the whole boat is his/her responsibility and you never know when the crew might be incapacitated through injury, seasickness or fear.

If someone else on board is a better trimmer, sparky, rigger or sous chef then that's a bonus.
 
Are we all singlehanded sailors? closet or otherwise?
Or are we all managers in a large electronics company- good with transistors but hopeless with people?
I maintain that a skipper is responsible for the yacht as a whole, and needs to ensure all the right skills are aboard. Failure to delegate starts here!
If you don't trust your crew you might ask why they're aboard.
I know I'm thinking from a racing angle, but at least in that context we have a measure how good a skipper is.
There are people I respect as racing skippers who couldn't get on the foredeck for instance. They tend to understand that it takes more than one to make a team, and they respect their crew's abilities. And I do mean skippers not just owners!
 
I voted A: A skipper should be able to do everything, and in the case of disabled Skippers, know how to do everything that needs to be done.

Obviously, a Skipper with no arms isn't going to be able to get all hands on deck, and a Blind one ain't going to be able to go on watch, but then fat gits like me aren't going to be able to climb around rigging.

At the end of the day, we're all disabled in one way or another, but the answers the same. Skippers need to be able to undertake the task in hand (armless jokes aside) and surely there are limits with regard to vessel safety etc.

Awaits flaming from the usual suspects....
 
When I was in the RAF I used to sail as mate for adventurious training on Nic 55s. I did many trips, transatlantic, round Britain, Gosport to Cowes etc but as soon as I was diagnosed as having angina I was no longer allowed to do this. The powers that be said in the event of an accident to the skipper everything from truck to keel was my responsability and as we sailed with many novices and inexperienced crew I was happy to agree with the decision.
Stan
 
Surely this depends on what sort of skippering is being done. The skipper of school boat, full of newbies, must be able to do everything. But the skipper of a well crewed yacht should be able to lead his/her crew and be savvie enough to recognize a problem in the making, and be able make an informed assessment of actions suggested by the "specialist" members of his crew. S/He needs to have a good understanding of the boat and its equipment, without having to be a specialist in all matters.

Not sure the skipper of a nukie sub would know how to mend/operate everything on board, but s/he would know if the techies were talking bo###cks.
 
LW - I'm with you. I think you need to be able to get everything done but perhaps there are some things yuo can't do it yourself. Masters of large vessels are often in this situation.

So your crew can't do everything and you the skipper can - then what happens when you a knocked out (or fall overboard or drop dead!)? /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
From what I have seen a good many skippers would benafit from a level of disability, particularly loosing there vioce! A skipper takes responsibility for and manages the boat by whatever method suits them and the RYA teaches that you should do it by keeping out of the way of th crew and NOT trying to do everything.
 
Voted A in the spirit of the question.
The disability issue is a red herring. Being able to do something implies that you know how, not that you are capable of at the moment of necessity.
 
I voted for B, because the question as worded does not require me (as skipper) to know how to do everything, and it does not specifiy the type of boat or the type of sailing. Both of those are directly relevant to the question.

I do need to know how to get boat and crew to safety - so navigation, boat handling, etc. But I do not need to know how to fix the heads because a bucket will do. I do not have to know how to fix the windlass because I can abandon an anchor, or use a rope and winch. I do not have to make souffle but I do need to ensure and be able to access sufficient emergency provisions for the crew and length of anticipated sail should the weather turn anti-cooking.

I may very much need to know those things to avoid getting badly ripped off when I am in port, or know how to work with crew/friends/employed workpeople to fix it, but that's not the same as doing everything.

Also for us - short-handed cruising, it is important to have specific areas of responsiblity and expertise. I can do very basic first aid, but Pip has done the courses and is much more knowledgeable. I enjoy navigation but Pip could get us to a port. I'm not good at engines and she's excellent at them. Works for us.
 
I assume that this only really applies to nav, ship handling and basic maintenance. The ability to strip and rebuild the engine, comprehensive shipwrightry and sailmaking are also helpful, but not necessary.

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Many skippers can’t do every thing on board, particularly when it comes to technical bits like electrical/electronic and engines. Also many skippers may be able to do basic first aid but not more advanced bits. Some people are better at some things than other. A skipper should be able to give jobs to the crew that can do the job best or the one that needs more experience at the job.
 
As others have said it depends on the size of the boat and crew. If the boat is large and the crew is regular. Then the skipper could be the leader, coordinator and deligate. However if the boat is smaller and the crew are a wide range of friends who sail infrequently, then the skipper should be able to carry out all the tasks required to conduct the trip safely.

An important point is that the question uses the word should not must.
 
I went for A as I am either single-handing or sailing with a family "crew" who need support on almost everything they might be asked to do.

I sail regularly, they come on holiday only once or twice a year. They don't mind helping, but are not interested in being my unpaid hands. They behave like helpful passengers, I am happy with that as I enjoy the craic. I avoid passages & focus on beaches, shopping & restaurants for their benefit.

If I was racing, I would expect my tactician, my navigator, my trimmer, my helmsman etc etc to be better than me at their respective tasks. But I don't race, I cruise for fun.
 
No, Vic. You are factually incorrect. Go read your post (!).

You said 8 people had "Decreed" that disabled could not be skipper where none had done anything of the sort. No one had raised this rather silly sidetrack until you did...

It isn't much of an argument if you can't even get your own starting statement correct.

Don't give up your day job!

ps. Try reading wotayottie's post - reasonableness and logic must prevail - obviously.
 
I voted B despite being often singlehanded when its academic anyway I fully realize that some of the fine people that do crew for me now and then maybe better than me at electrics , navigation. meteoreology, etc etc mechanics etc .The list of my shortcomeings is endless if someone is stronger than me in one particular aspect I will trust their opinion BUT I remain the skipper at all times take it or leave it..
 
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