Greenheart
Well-Known Member
edit...
...make that persuade...
...make that persuade...
Benjenbav,
I think you've hit the nail on the head; with a bit of understanding what the other chap is up to, or trying to do - any worries are usually dealt with at an early stage.
This is probably why mobo's complain about say dinghies in Chichester more than sailing cruisers do; and conversely why sail types complain about the wake and noise, sometimes high speeds, of power craft.
For this and general understanding I suggested a while ago that it would be a good idea for power boat users to take experience rides in fast dinghies
If you are that experienced ( rather than a few goes ) you'd know that dinghies cannot be 'banned from channels',
I owned a Mirror to start with and ended with a Dufour (sailed and owned a few in between), years of experience with trophies, not an occasional sailor).
Although we werent banned from channels as such we wouldnt dream of entering on in a dinghy, the races were always set outside the channels.
Alright when cruiser racing we had to cross channels and the marker buoys were used as race marks on occasions but we wouldnt claim 'stand on status' in the channel FFS.
sail was going strong well before any sort of combustion engine came along.
Well at some stage someone took the step to ban Horses and cycles from getting in the way on some roads, as sailing is already banned in many harbours around the world, its only a matter of time, so please dont shoot the messenger !
Daka,
let's both throttle back, I certainly will if you will, I get worried when people write in orange in case it is an indication of blood pressure !
the only reason for the colour is, I havent found out how to multi quote, dont worry about the blood pressure , Im only a young un
With high performance dinghies like International 14's etc, one is across a nav' channel in the blink of an eye, aiming between transiting boats as if they are standing still; which leads me to another point I suspect very central to this discussion; maybe Race Officers who set the courses could do with some 'education' as to other harbour users' needs.
Bear in mind that ( in my experience a universal constant ) the sort of people who like setting orders and courses, regulations and rules, are exactly the types who will be least receptive to any 'helpful suggestions ' !!!
Thinking about it more as I type, I think this - educating race officers - is the key to the whole thing.
Thats an excellent idea
I know that even my club, less serious about dinghy racing than some of the more 'up themselves' examples, holds evening chats for race organisers; as this is exactly the sort of thing I avoid like the plague, I don't know how much 'seamanship and consideration' is involved, I suspect this will decrease as tactics come to the fore in keener outfits...
I know someone in the RYA, will mention this and will get back to you and this forum if I get an answer.
This area of what may be called 'traffic conflict' and orders as to where to sail is one of the strongest reasons why I have had, or sailed in a lot of high performance dinghies, ( Scorpion, Osprey, Dart 18, Fireball, International 14's, Sharpies, 505's etc ) but only race in the winter - so as to have a rescue boat handy, and it's a bit pointless otherwise in the grey & cold, often low winds - or if someone with more money than sense offers me the chance to sail on 'exotic' racing jobs; given the chance I sail fast, but where I want to go, not round and round or across nav' channels, which of course also means cutting across shallows...
I repeat I will try to find a slot on a fast sailing boat for anyone interested.
Daka,
I'd think we all agree we could well do without any more rules and regulations; it's what we go to sea to get away from !
That's a noble idea, but one I think doomed to failure sadly.
As has been said already the skill level taken to sail something like a 49er, I14 etc quickly is rather high, and a simple joyride by a non sailor is not, IMHO, going to give an accurate impression of the situation. In fact I suspect that they'd be left with the impression of an unguided missile!