michael_w
Well-known member
In a shitfight I'd rather be in a racing boat than the average cruiser. The racing boat has to carry a certain level of equipment and fit-out. That equipment may be the only thing keeping you from Davey Jones.
To race or not to race ? that is the question
- Thread starter baart
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Daydream believer
Well-known member
Agreed
The list in #55 should be on any well found cruiser anyway. It is in mine. I just checked & apart from a deviation card- not needed as it is so small that I could not sail that close to a course.. I expect many have a lot more besides
rogerthebodger
Well-known member
Its not only the level of equipment its also the knowledge skill and experience to use the equipment when the sh1t hits the fan
This is the construction and equipment requirements to sail offshore
https://www.samsa.org.za/Area Of Operation/SUR-701-02-01 Safety Survey Category A.pdf
Page 6 to 12
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johnalison
Well-known member
It was over thirty years ago, nearer forty, but my memory of of seeing the boat, which I shall call High Tension, because that was its name, pass possibly the Bench Head is of seeing something red streak by several cables away and gone in a flash, making the chance of communication very limited or impossible. I could have got a light out and flashed morse at him I suppose, but finding the codes would have taken me past the end of the race. We didn't go for this new-fangled VHF stuff in those days.Protest?
Normally one just needs to point out to the miscreant, such a simple, but obvious, mistake & they retire gracefully.
Such events very rarely get to a protest committee. Was that not the case?
PhillM
Well-known member
I wondered if I would like racing, either as crew or skipper. Turned out I didnt really. I mean it had fun moments, but overall I much preffer cruising my little boat under my own direction. I think a few others have said about not wanting a competitive hobby. I think its a case of each to their own. I dont critisize those who do and those who dont.
SaltyC
Well-known member
I have previously enjoyed 'Cruiser racing' at a club. Good Fun, everyone was trying at different levels, NHC levelled the field on boat equipment and gave all a chance.
Yes,we still had the fanatics who HAD TO WIN, leave them to it. However on one very light wind race (Drift) we were approaching the windward mark against the most fanatical racer. As we closed the crew stood on the side deck and requested??? water / room for the mark, to be met with my call of Starboard!! Not a happy boat as they tacked off.
You need to understand a few rules for club racing, but generally it is low stress and very enjoyable.
Yes,we still had the fanatics who HAD TO WIN, leave them to it. However on one very light wind race (Drift) we were approaching the windward mark against the most fanatical racer. As we closed the crew stood on the side deck and requested??? water / room for the mark, to be met with my call of Starboard!! Not a happy boat as they tacked off.
You need to understand a few rules for club racing, but generally it is low stress and very enjoyable.
chris-s
Active member
At the risk of thread drift…our previous boat a 23ft bilge keeler Pegasus 700 was registered and raced in RORC events, not by us! I have printouts from the association with her results somewhere. I’m a liability where races are involved so am happy to watch from a distance.
johnalison
Well-known member
He who shouts loudest and with the most conviction wins. I was a bit stuck in my German regatta since my only word of German is Achtung. The start is the stressful bit. I imagine that an analogy might be what it feels like before making your first parachute jump.
Slowtack
Well-known member
If you haven't done it you've got to try it...... But it's much cheaper to try it in somebody elses boat!
xyachtdave
Well-known member
We were at the bar during our last club regatta and one of our racing mates came over and went off on a ten minute rant about ratings, other boats, cheating, protests and threatening emails flying about at midnight etc etc.
I thought he might need medical help he was so wound up.
He eventually calmed down and asked me ‘Why aren’t you racing your boat this year?’.
I smiled and referred him to the previous 10 minutes!
I thought he might need medical help he was so wound up.
He eventually calmed down and asked me ‘Why aren’t you racing your boat this year?’.
I smiled and referred him to the previous 10 minutes!
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
Everyone likes a moan about ratings, except the crew of Blooper. I confess to doing the same when our XOD gets a higher rating than the Folkboat fleet. Tend not to rant in the bar though.
flaming
Well-known member
Obviously the answer is to race if you feel like it might be fun. But if you go for it, make sure you approach it with the right attitude. Which, in my view, is that first and foremost the whole point of going afloat in any sort of sailing boat is to have fun. If you aren't having fun, what's the point? And if the way you are acting as skipper is meaning that the people who have agreed to use their own free time to crew for you aren't having fun....
As to what "fun" is, it differs for everyone. For me it's competition, enjoying who we're sailing against, feeling like we're sailing well and winning. Not necessarily all at once, though that is nice!
For example the IRC nationals where the competition was seriously hot, and we finished 3rd, was more fun than the event where we beat a 3 boat fleet.
Dartmouth where we sailed well, but suffered from a lack of speed and finished 4th in a competitive fleet where off the water banter was flowing was more fun than cowes, where we won races but came up against a shouty competitor with an attitude problem who was not pleasant to sail against.
As to what "fun" is, it differs for everyone. For me it's competition, enjoying who we're sailing against, feeling like we're sailing well and winning. Not necessarily all at once, though that is nice!
For example the IRC nationals where the competition was seriously hot, and we finished 3rd, was more fun than the event where we beat a 3 boat fleet.
Dartmouth where we sailed well, but suffered from a lack of speed and finished 4th in a competitive fleet where off the water banter was flowing was more fun than cowes, where we won races but came up against a shouty competitor with an attitude problem who was not pleasant to sail against.
benjenbav
Well-known member
That was probably me.
B27
Well-known member
As well as 'fun', there is a lot of learning in racing.
So many aspects to think about.
Not every moment of it is 'fun'.
So many aspects to think about.
Not every moment of it is 'fun'.
Snowgoose-1
Well-known member
I enter the odd race but largely near the beginning of the season to compare my boat set up against others.
Racing can be fun, particularly the banter in the bar afterwards.
Racing can be fun, particularly the banter in the bar afterwards.
ProMariner
Active member
Racing is great, while it's not for everyone, it's one of the few sports anyone of any physical ability, size, and level of fitness can do, from eight years old to eighty plus. You can race, and find a group to race against, everything from a carbon fibre sword weighing less than a space hopper, to a thirty ton cruiser, and everything in between.
Blokes are built to hunt and wage war, we need an outlet for such impulses or we end up being a twat in other less suitable settings. It saddens me how few twenty five year olds, and how very few forty five year olds, have any participant sports, to reset their brains. Maybe helps explain how much antisocial behaviour we see on the roads etc. We need a passion that's not just a pint and a fight on a Saturday night.
If you tried it and didn't like it, fine, but maybe you were on the wrong boat for you, or the wrong crew role, or with the wrong team, it's a hugely diverse sport, there is a place for everyone.
The boats that race tend to get a lot more use, racing and cruising, than the ones that don't, never underestimate the power of a deadline for getting something done, and a start line is a pretty fixed deadline.
Whenever two similar boars are going the same way, at a similar time, it's a de-facto race anyway, might as well just be honest about it, and learn to do it to the best of your ability anyway, Mondays are always better after a good weekend.
Blokes are built to hunt and wage war, we need an outlet for such impulses or we end up being a twat in other less suitable settings. It saddens me how few twenty five year olds, and how very few forty five year olds, have any participant sports, to reset their brains. Maybe helps explain how much antisocial behaviour we see on the roads etc. We need a passion that's not just a pint and a fight on a Saturday night.
If you tried it and didn't like it, fine, but maybe you were on the wrong boat for you, or the wrong crew role, or with the wrong team, it's a hugely diverse sport, there is a place for everyone.
The boats that race tend to get a lot more use, racing and cruising, than the ones that don't, never underestimate the power of a deadline for getting something done, and a start line is a pretty fixed deadline.
Whenever two similar boars are going the same way, at a similar time, it's a de-facto race anyway, might as well just be honest about it, and learn to do it to the best of your ability anyway, Mondays are always better after a good weekend.
B27
Well-known member
tusk tusk....
steveeasy
Well-known member
The Solent could be so much fun on a good day with so many boats out on the water. Youd be racing so many of them. On the west coast not quite the numbers of boats on the water, but I did find myself racing another CO32 coming back down the sound of Mull last year. Lasted a good hour or so. not sure the other boat knew much about it. Really gets the adrenaline pumping.
Steveeasy
Steveeasy
awol
Well-known member
Who won?