Not off base at all.
Personally, I think a fundamental rule of sailing is "don't wreck the
boat." <vbg> (Another fundamental rule is "don't fall off the boat.")
I'm with you, man, that boat was not under control.
It's not about insurance, it's about the hassle. It doesn't really
matter who's right or who's wrong, if someone (or the boat) gets hurt
it's a total drag. I've never been a racer, but that Rule 14 thing has
always made a lot of sense.
I've been asked if I wanted to crew on some of these 'casual cruiser'
races down here but have always declined. In that situation, I would
have been a 'good crew' on an unknown boat, which in my mind means 'you
tell me what to do -- it's *your* boat.' If you want me to drop the
main off, then you have to say 'drop the main off,' and hope that I
understand that you mean 'release the main sheet so the main drops off
to leeward' and not 'release the main halyard.' <VBG>
Heck, I've sailed Stella Blue with unknown crew on board, and it's
really hard to sail the boat when four people are shouting 'what do you
want me to do now' and 'I think this halyard should be a little tighter'
and 'on my boat the lines run differently, do you have a snatch block so
that I can re-rig your boat the way I think it ought to be' and 'this
isn't a Farr 40 and I would like to tell you why your boat is totally
wrong' and 'I sail a Melges 24 and your boat sails like a pig' and ....
<VBG> So perhaps the crew was just shutting up and waiting for the captain.
I think the smartest thing I did with this boat was to rig it for single
handing. But that's waaaaay off topic.
I remember one time when I, as crew, said to the captain 'I really think
we should tack now' and he said 'I'm captain and I'll say when to
tack.' No margin of error or safety left when he made the call, and a
minor equipment failure made the resultant collision memorable. (It's
been 30 years.) He always said 'it wasn't my fault, it was an equipment
failure' and I say 'whatever.'
Wal
Danny wrote:
Yea but, that Camelot boat was all over the place, he came from the starboard,
crossed the bow then nearly hit a 3rd boat, tacked back abruptly right back
into the their path, by then they were pinched by that sport fisher. It looked
to me they'd have had to change course out around the sport fisher way early to
have avoided Camelot, which would have meant some real foresight...
but, I know, admittedly, nothing about racing... and still consider myself a
new sailor... So, I may be way off base...
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