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Boating chit chat thread.
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Ah, it doesn't happen all that often - maybe once or twice in the 12 years I'm doing DBSC. But in a strong adverse tide, just as the 7pm hole appears (sea breeze dies after a lovely warm day, which does happen with monotonous regularity!), sometimes it can be your only hope.
You then sit there on anchor for half an hour while everyone does a wind dance in the Hut, when that fails they cancel, and THEN you go back into the club for a cuppa tea
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Did the fog set in properly? I was out there about 1pm, and there was a gloom settling in over the bay, couldn't have been more different to the last few days (or indeed this morning!).
Do you race, Cricalix? I'm busy trying to figure out which boardsies to be watching out for on Thursdays and Saturdays 0 -
The fog stayed off, though it was impossible to see anything more than a mile or two away. Out in the bay it was bright sunshine at points! When I was out at the Burford, I could *just* make out Howth/Baily and the rest of the world was blue/green meets grey. On the track I posted, the point it stops is when I finally got enough visual bearings to determine where I was (right as the wind died as it happens).
I raced for the last two seasons on a Ruffian; told my skipper that having put two winters worth of time and a chunk of money into my boat, I'm spending most of my weekends sailing instead of racing. He understands
Thursdays may be spoken for by work, and Tuesdays I make the guns go bang at the hut.
Clocked about 60 miles this weekend, and introduced 3 people to the fun of sailing.
Ta for the welcome 0 -
HeidiHeidi wrote: »I've seen anchors thrown out on the hut start on particularly calm nights
do you not have an abandoned flag over there? someone in howth found one in the last 2 years and i had more abandoned races in two years then in 15 years0 -
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do you not have an abandoned flag over there? someone in howth found one in the last 2 years and i had more abandoned races in two years then in 15 years
We do, but they're sticklers for sticking it out in the hut.
Apart from anything, having gone to the trouble of bringing the 8 people, 2 cars, 2 guns, and all other associated paraphernalia down the pier, the last thing they want to do is pack it all up again half an hour later. What about the poker and the cuppa tea, apart from anything else???
Anyway, as I've discovered to my cost, you'll never please all of the people all of the time - in fact, you'll never please even half of the people all of the time - so at least if they keep the race running, it's the skipper's decision to abandon if (s)he's so sure the wind is gone for the evening. If the committee abandons, they're the worst in the world, and OF COURSE the wind would have come back up again, but THEY ABANDONED, THE (insert term of abuse of choice here) 0 -
HeidiHeidi wrote: »We do, but they're sticklers for sticking it out in the hut.
Apart from anything, having gone to the trouble of bringing the 8 people, 2 cars, 2 guns, and all other associated paraphernalia down the pier, the last thing they want to do is pack it all up again half an hour later. What about the poker and the cuppa tea, apart from anything else???
Anyway, as I've discovered to my cost, you'll never please all of the people all of the time - in fact, you'll never please even half of the people all of the time - so at least if they keep the race running, it's the skipper's decision to abandon if (s)he's so sure the wind is gone for the evening. If the committee abandons, they're the worst in the world, and OF COURSE the wind would have come back up again, but THEY ABANDONED, THE (insert term of abuse of choice here)
Totes agree when it comes to weeknights, but when it comes to multiple day drinkingracing events, I often wish they'd just blow it up when there's clearly no wind. Sitting in swell, racing fuel (measured by the ml) in the engine so can't turn it on, no wind to even the boat out, hung over, no wind so you can hear everyone else, gear still damp from the previous day so uncomfortable, boat rolling around and then someone, on some boat pukes and sets the whole fleet off. Those are the days when we will kneel at your feet and thank you for abandoning 0 -
miss no stars wrote: »Totes agree when it comes to weeknights, but when it comes to multiple day drinkingracing events, I often wish they'd just blow it up when there's clearly no wind. Sitting in swell, racing fuel (measured by the ml) in the engine so can't turn it on, no wind to even the boat out, hung over, no wind so you can hear everyone else, gear still damp from the previous day so uncomfortable, boat rolling around and then someone, on some boat pukes and sets the whole fleet off. Those are the days when we will kneel at your feet and thank you for abandoning
Oh I sooooo agree! I haven't reached the dizzy heights of on-the-water race officering yet (hoping to do a bit of training this year since I hear the Hut may be for the high jump soon, although that's been talked of for years), so you can't blame me for the above - but I've been on your end of it more than once!
To that I would add the endless pernicketyness of ROs who insist on spending HOURS setting the line, then the wind shifts by 5 degrees so they reset it, then the wind goes back so they reset it again, and then the wind shifts the other way.... rinse and repeat ad nauseum
Just get the feckin' race off ffs!!! We're amateurs, in a handicap class - does it REALLY matter? (I'm sure it probably does to some, but for all the reasons outlined by missnostars above, to us not so much) 0 -
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I raced for the last two seasons on a Ruffian; told my skipper that having put two winters worth of time and a chunk of money into my boat, I'm spending most of my weekends sailing instead of racing. He understands Thursdays may be spoken for by work, and Tuesdays I make the guns go bang at the hut.
Clocked about 60 miles this weekend, and introduced 3 people to the fun of sailing.
Ta for the welcome
Welcome from here also.
I think I have volunteered for manning the flags? Is that the right terms? On Tuesdays So you may encounter me
/Makes note to check if I have indeed volunteered0 -
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As good a term as any. Tip: When the time hits 1 second, start hauling so that the flags are flying at 0 seconds
My dad was on the balcony at a club I was racing in once, which they were using as a race office. Someone there shoved a flag in his hands and told him to hang onto it for a moment. Cue my non-sailor father standing right beside the starting sequence flags, holding perfectly upright the Abandonment flag for all to see
In fairness he didn't have a clue and whoever handed it to him was probably in the wrong, it was still very embarrassing though 0 -
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miss no stars wrote: »Rafting up in bigger boats doesn't work so nicely. Tends to cause more trouble and damage than fun. Pirates is a less than successful game when capsize causes sinking, tbh.
That's what I thought, oh well. Would be some sight, the Dun Laoghaire regatta in a lull, and one big raft with people running all over the place. One can dream 0 -
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Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,688 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 49074
My dad was on the balcony at a club I was racing in once, which they were using as a race office. Someone there shoved a flag in his hands and told him to hang onto it for a moment. Cue my non-sailor father standing right beside the starting sequence flags, holding perfectly upright the Abandonment flag for all to see
In fairness he didn't have a clue and whoever handed it to him was probably in the wrong, it was still very embarrassing though
Lol, that's hilarious!As good a term as any. Tip: When the time hits 1 second, start hauling so that the flags are flying at 0 seconds
Ah this is different from the hut in Howth so, there they use giant wooden boards painted with the appropriate colours/symbols, on the boat starts they do use flagsmiss no stars wrote: »Things I do while waiting for wind:
1. Curse the committee boat for not arranging decent wind.
2. Curse the person who decided to go out despite poor forecast (even if it's me).
3. Snooze.
4. Rummage around for food and/or drink.
5. Go on facebook.
6. Play with the camera.
Rafting up in bigger boats doesn't work so nicely. Tends to cause more trouble and damage than fun. Pirates is a less than successful game when capsize causes sinking, tbh.
What is this pirates game of which you speak?
If I'm sitting around, I tend to
1. Listen to the RO continually procrastinate about whether or not to start, change course, send out the class 1 boats and make everyone else wait
2. Moan with fellow crew
3. Try with rest of crew to keep an eye out for potential accidental collisions due to no propulsion and lots of boats milling about
4. Try to estimate how long it will take to get over the start
5. Start considering how long before the thing is actually cancelled while mid course 0 -
HeidiHeidi wrote: »Oh I dunno!
First DL Regatta (the floater - no wind all weekend) all the Sonatas lined up and tethered together. (We were coming resoundingly and magnificently last in the race, and were still floating gently towards the finish line, and could see all the fun developing away from the race course, much to our annoyance!).
I think we got 13 of them rafted up in the end, someone struck up the CanCan on a stereo and dancing started on the foredecks, and then we fired up all the outboards and tried to drive the raft around the place.
It was great fun!
(We were VERY bored! and sunburned!)
Sounds like great fun! I always find that anything bigger than a dinghy lurches violently enough to dislocate my shoulders
If you're planning a repeat bring me along! Sounds like a much more fun way of passing the time.What is this pirates game of which you speak?
Known to every child to ever have sailed with SDC... And to any I've taught to sail... Pirates involves the crew boarding the vessel to be taken, removing their dagger board (optional) and fecking it as far away as it can be thrown, then capsizing them. Meanwhile the helm circles around, waits on the boat to be capsized and then picks their crew up from their position (hopefully) standing on the turtled hull of some open course pico.If I'm sitting around, I tend to
1. Listen to the RO continually procrastinate about whether or not to start, change course, send out the class 1 boats and make everyone else wait
2. Moan with fellow crew
3. Try with rest of crew to keep an eye out for potential accidental collisions due to no propulsion and lots of boats milling about
4. Try to estimate how long it will take to get over the start
5. Start considering how long before the thing is actually cancelled while mid course
Working far too hard. Chill. Work on the tan :P0 -
miss no stars wrote: »Sounds like great fun! I always find that anything bigger than a dinghy lurches violently enough to dislocate my shoulders If you're planning a repeat bring me along! Sounds like a much more fun way of passing the time.
There was literally NO wind that time - so no lurching whatsoever
Sadly the days of those numbers of Sonatas getting together (outside of NI) are long gone - we missed our chance when we had it, if we'd pushed for our own start we might have kept the class going. As it is, there's 2 out all the time, with a 3rd sometimes in C3..... battling it out against bloody 34-footers :mad:
If we knew then what we know now.......0 -
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Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,688 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 49074
miss no stars wrote: »Known to every child to ever have sailed with SDC... And to any I've taught to sail... Pirates involves the crew boarding the vessel to be taken, removing their dagger board (optional) and fecking it as far away as it can be thrown, then capsizing them. Meanwhile the helm circles around, waits on the boat to be capsized and then picks their crew up from their position (hopefully) standing on the turtled hull of some open course pico.
Working far too hard. Chill. Work on the tan :P
Ah I've seen this being done in Malahide, couldn't for the life of me figure out what was going on, usually kids in Optimists! It d,id appear to drive the rescue ribs crazy and only happened in very low wind
I plaster myself with factor 50 to avoid any possibility of sunburn 0 -
HeidiHeidi wrote: »There was literally NO wind that time - so no lurching whatsoever
Sadly the days of those numbers of Sonatas getting together (outside of NI) are long gone - we missed our chance when we had it, if we'd pushed for our own start we might have kept the class going. As it is, there's 2 out all the time, with a 3rd sometimes in C3..... battling it out against bloody 34-footers :mad:
If we knew then what we know now.......
Mmmm sometimes classes just die though, for no apparent reason. Like the Etchells fleet over here. Almost overnight it just disappeared and it had its own start. I'm gonna go ahead and blame money. Some people got more money than sense and moved into thoroughbred racers, others bought newer cruiser-racers that rate stupidly well for what they are. The crew went where the action was and owners traded into different boats. Hard for a 1970s boat designed with a young family's daytripping needs in mind to compete with a 2012 rigid as feck boat designed with all the latest technology with the needs of a racer in mind. ECHO should be the solution to those problems, but who wants to win on ECHO and be last on IRC?0 -
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miss no stars wrote: »Out of interest, what do they sail like? They're only small like, and given that hunter made a nice transatlantic boat out of a squib I can imagine some of the same design thinking went into the Sonata.
I haven't raced against the northerners but everything I hear is that they're in a league of their own generally. I wonder what they're doing differently, then I remember that it costs feck all to moor your boat and your racing fee is included in that. I think I hear a figure around 200-300 GBP being bandied about. That's how. They get numbers. It's hard to build a fleet when it costs
more than a grand just to get in the water and signed up for racing :mad:
Which means that those who are left are those who really like their little boats and don't want to move to something else, and those who can splash the cash and go modern, so to speak. Need a new handicapping system!
<given that hunter made a nice transatlantic boat out of a squib>
Do tell??!!
Sonatas are great little boats! Light as a feather, you'd turn them on a sixpence - and that's where the northerners completely ran rings around us - they were all either dinghy or FF sailors, and treated the Sonatas like dinghies - roll-tacking them, and throwing them around the place on the start line, which is exactly how they should be raced. Trouble is, when you're the smallest boat in a handicap fleet, it's very hard not to behave a bit like the bigger boats, so we tend to treat them more like heavy keelboats - when in fact there's no need to at all.
The cost thing might well be a big factor - maybe they can all afford to have/race dinghies/FFs as well as their Sonatas! But from what I saw that weekend, it was all in the mentality - the way they treated their boats.
If we had more Sonatas to compete against, I'm sure that behaviour would come more naturally to us.
Or maybe not!
But I really do agree with your overall point - I don't know how you'd go about handicapping for it - but I do know that C3 in events these days is a joke (DBSC has at least made an effort to split us up, although that ain't perfect either) - there's the sportsboats, and then there's the rest of us - I really wonder sometimes why we waste the entry fee, since we're NEVER going to compete against those boats. Even the other Sonata can't - and if they can't, what hope have us mere mortals??? 0
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