Calling all sailors!

Anything about sailing
jackdaw
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Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 20:30
Location: Wet and Windy North Wales

Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by jackdaw »

Paul, must have been some time in the mid 90's. Went with my mate from the Orwell club and we met up with a guy from Northern Ireland, so crew of 3. GPS was just starting. I had one borrowed from work and the Irish guy had one, so we were well covered. Just as well as there was quite a lot of night sailing out of sight of land. In fact there was a lot of sailing out of sight of land during the day. That's when I lost my desire to go long distances/ocean sailing. One wave looks like any other wave! Coastal hopping is my preferred sailing. A days sail to somewhere, anchor up in a nice bay for a well deserved late dinner with a glass or two of wine and then to bed to sleep. After the accident the authorities held the whole fleet in harbour for several days whilst investigations took place. A black mood descended over everyone for some days. When we eventually left the weather was bright and sunny with a gentle wind and calm sea. But, passing the accident site the rocks still looked formidable and intimidating. Hate to think how the crew of the sunk boat felt that stormy night as they hit those rocks!
I think I've remembered what my friends boat was, a Seamaster? (345????) bilge keeler of low 20+ft length. Could be totally wrong, that's old age for you. More tales to come.
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PaulJ
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Location: Ipswich, UK

Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by PaulJ »

jackdaw wrote: 08 Oct 2018, 10:58 .......A days sail to somewhere, anchor up in a nice bay for a well deserved late dinner with a glass or two of wine.............
I couldn't agree more and that is what most people do most of the time..... particularly on the East Coast where there are lots of nice places to anchor for the night.

However I have to admit to also enjoying the longer sectors. I have done a couple of 3,000nm trips and a few other longish ones...... After a couple of days you get into a routine and the days just fly by...... Fiddling with the sails, Navigating, routine maintenance, reading, eating, sleeping and sometimes you even catch a fish...... and I mean a BIG fish..... I used to use a 40 lb trace and if they broke that (and some did!) they were too big to drag aboard. And then there were the occasional visits from whales or dolphins to entertain us :P . I would do it again at the drop of a hat but "other committments" are preventing it at the moment and I fear that by the time these commitments cease to be an issue, I will be too old! :cry: ......... 'Still, if you can't go sailing, at least you can build all those models you have always wanted to build!

Paul
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RON
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Location: Stokesley North Yorkshire

Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by RON »

3000nm

Blimey, I get sea sick on the local boating lake :mrgreen:
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Spike S
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Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 14:59
Location: Salisbury UK

Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by Spike S »

When age intrudes, you just need to find a boat where you don't have to leap around any more. These are half-way between RC yachts and 'real' ones! I've done both but these are SOOO much fun.
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Spike S
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PaulJ
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Location: Ipswich, UK

Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by PaulJ »

Spike,

What are they called? I assume they have a deep keep...... What happens if they ship water, do they have built in buoyancy?

Paul
Spike S
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Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by Spike S »

The 2.4M Class is very stable Keelboat with positive buoyancy if fully flooded. They tend to go through rather than over large waves so can be quite wet; some offshore racers add a small Perspex quarter-dome over the front of the cockpit to keep most of the Green out. To be allowed to race, each hull must have a valid "sinktest" certificate that has to be renewed every 5 years.
This film was taken at our local water at Ringwood. A larger UK fleet lives at Frensham.
http://ryasailability.tv/videos/boats/boats-2-4/
Seriously competitive racing for Able and Dis-able-bodied helms.
http://www.inter24metre.org
https://youtu.be/QI5VGU2pris sailing in a 30kt 'breeze' (with a slightly excited Coach)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt0HfdKKnNs close racing: 2017 Worlds

I believe this hull design was originally one of the contenders in a fifth-scale(?) Design competition for new America's Cup yachts. It subsequently took on a life of its own at that small size and became the Paralympic 'top of the triangle'.
You could say we are sailing Model "J" Class yachts. There are a few achingly beautiful close-planked Mahogany hulls out there.

I must now get back to finish my "Cygnet" (28" shrunken Swannee with a DC Dart) for Reeds control
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PaulJ
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Location: Ipswich, UK

Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by PaulJ »

Those 2.4mtr boats do look like serious fun :P ...... and very competitive! They would seem to be one of the very few sports activities in which disabled people can compete on a completely equal footing with the able bodied...... Being so small, I imagine all up weight would be a significant factor, do lighter competitors have to carry ballast? There were some near capsizes in the videos, I presume they are fitted with good bilge pumps? Are these boats easy to get out of if you get into trouble?

Paul
Spike S
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Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by Spike S »

Paul
Many of those questions and more will be answered if you have a trawl through those websites.
Competitive disabled sailing is a very active field but largely out of sight of the public. Currently the HANSA World Championships are taking place in Hiroshima. Blog here:
http://www.s4e.org/2018hansaworlds/?m=201810
Also the Invictus games are about to start in Sydney, Oz.
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GeeW
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Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 19:45

Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by GeeW »

Had the penultimate sailing weekend of the season and we were blessed with epic sunsets, quiet moorings and a surprisingly excellent meal in Ryde IoW on Friday evening.
Deep joy.
Sunset 1.jpg
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PaulJ
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Re: Calling all sailors!

Post by PaulJ »

I was out on Saturday...... 'Not much wind but a lovely day for a gentle pootle down the river. Drifted back alongside this beautiful old lady for a while.........
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