Boating chit chat thread.

Palanmar3

Yep! It's me son, yeah pretty nice face but way cool boat!!!😜

Pity bout the meet thing, but would love to get together for a bit of a run!
Time is a bit difficult - work commitments😪

fergal.b

dpaulod wrote: »

Hi All,
Thinking of going around the fastnet tomorrow morning early Glandore to fastnet. I have been looking at all the weather charts on the internet and the conditions seem suitable. Am I correct in thinking the sea should be relatively calm tomorrow for the trip.

Regards

Paul.

Yep it's looking calm not much wind. Have a nice trip.

Vexorg

Fergal, is that an app?, what is it called?

G

fergal.b

Vexorg wrote: »

Fergal, is that an app?, what is it called?

G

I'm not sure about that one I was on the rib racing page when dpaulod asked the question and they had just posted it for the run tomorrow
This one looks good http://www.windfinder.com/apps/iphone/ I'll try and find out about the other one.




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Palanmar3

Mr moderator, just wondering what engine do you have in that boat?
Looks like a beast!!!

fergal.b

Palanmar3 wrote: »

Mr moderator, just wondering what engine do you have in that boat?
Looks like a beast!!!

It's a V8 chevy you can read all about it here. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963665




.

Palanmar3

That's an engine alright!!!!
Wouldn't mind a run in that - can't believe that's all your own work, fair play
Great job! 👍

Palanmar3

Looking for bit of help here as to what clubs I could join for boat meets?
Only just moved back from the States after 10 years, boating for me now is just a lonely spin, but enjoyable!

I'm asking our moderator, seeing as he'd be in the know, being another petrol head! Hey Fergal seeing as you are the moderator, you must sail too?

fergal.b

I'm involved in two clubs http://powerboat.iwai.ie/ and http://www.powerboat.ie/forums/ you can keep an eye on them for meets, on the IWAI runs you must be a paid up member and your boat must be insured clubpowerboat is free to join.
No I don't sail but thats not to say I never will, I'm sure someday fossil fuels will run out




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Palanmar3

I used to liven Skerries, that was my play ground, never was in a club, but I'll check it out,
Thanks Fergal

fergal.b

Palanmar3 wrote: »

I used to liven Skerries, that was my play ground, never was in a club, but I'll check it out,
Thanks Fergal

PM sent.

dpaulod

fergal.b wrote: »

Yep it's looking calm not much wind. Have a nice trip.

Cheers Fergal It was fun.

Tom Dunne

So I'm going racing at the weekend, it will be my first ever at the helm.

Is it right to be so nervous?

Conchir

I think if you're not nervous something is probably wrong with you :P


What are you gonna be racing?

Tom Dunne

Conchir wrote: »

I think if you're not nervous something is probably wrong with you :P


What are you gonna be racing?

The usual - a Hobie Cat.

miss no stars

If you're not confident jockeying for a good spot on the line, go for clear air. If you're not used to driving during a race, just sail the boat. Focus on boat speed and making it feel right. I presume you know how to do that, so you'll be fine.

Tom Dunne

miss no stars wrote: »

Focus on boat speed and making it feel right. I presume you know how to do that, so you'll be fine.

I know how to slow it down.

Yeah, I've a fairly good handle on controlling it, just not under race conditions.

I suppose I'll just sail it and see how we go.

Vexorg

We have had some success letting the fleet fight it out for position on the line, finding clean air and basically race our own race dont worry too much about the rest of the fleet, we dont get into battles for position unless approaching a mark. (All of our racing has been around the cans)

If you figure out what mistakes you made during the race and work on eliminating them over time.

I have no idea what hobie cat racing is like, are the fleets big, what sort of courses?

Oh and good luck.

Just in from 2 days racing in the bay, Awesome weather, especially today and apart from being over powered yesterday afternoon we had some good racing.

Steve

T, I assume you know the basics of right of way etc, after that, as said, get clear air and sail your own race. Try and think at least a minute ahead at all times and plan how you'll go around each mark / deal with traffic well before you get there. The rest will come naturally.
Main thing is enjoy it!

Vexorg wrote: »

.... we had some good racing.

Understatement of the week, you ended up with a table full of prizes!
Well done & congrats!

Vexorg

We had some help over the autumn and winter leagues and got whipped into shape for this season:)

Stheno

Vexorg wrote: »

We had some help over the autumn and winter leagues and got whipped into shape for this season:)

Even after said help got catapulted overboard with epic bruises!

Tom Dunne

Steve wrote: »

get clear air !

Am I correct in saying this is unobstructed wind? As in, no other boat between you and the wind?

I've experienced passing boats before where we would be belting along and suddenly lose momentum due to the other boat "stealing" our wind.

Or is it something else?

miss no stars

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Am I correct in saying this is unobstructed wind? As in, no other boat between you and the wind?

I've experienced passing boats before where we would be belting along and suddenly lose momentum due to the other boat "stealing" our wind.

Or is it something else?

That's pretty much it. When lots of boats are competing for the "best" spot on the line you can end up getting a lot of "dirt" like what you've described above. Not only can it slow you down, but it can also reduce your ability to point. Sometimes you're actually a bit better off to be a little bit further down the line and get wind that isn't being interfered with by the presence of another boat.

ETA: The one exception I can think of to dirty air is with boats crossing. If another boat crosses close to your bows on the opposite tack you'll get a bit of a lift as they pass by. (Lift = wind shift allowing you to point closer to the wind). It won't last long, but it will be there and is useful to know when you're fighting for every little bit in a race. But I'd ignore that sort of thing for your first race as driver and focus on just sailing the boat well. Plenty of time for tactics and to learn match racing tricks in the future!

Steve

So.... how did it go Mr Dunne

Tom Dunne

Steve wrote: »

So.... how did it go Mr Dunne

It's not the weekend yet.

It's on Friday. And my one crew member was injured playing squash, so I am asking around for a replacement.

Typical!

Stheno

Tom Dunne wrote: »

It's not the weekend yet.

It's on Friday. And my one crew member was injured playing squash, so I am asking around for a replacement.

Typical!

Best of luck!

Meant to say: know your course, spend time beforehand getting to know it, drives me nuts when am on dinghies/cats as I'm used to using defined marks/courses on cruisers, you really need to put time into knowing exactly where you are going next

Should be a pure windward/leeward course on a cat though!

Tom Dunne

Stheno wrote: »

Should be a pure windward/leeward course on a cat though!

They usually have two variations of the course, one for cats and one for other sailboats.

The organisers are usually quite good at setting up the courses to take into account wind and tides.

It looks like the wind is going to be around 13-14 kts tomorrow, with gusts of up to 20, ideal conditions for me. Temperature will be a mild 36 degrees. :cool:

Steve

Tom Dunne wrote: »

It's not the weekend yet.

Doh!

/retreats back into dark cave..

Have you tried sailx btw? It's a good place to learn the rules and get a handle on tactics. The 3D mode is actually pretty realistic.

Tom Dunne

Oh dear, bit of an eventful day.

The water was incredibly choppy, surprisingly in fact, for this neck of the woods. Wind was nearer 20 kts most of the time. My sailing buddy, who has about 15 years sailing experience in keel boats, wasn't too comfortable taking part in the race, but we went out for the sail anyway.

For some reason, we were unable to tack. We don't know if there was a problem with our setup, or what it was, but no matter what we did, no joy. The inevitable smack on the head from the boom occurred after about an hour and a half of annoying jibes.

At this point we started heading in, the wind was picking up, the water was getting even more choppy so we felt we made the right choice. We then hear a noise and the jib was somehow ripped completely and rendered useless. At this point, I was thankful for my now helmsman's experience he immediately barked that we were to lower the mainsail and wait for a tow, which we did.

The safety boat was over to us within 10 minutes to throw us a line, by which point we were glad as we were being tossed around quite a bit.

Of course this was the first time ever my wife decides she would come down to watch me sailing, only to see me being towed in. Oh, the indignity.

miss no stars

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Oh dear, bit of an eventful day.

The water was incredibly choppy, surprisingly in fact, for this neck of the woods. Wind was nearer 20 kts most of the time. My sailing buddy, who has about 15 years sailing experience in keel boats, wasn't too comfortable taking part in the race, but we went out for the sail anyway.

For some reason, we were unable to tack. We don't know if there was a problem with our setup, or what it was, but no matter what we did, no joy. The inevitable smack on the head from the boom occurred after about an hour and a half of annoying jibes.

At this point we started heading in, the wind was picking up, the water was getting even more choppy so we felt we made the right choice. We then hear a noise and the jib was somehow ripped completely and rendered useless. At this point, I was thankful for my now helmsman's experience he immediately barked that we were to lower the mainsail and wait for a tow, which we did.

The safety boat was over to us within 10 minutes to throw us a line, by which point we were glad as we were being tossed around quite a bit.

Of course this was the first time ever my wife decides she would come down to watch me sailing, only to see me being towed in. Oh, the indignity.

It happens.

Keep at it