Boating chit chat thread.

the beer revolu wrote: »

what with Covid and the morale of the country at a very low point, I firmly believe that it is in the interest of the wellbeing of the people of Ireland, that Fergal buys and refurbishes this boat?

Are you a patriot, Fergal??:D

I'd go so far as to say we should set up a go fund me for it, anything to make it happen

Tell then you are going to check on the da mammy to make sure she's OK and you'll be sent on your way, once the boat is called "da mammy" it's kind of OK

So If I'm reading that right, not only I can go and check on the boat (despite living 10km away), but we can all go as a family, and go out for a sail??

neris wrote: »

This is what was told

I dont think the normal operation of ports and harbours is intended to extend to recreational boating, I'm surprised the yacht club are issuing these letters.

I don't think you'd have any troubles with a gsrda though in any case

Based in Dublin, I felt that we had to secure the boat in Mountshannon for the winter. The cover needed to be put on, the dehumidifier set up and bedding taken home. Cushions are left on the boat, because the dehumidifier really works well and keeps everything dry.
We filled up with fuel, brought lunch and headed off today knowing that we had a full tank and would have no contact with anyone from the time we left to the time we returned.
Half way down the Naas Road, we came upon the first checkpoint, but were not stopped - they were talking to someone else. At Birdhill, heading for Killaloe, we had been warned of a checkpoint, so we headed back towards Nenagh on the old Dublin Road and cut into Killaloe (Ballina) close to the town. Spent a few hours in Mountshannon, got all jobs done and headed home just after 2.00. Feeling safe we headed the shortest way to the motorway from Killaloe. The flashing blue lights put a halt to our gallop, a checkpoint. "What is the purpose of your journey ?" I told the truth and added that he was the first person that we had contact with that day. All concerned, he said "What did you do for lunch" "We brought it with us" "Right so, 100% off you go". No more checkpoints on the way home - Except on the other side of the Naas Road at the same point as this morning - a huge tailback for miles back towards Dublin - all those poor people heading home after work :eek: .

i'm confused it's a law or a guideline can they turn you back?

The caretaker government we had back in March had clear messages they new one is puer useless.

If you come to a checkpoint and are on your own in the car just say you are going to check on your mother they'll wave you on.

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

or going to visit a grave....

Can I have the kids in the car on the way to visit Santa for that one

Maybe not, could you imagine if they put two and two together and thought he was dead

And I've just seen that in the 2008/09, Jean Le Cam was rescued by the skipper of PRB - and he's now the one going to rescue the skipper of ...... PRB.


How's that for good karma!

I think they're too finely tuned at this stage... Thompson already had to carry out critical structural repairs before the rudder broke!! Another boat has just sunk.

Are they sacrificing safety/structural integrity for that extra half a knot (although in these things it'd be more like an extra 2-3 knots)?

Back in 2009 I was working in France for a few months, and went to visit the submarine pens in Saint Nazairre, and low and behold a load of Imoca's were there having just completed the 2008/2009 edition, including race winner Fonica..

They really are serious bits of kit when you're up close and personal with them..






Theres a very good movie about a guy doing the Vendee Globe who picks up a stow-a-way while repairing his rudder called En Solitaire or Turning Tide, its worth a watch for anyone that can find it..
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2165236/

The tech is amazing but I agree the boat's are now stressed too much with minimal Factor of Safety so major failures are statistically quite likely when extreme situations combine.
I got to St. Nazaire a few years ago when the swinging keels were the New Thing or foils at the time. The boat's are stunning in scale and complexity but seeing one on a cradle and the size and length of the swinging keel I just couldn't imagine the stresses on the mechanism hour after hour day after day.
The current crop of failures really puts me in mind of the Fastnet disaster where the discussions at the time themed around boats being built to win the Fastnet etc and it and other offshores all usually being Summer weather. So boats were built to minimum weight.... We all know how that evolved and then when the gentle conditions of several years were disrupted by a Summer hurricane.
Apart from the risk to life which, singlehanders may diminish in terms of acceptability, the reality is because these boats do a lot of miles out of reach of SAR assets with recovery capability, one incident effectively wipes out the race when competitors have to divert as the only viable rescue option.
There have been many heroic feats and how no-one has died (remember Tony Bulmore) is way beyond lucky at this point. I think the sport is at risk of losing sponsorship and dying out if they don't rebalance between reliability and race speed and that's before some one does actually lose their life competing.
But it's not really a race after a single incident takes out multiple competitors so everyone loses.
In F1, all the support us right there when it goes wrong and almost all the variables are predictable for the race. The things you want to minimize to gain advantages are testable and can be modelled definitively in stress analysis Sims. The sea/weather are much less compliant and that's before you factor in floating debris, whales, etc which even the detection systems won't always pick up.

I'm a fan of bike road racing like the Isle of Man where I think in recent years the trend for the legends to die is really posing questions about the morality of the unrestricted sport. I think the Vendée isn't there yet but only one fatality away and that should be avoided. Not sure how but maybe some minimum weights for hulls, masts, etc or standardized components might be a start.

spaceHopper wrote: »

His autohelm used AI to predict conditions ahead and to steer accordingly

It didn't predict the big lump of something he hit that knackered one of his rudders*

*I know its almost impossible to avoid submerged objects, especially if sailing at 20+ knots...

Autohelms have developed into a whole new generation of capability in recent years and can usually sail the boat better than a person. Of course this is probably increasing the stress on the boat's as they're now driven 10/10 continuosly.

Meanwhile the carnage continues with both Sébastien Simon and Sam Davies after sustaining foil and probably hull damage from striking objects in the water.

The Vendee could well be on from the back of the fleet in an older board that is on it 3 or 4th time around. A boat folding is not good. Carbon fibre is funny it's incredibly strong on one direction and snaps like a twig in another.

Be interesting to see how the french chap who went back to the start port a few days in to the race does and how much he catches up. i know hes a good bit back but with this race youd never know however id reckon a podium is out of the question

https://www.google.com/amp/s/coupler.foxsports.com.au/api/v1/article/amp/sailing/sydney-hobart/sydney-to-hobart-yacht-race-2020-race-in-doubt-northern-beaches-covid19-outbreak-cancelled-sailing-latest-news/news-story/9bfb7d71e83aa8fc04f82d076e3974ad

Sydney-Hobart race falls victim to Covid

An amateur sailor is building his own boat at home in Co Wicklow to fulfil a lifelong dream of sailing solo across the Atlantic.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0108/1188545-sailor-pandemic-wicklow/

better off just cancelling everything, and if anything can go ahead, like DL, Wave etc... just do it at short(ish) notice, and encourage local boats only..

I know it's sh1t and all, but 2021 will be no different to 2020 in terms of events being cancelled.. so might as well just accept it now.

neris wrote: »

2021 is just going to be like 2020

I pretty much accepted this fate back in November when the plan to open for Christmas was unveiled.... but hey, at least it was a ‘meaningful’ Christmas......

Beat I can hope for this year is some half decent weather to get out for a few nice spins, and perhaps a few overnights up and down the coast... maybe Carlingford or Greystones/Arklow...

oceanman wrote: »

heres hoping, where are you based?

Sail out of Malahide.

That reminds me, I must get a letter from them so I can go and check on the boat as it's 10km away!! And it's checkpoint city lately!!!

When your americas cup boat sponsored by Airbus goes like a Boeing 737 max