Sailing is one of the best activities for taking away the pressures of life , the wind the sun, water, and being out on your boat.
So without going to far into my private life I have found sailing as a means to control stress.
While out on the water yesterday in Port Stephens I notice the racing fleet zooming around their course , I say zooming as there was a strong wind and even being reefed down all where leaning gunnel down, myself included.
All was going ok until they came over the horizon at rapid speed.
What to do I thought my anxiety cutting in big time, very strong winds and me sailing solo.
So I stay on my tack longer than I should putting me in close to the rocks on a Lee shore to let them go past then a lucky tack through the waves and I am now on a starboard tack pulling away from the shore.
Before I knew it I see a few more yachts coming up they could easily see me and I needed to make ground , I look under the boom and can see they have all cleared me so started to feel relieved, (I suffer anxiety) I hear a yell and look up and one of the yachts that past has a bloke yelling out to me, I manage to hear him say are you in the race?,
I said no then he goes off his head yelling FU@# OFF OUT OF THE BAY.
Now I know racing can be competitive but natural obstacles moorings , land , navigation marks, and other boats out on the water , I would feel are part of the course, also being a closed water way I would have thought it was a privilege not a right to be able en masse to use the water way.
Of course this set of my anxiety , the very thing I was out sailing to alleviate, seems it has become the norm in racing circles that they are above the rest of us out on the water.
Just to make it clear I try hard to do the right thing by the racing fraternity but when there is so many yachts in a small area using the same wind it becomes quite daunting.
Not only that each yacht is a representative of its club .
So let's hope that that was just one bad egg in the beautiful water ways of Port Stephens.

Get the name of the boat and will draft you a letter to a end to the relevant club and SAiling WA.
Clear Rule 69 territory
He needs to be binned for a while.
i will even appear by phone on your behalf

Brownsmtrace as the others have said, get the name of the boat or sail number, even if you need to be a bit of research by going to their club, maybe get the race results to prompt you it if you cant remember. People like that need to be put in their place.

I tried to find what race it would have been here www.psyc.com.au/start-times/race-results/ but the results arent dated.

Two club officers to write to re racing are:
Clive Jones, Club Captain PSYC, 0414996888 [email protected]
Roger Yeo, Vice Commodore PSYC, 0417267696 [email protected]

Having visited there a few times I found them friendly and amicable and want to keep it like that so Im sure the brass would tell the boy racers to settle down and not get so excited. After all its not the Americas Cup.

Has happened to me more times than I can count. I stand on and swear back.

I raced with a nice skipper out of Avalon SC on Pittwater a few years ago. He got angry with non racing yachts not giving way to him when they had right of way under COLREgs.

I discussed it with him and he was of the firm belief that because he was racing he had right of way over any other sail craft irrespective of COLREGs. He said that is what he was taught as a child, he was in his 60s when I raced with him, and could not be convinced otherwise.

Sounds like he is not a good ambassador for the sport.

Just to reinforce what everyone has said above, there is no obligation for a non-racing yacht to stay clear of a racing yacht - The usual rules for right of way & keeping clear still apply. Although when I am just sailing socially, I will always keep clear of yachts racing as a courtesy.

Courtesy - Now there's a concept that has been lost in this modern day of outrage, social media judgement & overt PC

This guy is pretty lucky you don't get the boat name as he falls fare and square to 69.1. You will most likely find he also has a bad reputation with his fellow sailors.

Regrettably many many moons ago when I started racing keel boats out of RMYS I was one of those misinformed that presumed whilst racing I had right of way. In a race around the cans on a Sunday on a port tack hit the rear port side of a H28 (starboard tack) on a social sail out of Willy. That day is very vivid to me .
why? It cost me a couple of thousand to fix the H28 as my policy did not cover racing .

BROWNSMTRACE said..
Sailing is one of the best activities for taking away the pressures of life , the wind the sun, water, and being out on your boat.
So without going to far into my private life I have found sailing as a means to control stress.
While out on the water yesterday in Port Stephens I notice the racing fleet zooming around their course , I say zooming as there was a strong wind and even being reefed down all where leaning gunnel down, myself included.
All was going ok until they came over the horizon at rapid speed.
What to do I thought my anxiety cutting in big time, very strong winds and me sailing solo.
So I stay on my tack longer than I should putting me in close to the rocks on a Lee shore to let them go past then a lucky tack through the waves and I am now on a starboard tack pulling away from the shore.
Before I knew it I see a few more yachts coming up they could easily see me and I needed to make ground , I look under the boom and can see they have all cleared me so started to feel relieved, (I suffer anxiety) I hear a yell and look up and one of the yachts that past has a bloke yelling out to me, I manage to hear him say are you in the race?,
I said no then he goes off his head yelling FU@# OFF OUT OF THE BAY.
Now I know racing can be competitive but natural obstacles moorings , land , navigation marks, and other boats out on the water , I would feel are part of the course, also being a closed water way I would have thought it was a privilege not a right to be able en masse to use the water way.
Of course this set of my anxiety , the very thing I was out sailing to alleviate, seems it has become the norm in racing circles that they are above the rest of us out on the water.
Just to make it clear I try hard to do the right thing by the racing fraternity but when there is so many yachts in a small area using the same wind it becomes quite daunting.
Not only that each yacht is a representative of its club .
So let's hope that that was just one bad egg in the beautiful water ways of Port Stephens.

I have contacted Australian Sailing seeking clarification of the correct course of action.

cisco said..

nswsailor said..
Well on a starboard tack you had right of way as you said. The appropriate response should have been you yelling..

STARBOARD!!!!!!

Mate of mine used to sail a Stella in Sydney Harbour and always had great joy on a starboard tack when meeting a racing group on port tack.
He said they were usually sorely tested when they realised he wasn't going to give way.

As well as yelling out "starboard", I wouild yell out "insurance" as well.

My mate also yelled CRUISING whenever anybody yelled racing at him

G'day Brownsmtrace,
Racing, except in very rare and extreme circumstances, gives you no more rights than any other boat owner. There are a few occasions where a big race may require exclusion zones to be temporarily setup, such as start lines or turning marks.
Exclusion zones will have RC or Coast Guard vessel, identified by a yellow flag, policing them. They're pretty evident, normally spectator boats are crammed up to the edge of an exclusion zone. They will hail and inform you of the zone if you are sailing through unawares. But that's a big race thing, with lots of entrants, such as a Etchells Worlds competition or a Hobart. Normal laid marks, or nav marks, used for a race don't change the rights of a boat racing over any other boat.
I've never seen a race boat abusing a cruising boat, ever, and we always have cruisers and often commercial shipping scattered throughout the race course sharing the various channels. I've seen a lot hails from commercial shipping to both cruisers and racers that are positively dripping in contempt though! All these times were deserved, some people do the weirdest things in the presence of commercial shipping.

If this happened the way you describe, note the exact time and location, let the local clubs know, they will be happy to hear from you mate. If your not sure of the process, ring the local clubs and ask, they will assist you I am sure. We're all there for the same reason, and no-one advocates bullying on the water.

Every club sponsored race uses the international ColRegs as an overarching rule. Under Colregs , Rule 18 provide the classifications of vessels in relation to keeping clear. I attached a copy of the rule below, As you can see, there is no mention of sailing boats that are racing as a special classification, just sailing boats.

Rule 18- Responsibilities between vessels
Except where Rules 9,10 and 13 otherwise require:
(a) A power-driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:
---(i) a vessel not under command;
---(ii) a vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre;
---(iii) a vessel engaged in fishing;
---(iv) a sailing vessel.
(b) A sailing vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:
---(i) a vessel not under command;
---(ii) a vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre;
---(iii) a vessel engaged in fishing.
(c) A vessel engaged in fishing when underway shall, so far as possible, keep out of the way of:
---(i) a vessel not under command;
---(ii) a vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre.
(d)
---(i) Any vessel other than a vessel not under command or a vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, avoid impeding the safe passage of a vessel constrained by her draught, exhibiting the signals in Rule 28.
---(ii) A vessel constrained by her draught shall navigate with particular caution having full regard to her special condition.
(e) A seaplane on the water shall, in general, keep well clear of all vessels and avoid impeding their navigation. In circumstances, however, where risk of collision exists, she shall comply with the Rules of this Part.

To illustrate the real problem with Col Regs, the Col Regs have been adopted in to the law of each state by regulation.
The uniform legislation adopted by each state makes it an offence to breach the Col Regs.

But your insurance policy will have an exclusion damage caused by the commission of an offence.
Just like no motor vehicle cover for a drink drive accident.

See the problem.

shaggybaxter said..

Rule 18- Responsibilities between vessels
Except where Rules 9,10 and 13 otherwise require:
(a) A power-driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:
---(i) a vessel not under command;
---(ii) a vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre;
---(iii) a vessel engaged in fishing;
---(iv) a sailing vessel.

Question: If my sailboat is sailing faster than, and thus catching up on, a slow going small motorboat, in a line leading 45deg to his stern quarter, I assume that it is the sailboat that has to change course to go around ?

It may be the same question as: at 45deg to his stern, am I overtaking him or crossing his path ?

FreeRadical said..
With all due respect, we only have one side of a story here. Maybe save the lynching until the defence is given the right of reply.

Good point.

Without casting any doubt on Brown's tale, I've recently joined PSYC and they seem to be friendly and responsible. And no, I wasn't down there this weekend so it wasn't me yelling.

A few things here.
Firstly, Chris makes the good point that most of us just slow up a bit or tack away from a racing fleet while we are not necessarily obliged to do so.
But at the same time a lot of racers do live in a bubble on the water.

The point of my earlier post is that while a lot of racers live in the bubble and ignore the what is around them we will get more and more regulation as set out above.

I race a lot and if a few heroes had not been such dickheads we would not have the unworkable requirement that boats not sail within 20m of a fixed mark.

Or understand the Local Rule that all vessels over 300 ton are deemed restricted in their ability to manoeuvre any where south of Caloundra which is why we are now excluded from crossing the shipping lanes..

I suspect that in South East Queensland we are heading to a situation where there be no keelboat racing allowed except for a designated area off Sandgate which be quite a shock for a few clubs.

It is a two way street, responsibility people.

lydia said..
A few things here.
Firstly, Chris makes the good point that most of us just slow up a bit or tack away from a racing fleet while we are not necessarily obliged to do so.
But at the same time a lot of racers do live in a bubble on the water.

The point of my earlier post is that while a lot of racers live in the bubble and ignore the what is around them we will get more and more regulation as set out above.

I race a lot and if a few heroes had not been such dickheads we would not have the unworkable requirement that boats not sail within 20m of a fixed mark.

Or understand the Local Rule that all vessels over 300 ton are deemed restricted in their ability to manoeuvre any where south of Caloundra which is why we are now excluded from crossing the shipping lanes..

I suspect that in South East Queensland we are heading to a situation where there be no keelboat racing allowed except for a designated area off Sandgate which be quite a shock for a few clubs.

It is a two way street, responsibility people.

Is that any shipping lanes? If so how are we supposed to get out ?

Jode5 said..

lydia said..
A few things here.
Firstly, Chris makes the good point that most of us just slow up a bit or tack away from a racing fleet while we are not necessarily obliged to do so.
But at the same time a lot of racers do live in a bubble on the water.

The point of my earlier post is that while a lot of racers live in the bubble and ignore the what is around them we will get more and more regulation as set out above.

I race a lot and if a few heroes had not been such dickheads we would not have the unworkable requirement that boats not sail within 20m of a fixed mark.

Or understand the Local Rule that all vessels over 300 ton are deemed restricted in their ability to manoeuvre any where south of Caloundra which is why we are now excluded from crossing the shipping lanes..

I suspect that in South East Queensland we are heading to a situation where there be no keelboat racing allowed except for a designated area off Sandgate which be quite a shock for a few clubs.

It is a two way street, responsibility people.

Lydia, never heard of not sailing within 20m of a fixed mark. Where is this found. If this is true it will have a big impact on both clubs that sail ot of Redcliffe.

J
On all new aquatic permits issued by MSQ where a club uses fixed marks for rounding
Check out SI for Combined clubs
As your aquatic permits come up for renewal the condition is on the new one
This was the peace deal with MSQ btw as the start position was no fixed marks as rounding marks

Also note the requirement for third party property insurance is also new to pay for damage to the marks.