petermac33 said..
Last week i saw a near collision of a windsurfer and a moth in the Swan River.
The windsurfer was sailing on a reach towards the Claremont side and the Moth was heading close to directly upwind coming from the city towards Fremantle.
There were three very fast moving moths in total and the first two passed well before the sailor but the third was trailing the other two by 200 metres plus.
The single sailor moth when the two vessels got close (around 40 - 50 metres) was the first to spot the danger and veered sharply to his right then I saw the windsurfer immediately afterwards put his brakes on and also change course.
It could so easily have been a fatal I am afraid to say.
The biggest problem with a windsurfer is they do not have uninterrupted vision.
I strongly urge all windsurfers to look through their sail OFTEN especially when in the boating channel.
By often I mean every 60 seconds at a minimum WITHOUT FAIL.
This latest near miss has scared me a lot.
Look once for boats and again for moths.
Stay safe by looking through your sail OFTEN!
Good points Pete.
re moths these things are smoking fast and front on are very easy to miss- like looking at a stealth fighter, especially if they are running downwind in a seao with the sun behind them and like all foiling craft they are almost silent.
The good bit about them is they are usually piloted by seasoned pros who have spent large amounts of time on the river and have a good eye for other river traffic.
Generally speaking (IMO) altercations between sail craft on the Swan River are generally orderly....they do happen but don't usually result in catastrophic accidents as Pete and Neil and others have suffered.
The real issue is large power boats driven by people who don't give a f&@k about anyone else.
Generally their course of travel is straight up or straight down the river ie they are going somewhere.
In a normal sea breeze scenario all sail craft are going at some stage, across the river at right angles to the power boat direction of travel.
This situation lends it self to the best chances of collisions and in addition the sailor nearly always has or her back facing the danger.In relation to the Swan River specifically, I have witnessed increased traffic of late going up and down the river- I believe now the city has a destination - Elizabeth Quay, and with the shutting of Rotto every knob with a 40 footer is ploughing their way to the city and back.
So everyone please keep an eye out.
