Bottom line: safety gear is a compromise. Too foolproof, and it may be either too expensive or too difficult to use. Too heavy, and people leave it below decks. Too much maintenance required, and it may not work when it is supposed to. Read more
Update:
Articles are of general interest to the entire CCA membership, and are not particular to any specific station. Categories include Feature Articles, Safety Moments, White Papers and For Ocean Racers.
I had the wonderful opportunity to charter a Moorings 4600 catamaran in Croatia for two week in late May, and in fact I am writing this Safety Moment from the catamaran as I sit in the lovely Palmizana marina on the island of Klement.
Read more- Many of us have a general idea about how we’d tow another boat back to the harbor or gas dock or a safe anchorage. While most sailboats don’t generate a lot of pull, they can generally tow a similarly-sized sailboat at four or five knots, which frequently beats waiting for the wind to fill in. Since the loads generated are more modest than those generated by a vessel capable of higher bollard pulls, a few rules suffice: Read more
- Several decades ago, entering Morro Bay around sunrise, I was at the helm of a 30’ wooden ketch while the rest of the crew slept below. It was near a full moon, and the boat was bucking about a 3-knot ebb with her 4.5 knots of speed through the water. The red #4A buoy was well to starboard, but it became more and more obvious that the boat had slowly come to a halt, while the Atomic Four continued to hum encouragingly. The water was clear enough, and shallow enough, that I… Read more
Safety Moment, Cruising Club of America
Read more- ... As we were the fastest boat, we had the least amount of time to prepare for spinnaker sets and douses, gybes, configuration changes, and most importantly, communication. This was evidenced by some truly terrible spinnaker sets, botched take-downs, shouting, possibly some hurt feelings, and a general feeling that we weren’t performing like a team. But no one got hurt, the boat was undamaged, and despite several fire drills, we won all three races. Read more