Media Race 1, Masters MWE 2006

Merrily

Administrator
Here's a few representative photos that my husband took of the race while I sailed. We were a couple of miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, and it was quite calm.
 

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Good see that the "sitting over the centreboard technique" is alive and well. It's quite a comfortable position, just a bugger to tack from.
 
Can I asked a question? Are sailors usually aggressive at the start line? I know you gotta be aggressive to get a good start.
But do they go to the extend of getting vulgar/ill-mannered; if for example, someone's boat accidentally/uncontrollably knock into someone infront and that person got so angry that he shouted foul words at the other guy?
It can be pretty un-sportsman if such thing happened. Just checking out with you people.... :0
 
mee168 said:
Can I asked a question? Are sailors usually aggressive at the start line? I know you gotta be aggressive to get a good start.
But do they go to the extend of getting vulgar/ill-mannered; if for example, someone's boat accidentally/uncontrollably knock into someone infront and that person got so angry that he shouted foul words at the other guy?
It can be pretty un-sportsman if such thing happened. Just checking out with you people.... :0

It is aggressive at the start, but with strategy. Foul language is unsportsmanlike, and I believe you can protest someone for it.
 
This is a really good question. I find that the best sailors and the worst sailors are less "agressive" as you describe it, than the ones that are midfleet. They best know the rules and expect you to know them, but if you screw up, they don't yell and scream, they just power off into the distance and do their thing. The worst are in the back, just trying to learn and stay out of everyone's way. Midfleet is where the screamers are, and, in my opinion, they are many more of them in multi-crew boats than in single handed dingies like Lasers. I raced Albacors last summer six or seven times, in big Friday night fleets (40 boats). I have never raced against a nastier bunch of people (again, midfleet). It's like they all have issues with their mothers of something, and they bring it out on the water. Really, though, I think it's a combination of things. They don't know the rules well enough, they want to prove how agressive they are and why they really belong at the front, and they are showing off for their crews.

Having said all that, the question was regarding the start line in particular. I was at the Masters Midwinters and looking for a pin start. I had the line, and was about to score the start of my life when Peter Seidenburg came up on port and tacked just under me to fit between me and the pin. I could squeezed him out and forced him to hit the mark, but I gave him the room he needed and he lee bowed me and I got rolled from above and sank back to my traditional place in the midfleet. Sometimes I wish I was a little more agressive. In hingsight I should have yelled at him to get the hell out of there. But, you know, the Laser fleet in the Masters catagory is a pretty civil culture, and we are all on holiday or retired, and really, is it worth it after all?
 
mee168 said:
Can I asked a question? Are sailors usually aggressive at the start line? I know you gotta be aggressive to get a good start.
But do they go to the extend of getting vulgar/ill-mannered; if for example, someone's boat accidentally/uncontrollably knock into someone infront and that person got so angry that he shouted foul words at the other guy?
It can be pretty un-sportsman if such thing happened. Just checking out with you people.... :0

This happenns because it works. People get pyshced out by harsh words, they will drop back and let the others through. This kind of physcology is used in all sports. This would be a great idea for it's own thread - how do people deal with it?

I personnally don't mind it. It kind of adds to the excitment of the start line, and challanges your character not to take things personally and focus on your own race. If someone directs something at you - just smile back and say "have a good race then!" It will upset them so much they are the ones likely to loose focus.
 
RobKoci said:
Having said all that, the question was regarding the start line in particular. I was at the Masters Midwinters and looking for a pin start. I had the line, and was about to score the start of my life when Peter Seidenburg came up on port and tacked just under me to fit between me and the pin. I could squeezed him out and forced him to hit the mark, but I gave him the room he needed and he lee bowed me and I got rolled from above and sank back to my traditional place in the midfleet. Sometimes I wish I was a little more agressive. In hingsight I should have yelled at him to get the hell out of there. But, you know, the Laser fleet in the Masters catagory is a pretty civil culture, and we are all on holiday or retired, and really, is it worth it after all?
This IS interesting. There is so much to learn about starting well. In my first races since I was a teenager, last summer, I was getting lousy starts because I was the guy who didn't want to piss anyone off. That gets old after a few and I decided I would jump in and try to get a good one. I thought I timed one perfectly - everyone was luffing behind the line, with the college hotshot at the starboard end maybe 15 feet or more from the c boat. I was zipping along on a nice reach from the east, around the back of the c boat, saw this nice hole, and thought HA! I'm going right in there right as the gun goes off! I'll be a genious! But Hotshot yells, Don't go in there! DON'T DO it!! I figured I was barging and he knew the rules a lot better than I, so I veered off, went around the back of him, gun goes off, I'm in the second row as usual.

So, maybe it was too tight and I WAS barging. But, the aggressiveness worked well for him and I didn't get a chance to challenge him in at least one race - he made sure of that.

BTW, I was once in a race on a big boat on Puget Sound with a total jerk owner/captain (a few strangers were invited to help out because he couldn't get enough lackeys from his office to sail). He screamed and swore at everyone out there, guests, and the people who worked for him. Unfortunately he guessed right on the wind and tide and we won. Afterwards, he was shocked that we didn't all want to drink with him and celebrate waht a great sailor he was. We just helped stowe everything, said thanks, and never saw him again. I was not impressed with the whole experience - another reason I've always liked Lasers.
 
MasterMike said:
BTW, I was once in a race on a big boat on Puget Sound with a total jerk owner/captain He screamed and swore at everyone out there, guests, and the people who worked for him.

This reminds me of my favorite post from the Thistle forum. The young man was looking to crew at Thistles MWE in 2005. Don't know if he found a spot.

My name is George
I am 11, 90 pounds and 5 feet tall.
I have all my own gear and will pay my own way.
Yellers don't bother me unles they can't yell and drive.
I can drink beer if I have to.
It will be better if you like Led Zepplin.
 
MasterMike said:
I decided I would jump in and try to get a good one. I thought I timed one perfectly - everyone was luffing behind the line, with the college hotshot at the starboard end maybe 15 feet or more from the c boat. I was zipping along on a nice reach from the east, around the back of the c boat, saw this nice hole, and thought HA! I'm going right in there right as the gun goes off! I'll be a genious! But Hotshot yells, Don't go in there! DON'T DO it!! I figured I was barging and he knew the rules a lot better than I, so I veered off, went around the back of him, gun goes off, I'm in the second row as usual.

So, maybe it was too tight and I WAS barging. But, the aggressiveness worked well for him and I didn't get a chance to challenge him in at least one race - he made sure of that.

I gather that you would have ended up to windward of Mr Hotshot (with some room to spare between you and the Committee Boat). Someone may want to correct me, but I don't think that there would have been anything wrong with that. Of course, Hotshot would have been able to head up and slow you down. On the other hand, you could not push Hotshot down the line; that would have been barging. From your description, I can't tell exactly how your situation developed.

PS: I am just trying to learn the rules myself and do better in crowded situations.
PS2: We have drifted off topic....
 
Oopss!!!! I should have started a new thread about 'Being aggressive at the start line'... Sorry about that... but thanks again to those who has shared their views with me... appreciate them....
 

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