Jump to content

Common Sense Prevails - Liferafts Dropped


Recommended Posts

Don't get the cart before the horse guys.

This thread is about acknowledging a very big step to increase participation - not having to carry a liferaft.

 

Logically, that is likely to encourage more boats to enter, and most likely a higher proportion of those new entries will be smaller boats. Don't go running to the next issue before celebrating and fully resolving the first issue.

 

Lets get massive fleets first of Piedy's and Elliott 7's (or whatever the popular small boats are now). If large proportions of those boats fail to finish, then cross that bridge when you come to it. Right now, there aren't large numbers of those boats. 

 

If that problem is created - then the NZMYC should be very proud of the achievement, in that doing so (by creating a problem of large numbers of small boats not finishing), they have substantially increased participation.

 

 

On the small boat speed issue - I'd argue that there aren't a lot of 'solid / heavy' small boats, such as the Contessa 32 (UK boat famous for its Fastnet performance), or Reactors. Most small boats are lighter, i.e. a Piedy or some sort of sports boat variant, where the crew delight in sending it downwind. Generally, if it was on the wind, the crew would get so bored and frustrated they'd be in Kawau or Tuts drinking rum, rather than bash into 120 nm of windward work. This statement is born out by the number of withdrawls in the classic North Easter pattern that afflicts the Coastal Classic generally 1 yr in 5.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Don't get the cart before the horse guys.

This thread is about acknowledging a very big step to increase participation - not having to carry a liferaft.

 

Logically, that is likely to encourage more boats to enter, and most likely a higher proportion of those new entries will be smaller boats. Don't go running to the next issue before celebrating and fully resolving the first issue.

 

Lets get massive fleets first of Piedy's and Elliott 7's (or whatever the popular small boats are now). If large proportions of those boats fail to finish, then cross that bridge when you come to it. Right now, there aren't large numbers of those boats. 

 

If that problem is created - then the NZMYC should be very proud of the achievement, in that doing so (by creating a problem of large numbers of small boats not finishing), they have substantially increased participation.

 

 

On the small boat speed issue - I'd argue that there aren't a lot of 'solid / heavy' small boats, such as the Contessa 32 (UK boat famous for its Fastnet performance), or Reactors. Most small boats are lighter, i.e. a Piedy or some sort of sports boat variant, where the crew delight in sending it downwind. Generally, if it was on the wind, the crew would get so bored and frustrated they'd be in Kawau or Tuts drinking rum, rather than bash into 120 nm of windward work. This statement is born out by the number of withdrawls in the classic North Easter pattern that afflicts the Coastal Classic generally 1 yr in 5.

 

Thanks Fish.  We've had bow stickers on our radar for a while but its tricky because they look fantastic.

 

I can tell you now that if we did have a large fleet of small boats, and they did consistently struggle to finish inside the 30hr cut off time then we would be in a position look at how we could solve that. We had the cuttoff at 1500 in 2017 but struggled a little that year as well. 

 

Hell if we had 20 extra from that very small boat fleet show up this year, for a bottle of rum we might even be tempted to push out an ammendment this year!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Had to ask,

 

The NOR still requires a Cat 3 cert, you need a liferaft to get one.???

 

The nice people at YNZ sent me this

 

"The yacht club has been working in consultation with Yachting New Zealand (YNZ) to find the right level of safety requirements for this race and NZMYC have agreed to run this race under the YNZ Category 3 requirements, minus the requirement for a life raft or dinghy. You will still need to get a Cat 3, but the certificate issued will be a Category 3 minus."

 

Great I guess, still points to some issues with the whole Cat 1- 5 inspections and requirements, getting unpopular with a lot of people I run into.

Link to post
Share on other sites

We have been doing that for a couple of years!

 

From the NOR:

 

5.0 FINISH TIME 

 

5.1 The time limit: 1400 hrs, 26th October 2019. 

 

5.2 Any yacht not reaching the finishing line by this time will be entitled to radio in their position and will be awarded a finish place. Any yacht finishing in this manner will not be eligible for handicap prizes but will be eligible for separate prizes if finishing in this manner.

 

That's fantastic, I hadn't read the NOR for a couple of years. I take it all back! The trackers make it much easier too, I guess.

 

 

 

We have people who then have to bust their arse in a short space of time to finalise results prior to prizegiving at 1900hrs . [Agree and big ups to them. Was it the CC or TGA race that used to do Prize giving on the Sunday morning? If it was the CC, was it changed to Sat night because of hangovers in the morning, or because many boats were already making an early start to head home?]

We've now been able to work with YNZ to justify the removal of one of the single most costly items required under the safety regulations.  

 

The weather pattern that the Dr. Watson describes is pretty unusual.  The wind is not going to "dead maggot" you round the course and at worst something like a minimum of 15% of the course will be at reach or better (rather than tight reach or dead maggot). It is a yacht race in October when the SW trades typical of the shoulder seasons are, well, typical.  We could allow the smaller boats 40hrs (or any other number you want Dr. W) but that would mean starting them at midnight the night before. 

 

 

Yea, agree that the weather I describe is pretty rare/unlikely - to be heading into it the whole way around, esp. after you turn the corner for it to follow (head you) around etc.. I was looking for a worst case scenario to illustrate it.

 

But I know that's one of the reasons why we stopped entering in the small boat. Paying the entry fee a few weeks out and getting the crew organised only to pullout a day before, or after, starting because the weather window was not in your favour for even finishing is a bit sucky.  Self declaring and not being eligible for handicap podium spots is OK, I feel, and a good compromise. DNFing sucks. 

 

For many of the smaller boats, the prospect of not being acknowledged as a finisher is a real turn off. A lot are not really entering it with the expectation of a podium spot - line or corrected - but rather as a personal/ crew achievement, or by beating your arch rival from last years Wed night series, even if you come 14th and they come 15th.

 

Anyway, dropping the life raft requirement (the main point of this thread) is, I think a great step. Hopefully it will lure the Piedies (do they still fit the size restriction?) and smaller boats back out to play.

 

Of course, for me it's all moot. I intend to be at the front of the next CC I enter....2021 maybe? ... ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Had to ask,

 

The NOR still requires a Cat 3 cert, you need a liferaft to get one.???

 

The nice people at YNZ sent me this

 

"The yacht club has been working in consultation with Yachting New Zealand (YNZ) to find the right level of safety requirements for this race and NZMYC have agreed to run this race under the YNZ Category 3 requirements, minus the requirement for a life raft or dinghy. You will still need to get a Cat 3, but the certificate issued will be a Category 3 minus."

 

Great I guess, still points to some issues with the whole Cat 1- 5 inspections and requirements, getting unpopular with a lot of people I run into.

 

I think that bit in bold answers it. It's kind of a Cat3 "second class honours" cert, I take it..

Link to post
Share on other sites

When I got my Cat 3 inspection done they didn't actually check the liferaft or dinghy, just asked what I would use, and where I would stow it. 

Quite a few people rent the rafts, and still get awarded the Cat 3 cert.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...