Sensible boats?

When I was a kid the resue boats carried poly floats with string attached and a label that just said "CREW SAFE!". For years I thought they were for attaching your valuables to and leaving with the resue boats!

Then someone told me it was in case they had to abandon a boat and take a sailor ashore in a hurry which was a little sobering. About a month later that very thing happened when an Alb sailor REALLY badly gashed his head on the boom in 25-30kts and had to be airlifted to hospital. The boat had to make it's own way home - well, bits of it did!

Originally posted by jeffers Thats about standard for a Laser in a F6-7 anyway. I am surpised we didn't get any go this weekend given the slamming death rolls they were doing (and leaving me to skim past efforetlessy).

and, dare I say it, smugly?

Hate to throw a bit of a spanner in the works with this thread but last weekend we went out on Saturday when it was gusting up about 6-7ish, substansiated by met weather forecast and sea-state, managed to sail the boat reasonably with a few swims but not too bad........ We made it back on-shore with a snapped tiller which in it's defence was a Holt Ligthning stick older than 3years old (so could have gone brittle). As we were packing the boat up, a Laser which could be deemed as a "sensible" boat came back in under assistance missing its top section and sail.  

I live inland and if I were at the ocean, it would depend on where I could sail. If there were a good beach access and some protected water, I'd still go for it.

The marina I normally sail out of is one of the worst for launching a small high performance boat. There is very little room between the docks and the breakwater is so high that very little wind that you can use makes it down to the water. I hope they make a ramp to the beach outside the marina sometime soon.

Originally posted by tickel My son, Lightning 368 national champ in 2005 got bored over the winter and bought a Magnum 8 Moth. What fun on a small lake, speed and splashes. When he broke it for the umpteenth time in two months he got his old Lightning out again. Bliss, he could think tactcs instead of survival and sail with delicacy and finnesse. He then won the Lightning Nationals 2006. Result, back in the bl**dy moth. There must be a moral in this story. I just carry on mending it.

One question I would have is did the time in the Moth help with the Lightning? I have a friend with an FD and he was alway complaining about how his crew didn't have good wind sense and did not move well. His crew tried to sailboard and returned a much better crew for the time. I think he gave up sailboarding but the lessons stuck.

There is nothing wrong with returning to your roots and first love. Sometimes you have to get a little strange stuff to apreciate what you had.