Ooooooh no! I'm usually kind to my boat, but it's a bilingual boat, really. Yesterday, I got to the gybe mark in a gust: « Time to gybe now... T'es prêt ? Vas-y mon bébé ! » and when it works, it's a "Good boy!!"

It sometimes goes into more stern words, when the mainsheet get wrapped up in... everything: « Ah non, tu vas pas recommencer, eh ?! »  

Got to talk to your boat, I think. I only wish it would be like plants: talk to them and they grow bigger - as I am a chatterbox, it wouldn't take long to turn my Topper into a Contender!

Yep, I talk to my boat / self....

When I was sailing the Hurriane my last crew would always get worried when I stopped talking when it was howling windy as it meant I was actually having to think/concentrate about sailing the boat and so it must be  fing windy and close to the edge stuff........

I now worry myself when I stop talking to myself as it must be f..ing windy and close to wipeout time....

yup. I always talk to the boat, I say that if I can beat so and so to the windward mark and hold on the reach the boat will get a treat at the end of the race. Also rubbing the decks gently in a sensitive (but not erotic) way seems to amek it go a bit faster. And when i capsize I just act calmly and say "It's ok, there's nothing to worry about here, u just had a little fall that's all".

Am i mad?

I can definately admit to being in the talking boat crowd but it seems to change depending on what kind of boat your in...

Back in my topper sailing days it was always 'come one, come on, you can catch them'

Then In the laser I could never bring myself to be nice to it so it was always something along the lines of 'dont f%king let me down now'

Now in the moth I dont have enough time/breath to talk to the boat but I talk to myself a lot 'ooooooh my god, ooh my god, O Ma Gwd!!, phew, argggh, ooh ma god, (splash), phew'

i talk to my boat, i ebem say hi to it if i havent been sailing for a few weeks. also when on the water and moving well, i sing to it and she likes that and keeps me out on the wire. shes a great boat, i now have a "bond" with her.

just re-reading wat i wrote, i sound like i need to seek help!

Originally posted by turnturtle Originally posted by Spot192 man that´s really hard. an enterprise! good girls are reincarnated as int 14s then! fast, expensive to run, very unstable but at least they've got nice racks...

What?? And of course being walked all over by 2 blokes...just like real life then.

She did not like "sorry, I've got you sussed, your for sale now"

I'm replacing you with a younger; lighter; faster model.

Oh yes! I do speak French to my boat, quite often! However, I've never learnt to sail in France (and not much more in England, I can hear some sniggers here!), so I don't think in French for sailing terms. When I get to the mark, I tell my boat "Time to gybe!" then "Vas-y.. hop! Bravo!!!" He doesn't mind...   , cos he's a boy, a Topper.

Weird thing, don't ask why: I sailed a Contender on Sunday and she was definitely a She! I might buy her one day  

Yeah sure they do....!

Well, come to think of it, my Topper seems to have a life of it's own (I'm sure I'm a great sailor, there's just something wrong with the boat)!!!

dye their hair the same colours as their hulls, mainly white or grey.... we could have struck on a new trend here, I'm off to buy some silver and blue hair dye tomorrow

Now that's a question we should put in the "Repair and Maintenence" section. You could always just use spray paint and get someone to spray the spots on

 Sailor Girl started a thread about hairstyle some time ago - remember, Spot? Dunno if her hair has grown back to its former glory

What about you, Dennis?? What colour's your boat? Blue-rinsed, windswept and interesting, short and no frills, bleached in the Scottish sunshine  ?? 
Can it match your hairstyle?  

The trick will be to get the hair to match the boat, dye it all silver and put blue bits through it, blue spikes possibly. Actually got the spray paints from halfords, might do it for the Nationals next year......... or a bet!

mmmmmmmmm Miss Haliwell, ginger spice, mmmmmm

In fact my new apprentice Becky, has ginger hair.

I talk to my laser all the time! but ya gotta be nice or she will throw u in the water  the scary thing is i dont often sail double handed boats and a while ago i sailed a gp14 with my boyfriend, and i was goin upwind makin comments like 'come on!' and 'gust coming up'. my crew thought i was talking to him the whole way round!!

I also sing when im sailing, great way to frighten off the opposition!! 'doo dee dum....'

that's when you shout "Nice bum! You're gorgeous!" to the Lasert fleet, who travel together in a tight pack. They look at you, look behind, look at each other and fall off their boat !  Topper: 1 - Laser: nul point

They're about to get their revenge... When I get the Contender, all the talking I am going to do is : « Aaahhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!! Maaaaaman !! »

Ah, seen some of those before, although it's normally minus the sexy chequered blazer!!  Spot, I think you should invest in some loverrly wigs - then you can chop and change when you want to!!

Talking of sailors who concentrate - I just love it when people try sooooo hard in races, and they scream "water" and "starboard" at the top of their voices, and puff and pant all the time when they're tacking!! ....do they even realise how stupid they look??!