Another What about the Crew thread

Seems a little ironic, given that many people will remember Bart crewing a Star to Olympic gold.

Well if my recent Merlin experiences are anything to go by, the crew should get the medal, when I helmed with it's regular crew we did ok, when I crewed with it's regular helm we were pants.

Ergo Crew more important than Helm in Merlin Rocket.

Edited by iGRF - 24 Sep 15 at 10:57pm

Was the same last year wasn't it?

Originally posted by JohnJack Originally posted by winging it I don't think people want the actual certificates, I think they want what they see as a fast and effective method of learning a new skill.  Level 2 can (theoretically) get you up to the standard of being able to go away and hire a dinghy in any centre that accepts it.  Most do. Level 2, as it used to be known, now Basic Skills, should take a minimum of two days.  The problem is that many centres sign people off simply for having been there, without actually considering whether or not they can actually independently do what is on the syllabus, what the certificate says they have achieved.  So everyone gets misled about levels of competence. I feel people should very much be encouraged to think of this ticket as a starting point, a grasp of the basics, like it says on the ticket, and firmly directed to more supervises sailing across a range of boats.  What I'm saying I suppose is its in the ethos of the RTC, if they tell people they can sail T L2 then they may well be giving a false impression. One thing I have always thought. There are two clubs in my immediate area with very contrasting water. One is a river club which is relatively sheltered and you rarely get anything near or above 'marginal planing' conditions. the other has a small lake which is beside the estuary where the wind seems to funnel off the Irish sea. Surely an L2 Certificate at one is going to be very different to an L2 Certificate at another due to conditions and type of water. I did my L2 in F5 on waves at Plas Menai. Very different again. So how are the comparable?

They aren't. The inland/coastal thing is taken care of on the certificate itself, but once you start comparing locations within each of those, you will of course get a huge variety. Certainly we stress that on the courses, and I suspect most places do. The L2, is as the new name suggests, the basics. It is a place to start learning from as a sailor, not really an end goal at all.

But it is a problem if the person clutching their new certificate goes off thinking they can do anything, anywhere. But then that happens with self taught people on benign waters, too - it is a people problem, not simply a paperwork issue.

Originally posted by winging it Level 2 can (theoretically) get you up to the standard of being able to go away and hire a dinghy in any centre that accepts it.  Most do.