Signing Off

Originally posted by Hobbo Parkstone the greatest signing on and off the water system: Trolley is numbered, helm  and crew sign on to the water by getting appropriately numbered rubber bands to wear on  wrist, sign off by returning the bands to the hut and recieve a beer each when you do so, do you know any sailors that are gonna refuse a free beer for signing off?

Seems very civilised but obviously only works where the subs are in the same league as the nearest Royal Blah Blah Golf Club. Don't think our club could aford to give away 40-50 beers every race.

Sounds good to me, perhaps I should spread the word at my club!
What do the Youngsters get though?

Originally posted by Matt Jackson If you didn't, nobody saw you and you know it, then signing a sheet isn't going to make you retire and if someone noticed your indiscretion then they should have protested.

If you are a complete cheating *********, no it won't. However some people may be certain they are in the right when adrenalin is pumping but realise 30 minutes later that, in fact, they were not. For them, choosing not to sign off is a way to do the right thing without losing much face, albeit later than they should have done. 

"Should have protested"......most people can't actually be bothered most of the time though, can they? And for good reason. It gets in the way of valuable drinking time.

Edited by Stefan Lloyd

Tallies, signing sheets etc, it's all a waste of time.

Why do you need to sign to say you've abided by the rules? If you didn't, nobody saw you and you know it, then signing a sheet isn't going to make you retire and if someone noticed your indiscretion then they should have protested.

Nobody checks to see if the empty signing box is because a boat is missing, or if they do it's so long after the racing finishes and the results worked out that someone would have noticed the trolly as they were bringing the safety boat in anyway.

All clubs I've raced at have treated these systems as secondary to race finishing and trollies being left on the beach and for me it's just a bit useless H&S box ticking with no value.

Edited by Matt Jackson

Yes I think you have to sign off.  1. for safety reasons - you know who is still out there and,  2. to state formally that you have abided by the rules.  I have known people try to get away with cheating in situations where you merely hand in a tally.  Presumably they felt they were just reporting back alive and not declaring that they hadn't cheated.