Most Embarrassing Sailing Moment

I was sailing a Dart 16 on a course, and it was my first time trapezing. I can't remember exactly what happened, but the next thing I knew i had flown round to the front of theboat and was jammed against the front by my chest, being pulled along! (we were going pretty fast). i couldnt get back in and so we had to completely stop the boat to pull me in, and all the time my instructor was rolling around on the floor of his RIB in hysterics!

 

I was teaching Level 1 Adults in wayfarers and we were doing tacking practice in a bit sheltered water neer the pontoons of a marina, the student helming gets a bit confused and pulls the tiller towards him, gybes and then executes a brilliant comming alongside manuver when the mainsheet catches on a cleat and stops us with the boat pointing downwind hard against the pontoon.

I confidently hop out of the boat onto the pontoon with the idea of unhooking the mainsheet and getting back into the boat and sailing off. Unfortunatly once the mainsheet is unhooked the boat starts sailing down wind with the boom over the pontoon. I can see that if I did get back into the boat the mainsheet would hook over the last cleat on the end of the pontoon and we would be stuck again.

The only option I have left is to calmly walk to the end of the pontoon holding the mainsheet and jump into the water, from the water I could instruct the student to sail the boat away from the other pontoons and back into open water, with me being towed behind. I eventualy managed to climb back into the wayfarer and we finished the days sesion.

On returning to the center at the end of the day I was greeted by a completely dead pan center principle telling me "You are not supposed to get out of the boat on a level one course!"

ok back in my oppi sailing days (distant memory) i just sailed the race at my local club i was comming in to the pontoon and i never quite got there i was about a foot or so away. the clever person that i was decided that i could jump the distance. i slowly walked to the front of the boat holding the painter i jumped as hard as i could and the boat went backwards the pontoon seemed to go forwards and i stayed in the middle. right in front of the club house aswell. luckly because i was so young everyone rushed to help and not laugh.

Edited by big man

At the tender age of about 16, with my brother and my then boyfriend

 On returning from a fated days sailing in my boyfriends fathers 25ft sailing boat (oakleaf or mapleleaf)  IT happened

 Some where in the marshes around Potton Island we ran out of water,  it was a dark but moonlit night, no worries we were well use to these Essex creeks and with all due smug'ness thought - easy, just drop the anchor before touching the bottom and wait for the tide!.... not long to wait, had a quick peak on deck and noticed  a sort of sign,  kinda cross shaped, and.....oh, how sweet a matching one on the opposite bank!
 Yeep we had 'parked' on the main power cable to the Island!

Oh did I forget to mention - Boyfriends Daddy was the club Commodre

Don't know if they ever got to hear of our very SMALL panic attack!!

Great days though, much fun always had!

Me and my crew launched a national 12, managed to sail it through the waves off of the beach got a few hundred yards out and realised I had forgotten to take the rudder out with me and could see it lying on the beach.Very embarrasing, managed to turn boat around sail downwind with the waves behind and capsized it onto the beach landing it on a holiday makers rubber dinghy. They were not best pleased.