Trouble is, you really need a bee in your bonnet to start putting pen to paper (fingers to keys). That's why this forum is so heavily skewed towards high-performance development classes (unless you can manage at least 5 posts a day you get kicked out of the Cherub CA). These sailors are true evangelists - they have a message and, hell, they are going to share it!

Cruisers have a more even work/life balance. They don't get bitter and twisted if the weekend's sailing is blown out. They don't (as I did last weekend) look into the teeth of gale force winds at 1pm and still hope that it'll be alright by 2.30 for racing. In short, they are rounded individuals.

They would never survive in the jungle that is the Y&Y forum!

That explains it, thought I must of been mising something...

I think in general you must be right, however there are a few extreme dinghy cruisers out there that are as mad as a box of frogs, sailing to Iceland and Norway in a Wanderer or the like....

Betcha a Cruising forum would get more patronage than the "How old is your boat" Forum and be slightly less focused on boat spec (which is interesting)  and take in a broader view of sailing.

There are several around already - for example on the websites of more cruising-orientated magazines, where they have fascinating discussions about anti-fouling and the general unpleasantness of racing sailors.

AAHHH...its that old chestnut of rivalry between the Cruisers/Racers. There are racers and cruisers who actually drink in the same bar at some clubs (one even bought me a drink once). I was thinking of a forum that has some Dinghy cruising input, don't think there are many of those around...But as you say, this may not be the place..Just a thought though.

 Yachts and Yachting, January, Pages 56-59 cruising.

If you saw the way I raced last sunday, you would have thought I was cruising, perhaps we should redefine cruising - those who race badly

Total muppet I tell you, could not get any decent speed out of the boat I was crewing on

Originally posted by GK.LaserII ...you must have been crewing on a Laser II then

FF15.

We had not got the bottle to use the spinnaker in 25+kts, but we were on the limit down the reaches as it was (with 30 stone in the boat, this takes some doing).  But then the forestay was very slack downwind anyway, so perhaps not using the spinnaker and keeping the mast was a good idea

 FF15 mmmm Nice, apparently the Queen has one tucked away somewhere, unless she's flogged it on E-bay.

  There must be some closet cruisers here??? or perhaps they sneak over to dinghy mag and pretend they are someone else

Funny you should mention it.........

Originally posted by Contender 541 Originally posted by GK.LaserII ...you must have been crewing on a Laser II then FF15. We had not got the bottle to use the spinnaker in 25+kts, but we were on the limit down the reaches as it was (with 30 stone in the boat, this takes some doing).  But then the forestay was very slack downwind anyway, so perhaps not using the spinnaker and keeping the mast was a good idea

somewhere our club has quite a few photos of some capsized FF's in 25+knts. Interestingly they don't look any different to a normal capsized boat

Now there's a topic for discussion. What d'yer reckon the Queen's eBay ID is?

1ER2 of course

I think that both Phil the Greek and Andrew the playboy have both sailed and competed in FF15's

C451

Could you append your signature line to read "the cat sailor adds more Stella"

(speaking as an engineer and raft-racer)

As a bitter drinker (and engineer) Hell No

Bitter drinker? That is soo pipe and slippers.

(and you claim to be 34!)

Don't care what you put in the glass as long as you're buying

Lager Drinker, soo yoof, 10 pints and a curry

Always stand my round - if we ever bump into each other you are welcome to remind me of this

 Phil the Greek has been known to cruise, allegedly.

If we ever bump into each other you'll probably notice that I'm 37. And a Guinness drinker.

Not that I have a sign round my neck. Just a bell!

37? What you need round your neck is one of those panic alarms in case you fall off your zimmer frame.

We are experimenting with a bit of racing/cruising intermingling at our club. 

We have a great Round the Lake race (7 miles to the far end!) and see lots of lovely scenery while picking our way through the shifts.  So we are inviting cruisers to do the same route on the day, and qualify as a 'series participant'.  That way more of them should actually get to explore the far reaches too.

It does mean that they will have to concentrate on beating well and do some serious sailing downwind

Last week I was with my toddler daughter in Macdonalds (bad dad, bad dad). Suddenly she shouts "POTTY" so off we go to the disabled toilet (more room in there). Unseen by me she pulls on the emergency cord and within seconds the Macdonalds SWAT team are banging on the door trying to rescue me.

Certainly makes my Top10 of embarrassing moments!

Zimmer frames are the real reason it takes so long to tack a cat

 Knew there where some cruisers around. We occasionaly do some dinghy cruising at the club along to Bexhill or maybe take a look at the Eastbourne air show from the water. The E.Sussex coast is hardly the bay of Naples but it is relaxing and gives us a chance to sail without shouting at each other. Once a year the club goes down to Cobnor and sails around for a week, a fantastic week of camping beer food and cruising.  Saw a regular forumite (who normaly wouldn't be seen dead in anything other than a skiff) cruising there last year in a cruising dinghy. (beware, If you closet cruisers don't come out I will "out you" if I see you)

That forumite shall remain nameless for the moment

Cruising can be just as challenging as racing as well.  Navigation, pilotage and assage making can be just as difficult as sailing a high performance dinghy and test your sea skills just as much.  The ability to cruise well is essentially just good sailing.  Making long passages requires you to sail the boat well, in exactly the same way you would when racing.  Cruising is a much more skillful thing than at first appears.  At the same time you can have a few beers and take it easy if you want to.

I've fancied it before but never had a suitable boat (closet I've come is a Hornet!). Assuming we are talking about reasonably long distances I reckon dinghy cruising is a bit like hiking and camping but yacht cruising is like carravanning.

Nice one TT

 Definately, and much more risky. Sailing in strange tidal waters, harbours and inlets without the cover of a safety boat and out of sight of the club house can be a little dangerous. Perhaps thats what puts these Guys and Gals off

Perhaps another response would be top say that dinghy cruising is what sailors do when they're confident enough to go out without a constant watch from a rescue boat!

I've cruised in nearly all my dinghies, in a Laser only up to about 5 miles distant but in a Finn I've done 45 miles in a day and slept in it at night.  I've also slept on a cat by putting a tent over the boom.  The trouble is that often now as soon as you sail out past a club sailing area you get rescue boats rushing up and asking you what you're up to and accusing you of being irresponsible, even if it is only a 5 mile sail up the coast in the Laser.  We're so scared by the H&S brigade these days that we've lost all idea of self sufficiency and seamanship.

Discuss!

The trouble with 'cruising' in a Laser on your own is that there isn't any backup equipment if things go wrong.  I assume you have no VHF, flares, life raft etc, in which case I think that is being rather irresponsible.  There is no alternative means of propultion, so if you break your mast in an off shore wind, or the breeze picks up you can soo find yourself in a pickle.

On a yacht it is normally different as there is generally some alternative means of propultion, they can generally be reefed fairly easily and there should be all the other saftey equipment incase something goes wrong.  You need to think before you head out 'if something goes wrong can i get out of the situation myself'.  If you can do that without relying on a lifeboat then fair enough, otherwise you taking a big risk, and potentially putting other people at risk as well.

I bought one of those waterproof cases for my mobile. They (case and phone) just sit in the halyard bag in case of emergencies, but frankly round here, you can't go far anyway- even in the solent:, worst case, you might end up on the IOW, but not much further. There are plenty of yachts around anyway- most w/ends you will hear calls on the radio expressing concern about some dinghy or other. Mostly it's unfounded, but at least people are watching! I think if you worry too much you'll never do anything. When I started sailing none of the yachts had VHF, and nobody called us irresponsible. We often started dinghy races without a rescue boat in attendance (if the crew was watching from the bar, it was "manned") and I have never seen any problems in nearly 40 years of sailing.

Stop worrying, go out and have fun, while it's still allowed

I don't know the IoW is a pritty scary place! 

Having said that I remember sailing my laser out of Bembridge I'd leave on the morning tide and come back in the evening and I went all over the solent. Didn't do me any harm!

The kit you need obviously depends on where you're sailing and the conditions.  I guess the solent is very different to the west of Scotland.  There are obviously far fewer people about up here and the weather can change pretty fast.  You can obviously still do it, but it's just a question of whether it's safe and what would happen if something goes wrong.

Maybe you could / can still sail across the channel without any saftey kit or a saftey boat in a Finn or and Enterprise, but I wouldn't do it, no chance.  If you ask me thats f**king stupid!  Ent's are about as sea worthy and easy to handle as a log in anything above a F5, and I sail one...

I'm not saying you should have a VHF etc before setting out on a wee summer time pootle in sheltered waters, but that isn't what we're talking about is it?

Ahhh, well that's it, the solution is obviously to tie yourself to the boat.  OK, sorry, forget everything I said about saftey equipment.

 yep, home at 4.00 cruising suits me.....glad some ones doing it though. Saw some where on the net about some folks doing the Atlantic on a Hobie 16 or Spitfire. Open sores on every part of the body. I'll see if I can find a link.

It's been done for the first time in 1986 by Daniel Pradel et Tony Laurent on a Hobie 18 Magnum, and their emotional account of the crossing should have put off anyone else. However, sailors being the most stubborn animals on the planet, other successful crossings have been done, including the Pacific ocean (Yokohama to San Francisco single-handed). The lastest boat to tackle the challenge is Italian.

See http://www.seasailsurf.com/seasailsurf/actu/spip.php?article4256 - http://www.seasailsurf.com/seasailsurf/actu/spip.php?article 4256  if you can read French. Even if you can't, scroll to the bottom of the page where you'll find a list of all ocean crossings in a racing cat, followed by links to the Italian sites.

Happy dreaming!    

*Edit*  Here's the link to their account: http://users.tpg.com.au/kkmiller/hobie/across_atlantic.html - http://users.tpg.com.au/kkmiller/hobie/across_atlantic.html