Marisca Scottish Series, Cracking Photos

[BlowingOldBoots]

Okay, sorry if you were expecting pictures here.

Cracking pictures of Marisca on Facebook, Scottish Series, 27 May post.

I hope you did well.


They are copyright of Andrew Wallace, hence unfair to drag to desktop and repost on here.

[marisca]

We did not do well! A CO32 needs a bit of breeze, in fact the more, the better, but sadly lacking except for one race when the skipper suuffered brain fade and hit the windward mark. We managed a 4th in that race with the crew convinced it would have been at least 2nd had we not done our penalty turn. The results were remarkably close on corrected time except for the winning Impala - a boat resurrected from a near wreck by a lot of hard work and very suited to the conditions.

One disappointing feature was the derision expressed by some on the racier classes at the time it took for the slowest boat to complete their race and the course to be ready for their next race. If there is a problem it is that there are not enough small cruising yachts entering to make a decent class of like boats. For me, racing is fun and an opportunity to compete against a bunch of very nice like-minded people. Unfortunately, we seem to be regressing to Round Mull and West Highland Yachting Week as the only events with a critical mass.

[Gardenshed]

is it the "racier classes" that are killing participation?

Windward leeward courses are boring and large numbers of crew full-body hiking with everyone in team gear, carbon sails and acting like wanna-be olympians isn't inviting. Handicaps and class-splits compound the problem i.e. where there is a large speed difference in the class but not enough entries to justify more classes. No handicap system in the world can solve that.

What needs to change?

[marisca]

What needs to change?

I wish I had an answer. There are probably many factors but racing with little chance of success, no matter how well you sail, is a real deterrent. Cheque-book owners and attempts to foil them have been around for ever - e.g. back when the Scottish Island Class were new, hulls, masts and sails were allocated to owners by lots with a strict control on new sails in an attempt to keep things "fair". At WHYW last year a bilge-keeled Jaguar 25 had remarkable performance* and, while not in any way criticising the skill of the sailors, a carbon mast, rod rigging, black laminate sails, Harken deck gear (and rumours of fairing and keel alignment) might have been a contributor. Those of us who have a boat that cruises loaded with extraneous gear and spares (just in case), who buy new sails only when the last yin is shagged, who carry several anchors/50+ metres of chain and maintain a stocked drinks locker are doomed to be also-rans - and before anyone comments, Marisca did leave 2 anchors, her life-raft, 60m of chain, sprayhood, spare sails, dinghy, outboard motor, etc. behind before Scottish Series and a lot of good it did us!
So, I'll go on trying to keep the anti-fouling smooth, polishing my feathering propellor, wiping weed off the waterline, negotiating domestic brownie points against "essential" boaty bits and looking forward to a couple of events a year with people/boats I like while decrying the dearth of boats in club evening racing and other events.
However, I am facinated by the numbers that turn out for "Sailing, Cruising Scotland" musters to various marinas. I don't understand the attraction but there is obviously something there that gets non-racers excited.

* In the WHYW Tobermory/Oban passage race she beat the rest of the fleet by 9 minutes on corrected time.

[Gardenshed]

handicap bandits/trophy hunters have been around for ever. The CCC system which "corrects" based on actual performances can counter this but it's always playing catch up.

The Sailing and Cruising "flotilla" events also puzzle me. What's the difference between those events and a "muster"? Are the established yacht clubs missing a trick in engaging with these owners?
Once they get bored with Tarbert, is there a way to draw them into other events?

Offshore / pasage races appear to have disappeared. The Friday night start, overnight race and then socialising on Saturday night with a cruise home on Sunday was a lot of fun. Maybe setting a finishing target time (for the social), allow boats to do their own start time and use Garmin/Strava or other digital tracking, could give a bit of flexibility and entice more people to join in. Also avoids anxiety around starting sequences/risk of boat damage, but without the complexities of the traditional pursuit race start timings.

with marinas full and (apparently) demand for adventure activities increasing, some creating thinking is needed

[marisca]

Obstacles to racing:
Must Haves

• A boat.
  Membership of RYA or RYA affiliated club.
  3rd party insurance of £3,000,000

Other excuses

• Complicated Racing Rules.
  Need a crew.
  Need better sails
  Need to strip out weight.
  Spinnakers are scary.
  Risk of damage.

I am sure there are others but it is not possible just to have-a-go without at least the first 3 items. I have those 3 and make regular offers to members of my yacht club to take them out on races. The enthusiasm is notably lacking though I did manage to drift and get timed out last Saturday with 3 other members on board.