Bequia Easter Regatta 2008 - Caribbean Compass

APRIL 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 50
ST. THOMAS YACHT SALES
Compass Point Marina, 6300 Est. Frydenhoj, Suite 28,
St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 00802
44’ 1982 Ta Chiao CT
$89,900
Tel: (340) 779-1660
Fax: (340) 779-2779
yachts@islands.vi
33’ 1973 Pearson 10M Sloop,
$33,500
Sail
37’ 2001 Bavaria Sloop, 3 strms, Yanmar diesel $ 79,500
40’ 1986 Hunter Legend roomy, aft cockpit $ 69,000
40’ 1987 O’Day Sloop, Westerbeke, 2 strms $ 60,000
43’ 1995 Hunter 430, stepped transom, 2 strms $119,000
Power
14’ 2006 Aquascan Jetboat, 160HP Yamaha $ 34,900
31’ 1999 Sea Ray Sundancer, new engines, 2005 $ 79,900
32’ 1996 Carver 325, twin crusaders great condition $ 99,000
38’ 1999 Sea Ray Sundancer, mercruisers, 18 kts, $167,000
Call, fax or visit our website for a complete list of boats for sale
www.stthomasyachts.com
CREW VACANCIES!
email: crew@tradewindscruiseclub.com
TradeWinds Cruise Club operate a fleet of catamarans across
six destinations in the Caribbean.
We are the fastest growing charter company,
operating TERM CHARTERS, all inclusive, 7 days.
We are looking for crew, mainly teams in the form of a Captain and a Chef/Hostess.
We prefer couples that are married OR have been living together for at least a year.
The nature of the job is such that the better the understanding and teamwork
between Captain and Chef the more successful your charters will be.
Requirements: Captain with a Skipper’s licence.
Chef/Hostess with a basic understanding of cooking.
Dive master/ instructor for either the Captain and/or Chef is a plus.
We offer full training onsite in the Caribbean.
This is a FUN job with great earning potential. If you are willing to work hard and
have a positive disposition to life this could be your DREAM job.
Anyone with an interest is welcome to apply.
If you would like more information about this job or send your CV to us, please
use this email address:
crew@tradewindscruiseclub.com
or by mail to: Bequia Marina, P.O.Box 194BQ, Port Elizabeth,
Bequia, St Vincent & the Grenadines
Tel. St Vincent +784 457 3407 Tel. St Maarten +599 5510550
Letter of
the Month
Dear Compass,
Yacht racing in the Caribbean is thriving, but many Caribbean regattas include
wide varieties of boats in one class. This sometimes leads not only to quarrels about
handicap ratings, but occasionally to dangerous situations.
About 30 years ago the word “overtaking” disappeared from the yacht racing rules
in an effort to simplify and clarify the rules. As long as boats are of similar size and
speed, the elimination of the old rule “overtaking boat keep clear” has caused few
problems for those who know the rules.
However, as explained by John Doerr in his excellent article on racing rules entitled
“Proper Course” in the January 2008 issue of Yachting World magazine, when
you have boats of different sizes with considerable differences in speed, sailing on
the same legs of a course and rounding the same marks, things can get very complicated.
Even those who know the rules can interpret them differently, causing confusion
and, in some cases, accidents.
I personally know of five serious accidents involving a much faster big boat overtaking
a slower, smaller boat and causing serious damage. One smaller boat, a
ketch, lost both masts. Another, a yawl, suddenly became a sloop. In the third case,
the smaller boat’s mast tore the larger boat’s main, opening it up luff to leach. But
the leach line held, almost capsizing and dismasting the smaller boat. In the final
two cases, the smaller boats were sunk. If I personally know five serious accidents,
how many have happened worldwide?
I not only know of five disasters, but over the years I have witnessed at least a
dozen near-disasters — all caused by larger, faster boats overtaking smaller, slower
boats in tight situations.
In all cases all boats were competently crewed by crews that knew the racing rules,
but since the word “overtaking” has disappeared from the racing rules, as soon as
an overlap exists the overtaking boat has rights that complicate the issue.
In the case of the small boat opening up the sail of the larger boat with its mast,
The overtaking boat must keep clear.
If there is a protest or collision,
the onus is on the overtaking boat to prove
that she used her best efforts to keep clear’
the helmsman and tactician of the larger boat were an ACC helmsman and tactician.
Not only that, but when they were disqualified, they later complained bitterly at the
bar about the incompetence of the protest committee, despite that fact that some
members of the protest committee were highly regarded international judges.
In the light of the accidents and near accidents, many competitors who have sailed
in regattas where there is a great difference in speed in the competing boats feel that
a relevant rule should be inserted in the racing instructions.
The inserted rule should be something to the following effect: The overtaking boat
must keep clear. If there is a protest or collision, the onus is on the overtaking boat
to prove that she used her best efforts to keep clear.
Some race committee members with whom I have discussed this feel that it is not
permissible to alter the racing rules, but I have checked with two senior international
judges who say that this can be done. They say it is not changing the rules, it
is merely adding to the existing rules.
If this were done, it would do much to eliminate the collisions caused by larger,
faster boats overtaking smaller, slower boats.
Don Street
Ireland