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[Mr Pepsi]

I love how the three standing are prepared.

 

[Abacinator]

 

[423yjl]

Just standing there, and all of a sudden boom.

 

[Eldritch]

Then you say "excuse me" and they:

1: pretend to be deaf
II. don't give a fuck
c) simply too oblivious to acknowledge anyone else's existence

You push by 'em and then YOU'RE the asshole.

I just tend to maneuver myself in such a way that THEY bump into ME. They usually look at me and give some sort of horrified apologetic response, which is satisfying.

 

[eeeeek]

Just standing there, and all of a sudden boom.

He became port-able.

 

[aminalmutha]

I just tend to maneuver myself in such a way that THEY bump into ME. They usually look at me and give some sort of horrified apologetic response, which is satisfying.

Love the look of horror when someone wakes up from their stupor and there's someone inches from their face cuz they were too oblivious to look.

Some places are just demolition derbies. arty

 

[f=ma]

Looks like an accidental Jibe. This is why you rig a preventer.

 

[ScorpioVI]

 

[Agent Orange]

 

[byke]

Please don't participate in objectifying the vinyl lady. It's demeaning to all vinyl ladies everywhere.

 

[Hawaiirider]

Looks like an accidental Jibe. This is why you rig a preventer.

Accidental ?

perhaps.


Preventer ? No - this is why you don't let novices drive downwind.

I've raced offshore for 35 years - for the most part only cruisers use preventers.

 

[HeatXfer]

I love how the three standing are prepared.

Only 2 were prepared, looks like the crewman in the hatch was busy with the spinnaker guy (?).

 

[greener]

Accidental ?

perhaps.


Preventer ? No - this is why you don't let novices drive downwind.

I've raced offshore for 35 years - for the most part only cruisers use preventers.

My question is, is it ever ok to be SITTING ON the boom?!

 

[Chill]

He became port-able.

The bald dude in the cockpit almost lost his head...

 

[f=ma]

Accidental ?

perhaps.


Preventer ? No - this is why you don't let novices drive downwind.

I've raced offshore for 35 years - for the most part only cruisers use preventers.

Interesting. Didn't know that

 

[latindane]

Looks like an accidental Jibe. This is why you rig a preventer.

I don't even know what a preventer is, but it sounds like a great way to snap a mast.

And yeah, that was me at the helm and my instructor sitting on the boom flying (not literally, just the same situation). To port side as well. I learned to be aware of changing wind and chop conditions--and I guess so did she

My question is, is it ever ok to be SITTING ON the boom?!

That's not uncommon cruising when the wind is mild. Very common when racing (again, in mild wind and of course not on a big boat); I think the sail deforming from the boom going slightly back and forth costs speed.

The guy sitting on the boom just got an impromptu swim. But the guys in the cockpit are the ones that may pay dearly for such a gybe. Concussions are the order of the day if, say, the bald guy didn't manage to duck in time. And a concussion is just if he's lucky. Those things have a lot of inertia with an accidental gybe.

 

[nine_inch_rear]

If the rope didnt hit his head first, he would have certainly cracked his head.

 

[nine_inch_rear]

Looks like the rope hit his head first..thank goodnees

 

[Hawaiirider]

Breaking masts - not so much, snapping BOOMS - yeah - you have to put a mechanical "fuse" or weak link into the system* or when you or the autopilot fucks up due to a sudden windshift or freak wave and you wander beyond dead downwind onto the other gybe ( what happened here) or you just stuff the end of the boom into a big ol' wave then you can easily snap the boom ( the spar at the bottom of mainsail that the guy is sitting against)

Is it okay to sit/stand against the boom ?

Sure, we often put a crew man there (hand holding out the boom on small boats, body on it on larger ones) in SOME conditions (moderate to lighter wind and some lumpy swell that has the main pumping unproductively) - the person on boom duty just has to know that if the helmsman wanders off course ( in relation to the boat angle to the wind ) then it's GONNA gybe the boom and you have to get clear, quick.

The remedy here is to 'heat it up' a little bit - or, to sail an angle a bit closer to the wind. For instance: If sailing directly before the wind is referred to as sailing 180 degrees from true wind ( a point of sail called a dead run, or DDW for dead-downwind) then you would actually be very well advised to sail at 165-170 degrees to keep this from happening.

Problem with THAT is the angle-to-the-wind thing gets rather subtle as you sail those deep angles because your own speed away from the wind makes feeling the direction harder and the skipper can easily get 'caught out' by a even a minute shift in wind direction if he gets a bit off course...and...BLAMMO !

See - when you TACK ( bow passes through the eye of the wind ) the sails all shake ( luff ) and make noise but they hinge on the attached LEADING edges (at the mast and forestay) and when you GYBE ( inadvertently or otherwise ) the STERN of the boat crosses the wind's axis - and the trailing edge now has to also pass through the direction of the wind and it ISN'T the pivot-point so you can get a big door-slamming effect ( high yield of potential energy) - than can injure or flick a man overboard.

In the 'olden days' of conscripting crews out of bars and Shangai'ing them into service this was referred to as "paying them off with the boom" - a well-timed gybe can really cut down of crew salary expenses.


* the System I'm referring to here is a Preventer system - essentially a line running from the boom led forward, pulling the boom forward against the pull of the main-sheet ( line that trims or pulls the mainsail in to control its angle to the boat ) - these are used most commonly on boats sailing for long periods (hours or days or even weeks sometimes) downwind in steady winds on passages - useful for maintaining speed and keeping the boom and mainsail from bouncing around in swells, but a bit of lighter line should be put into the thing somewhere to allow it to break before something more expensive and harder to fix does in case of an unplanned gybe - which CAN happen, even to very good sailors in some conditions.

Sorry. Yeah, I sail a bit...

 

[Bowling4Bikes]

^ damn, thanks for the knowledge

 

[Hawaiirider]

Did that make any sense to the civilians out there or did I just word-salad myself up to level: Palin.

 

[Mr Pepsi]

Did that make any sense to the civilians out there or did I just word-salad myself up to level: Palin.

You mean you're not Palin?

 

[Hawaiirider]

You betcha...

I mean, no way, that's some lame-steam media spin there, I tell ya...

Ah Sarah, thank you for keeping Tina Fey on screen.

 

[greener]

Your seaweed salad all correlates to what I learned as a teen sailing Sunfish around Lake Vasona

 

[f=ma]

Did that make any sense to the civilians out there or did I just word-salad myself up to level: Palin.

I love nerding out on sailing