"Joe" scribbled thusly:
Most Harvest moon races have around 200-300 boats.

How many are sober?

How long is the Harvest Moon race? How many rocky capes does it pass,
and what kind of currents over that area?

OzOne wrote:
Ummm, here, and in all races that have any worth, you must be a member
of a yacht club to enter.

I dunnoe about "of any worth" but it does show a more serious attitude
about sailing that so many people who are serious enough to do a lot of
racing in their clubs.

I bet the Harvest Moon draws a large crowd of people for whom it's their
only race of the year.


I'm surprised that there are "many" boats slower than your floating
caravan...guess it's because it's a picnic race.

It's a PHRF race. Says it all IMHO.


OK now think.....If you travel half way across the world to RACE would
you not finish what you started? I would.


Sure you would, without a mast, broken rudders, cracked hull and
bulkheads.....sure you would.

I think at some point, the wise man says to himself and his crew, "It's
more important to get home in one piece than to finish."


Thing is, these guys are racers, they seek safety when they know that
their boat is or has reached her limit..or passed it!

And they know when that is. A dumbo-macho attitude is a sure way to end
up in big trouble.


Now if you want to hold high esteem for quiters and losers feel free

Joe, this is one of the toughest races over one of the toughest parts of
ocean in the world. I'd give a nod of respect to anybody who had made
the passage, much less completed the race. Yet you feel compelled to
insult & belittle others.

... I
just think many of the people in the race are weekend warriors with
more money than skills and fortatude.

No doubt because that's what you see in your local races?



Some are people who do the race every year just for the hell of it.
They are smart enough to know that when Bass Strait gets wild, you
don't go out there in any boat for fun.

Maybe a submarine...


If you want to have respect for sailors who do not understand the
abilitys of the vessels they sail

Hey Joe, what's you're boat's Ballast/Disp ratio again? You seem to not
be able to answer questions about how you sail your boat hard to
windward in 40+ knot winds and 20+ foot breaking seas.


Ill respect the people who finish what they started, the others are
just wussies and wannabes.

Maybe you should suggest to President Bush that he find Osama Bin Laden.



I respect people who know that when the boom, gooseneck,mast or hull
is broken that they can't continue.
I also have great respect for those who recognise their and their
boats abilities and chose not to continue into Bass Strait out of
bravado...or fear of being called a wussie or wannabee by some
uninformed, totally ignorant clown.

Part of the problem here is that Joe (and others of the same stripe) do
not understand their own boats true capabilities, much less others. They
want to play the game both ways- darn candy-ass racers are just a bunch
of quitters... and the ones that break something are sailing flimsy
cockleshells... they hate racing and racers, probably out of a
well-deserved sense of inferiority.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King