NYC XYZ wrote:
I mean, even though it's broad ****ing daylight, if you paddle and you
get capsized by a powercraft, IT'S YOUR GODDAMNED FAULT -- right, speed
bumps?


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT


You know, it's posts like yours above that go a long way toward
*increasing* the animosity between various boating factions. Nice work.

The rowers weren't merely capsized by the powerboat, the powerboat
operator collided with the shell. The powerboat operator was clearly at
fault.

That said, I know from personal local experience that many of the
rowers must bicycle down to the shell house. Some of our local
bicyclists will pedal down the middle of the road at about 5mph, and if
anything is said some of them flip you the finger and remind you that
they have the same "rights as an automobile". Those same cyclists will
come to an intersection with a STOP sign, pull up onto the sidewalk for
about 10 feet and wthout missing a beat just jet out into the cross
traffic. As people slam on brakes etc to avoid hitting the bikers that
a few yards earlier were subject to the same STOP sign as all other
traffic, there is all too often some comment like "Can't you see I'm in
a crosswalk, you son of a bitch?"

We have an active crew program on some of our local lakes. There is a 7
knot speed limit on these lakes, but this is routinely ignored by the
crews. No problem, really, except that the shells are usually
accompanied by small powerboats that also ignore the 7-knot speed
limit. I've seen the coaches in the little outboard vessels go flying
across the lake at 15-20 knots to bitch out some poor guy doing 5-6
knots on the other side of the lake because they think he's generating
a bit more wake than their prima-donna crews should be forced to deal
with.

All vessels are responsible for any damage caused by wake. No problem.
Vessels being rowed have the right of way over nearly all other
watercraft, including sail. No problem. Where some of the scullers
apparently get confused is the part of the regulations that say it is
the responsibilty of all vessels to avoid a collision-(I've often seen
then just start across a narrow channel under the bow on an oncoming
boat, as if they're saying "we have the right of way, they'll just have
to live with it and work around us somehow"), as well as the explicit
requirement in the rules of the road for stand-on vessels to maintain
course and speed.

BTW, our local instances certainly aren't connected with an organized
racing event. They're just daily practice, with shells headed in any
number of random directions simultaneously. Rather obviously, an
organized regatta can exert a defensible claim of
exclusive use of a waterway. We have a large crew race every year, and
the entire waterway is shut down for that event. No problem.

Fortunately, most of the local rowers don't have the same hostile
attitude your post displayed. If you ever get up to my neck of the
woods and I'm out in my boat- please make yourself known to me. You can
be sure I will modify my wake appropriately. :-)