"DSK" wrote in message
. ..
"Bart" wrote
Sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) for over 30 minutes.
Peak winds were 49 knots (56 mph). 2 boats sank--many
bent masts, broken bits, and ruined sails.

An account from the 2006 Soling Worlds
snipped

Maxprop wrote:
Isn't it contingent upon the race committee to cancel a race when such
conditions are present?

Not at all. The biggest responsibilty of a skipper (racing or otherwise)
is the safety of his crew & vessel. Most of the time it is not a foremost
concern, but it should NEVER be forgotten nor can it possibly be
delegated.

I guess if you believe there should be a Big Nanny In The Sky, watching
over you at all times, then yes. The "authorities" should make sure that
all the little lamby-sailors are safe at all times.

You should know by now that I'm not in favor of the nanny principle, either
in race committes or government. But you should also know that nationally
and internationally ranked sailors won't pass up the opportunity to sail in
their respective Worlds, even when conditions are poor. There is too much
at stake for top racers to forego such events, regardless of the hazards.
The prudent thing to do would be to delay or reschedule in order to prevent
the sort of losses the Soling Worlds experienced.

... I've never raced Solings, but Snipes, Thistles, Lightnings, Ensigns,
Lasers, and MC Scows all have bylaws which give race committees the
option of canceling if conditions exist which could endanger crew or
severely damage equipment. I believe sinking qualifies as
severely-damaged equipment.

"Gives them the option" yes. That doesn't mean the RC *has* to exercise
it, nor does it make them responsible for broken gear.

I never said they were responsible for broken gear or, in a worst-case
scenario, dead sailors. Each skipper is. But such occurrences could be
prevented by the RC. As I stated above, top sailors typically won't make
the tough decision to take a pass, regardless of the likelihood of disaster.
There's too much at stake, such as their jobs with sailmakers, etc. So the
RC is in the perfect position to prevent the sort of things that happened at
the Soling Worlds. They failed to exercise their option, IMO.

I realize people travel from all over the world to such events, but I'd
tend to believe life and limb are more important than inconveniencing a
group of sailors who've traveled long distances.


Agreed.

Actually, I'm impressed that these guys managed to get things back
together & make it back to the club. Higher caliber than the average club
racer.

Indeed. But then survival is typically the #1 motivator.


It's also a good lesson on why one-design racing sails may be fast, but
not really suitable for other uses. Unless you want a self-removing jib


Sails present interesting dilemmas. I put some heavy-weather sails on our
Snipe for the North Americans at San Diego for the second race back in the
early 70s. We had placed 2nd in the first, but the wind was expected to
freshen to well over 18kts. by the middle of the second race. To make a
long story short, the skies cleared and the wind ebbed, and we were unable
to keep any shape in the main at all, thanks to the rolling sea conditions.
We'd planned to make that our throwout. Of course for the third race we
went back to our lightest Dacron and the wind topped out at 20kts. just
before our jib ripped from the luff wire. The rest of the series went about
like that, always choosing the wrong sails for the conditions. I left SD
hating Mission Bay and its arcane winds. We finished 39th overall--our
worst in five years.

Max