She's very stressed out, obviously.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Ellen MacArthur wrote:
"Jeff" wrote | You seem to still be uncertain about how
current should be considered. | In Jon's case, he was making way through
the water forward, but the | current was pulling him (and your other
hypothetical boat) back. Then why did he lie and say he sailed
backwards? I believed he WAS really sailing
backwards. I thought it was some lesson on how to actually sail
backwards. Please read my answer to his usual snooty comment.

Lied??? It was a joke, obvious to anyone who had ever sailed (or thought
about sailing) near the Golden Gate.

| the perspective of the two boats, this is a simple overtaking |
situation - the boat moving through the water faster is overtaking | Jon.
Even though its possible that they are going in opposite | directions
over the bottom, this is not a head-on meeting situation. | (And, as
sailboats, that rule isn't used, what rule would apply?)

Sailboats use the starboard tack boat stands on rule. Or windward
gives way if both are on the same tack.
Or, port tack gives way if he can't tell what tack the other boat's on.
If it's night or fog or something.
But if he really was *sailing* backwards It wouldn't be an
overtaking situation. At night looking at his stern light it would
*appear* to be overtaking. I explained all this in my post to him. Read
it. I don't want to repeat it.

Wow, you really are wound up about this! I said it was overtaking. I
merely asked the rhetorical question, "if it isn't considered overtaken,
what rules would apply?" You don't have to restate all the sailboat
rules, the obvious question is "What is meant by the 'port side'? When
are you on a port tack?"

| The case I described was rather different: I was pointed into the wind
| while holding the boom tight to the mast, making several knots |
sternway and keeping fair control with the rudder. In fact I've done |
this many times, and we would have races where the downwind legs were |
to be sailed backwards.

Yes! THAT's sailing backwards. Capt. JG lied. He was sailing forward.
His boat was going
over the bottom backwards but he wasn't *sailing* backwards.

Actually, he never said what he meant, but everyone else got the joke. It
was funny. I actually smiled.



| This raises the question that also comes up when large ship are |
maneuvering in a harbor. When you're making sternway, do the rules | get
reversed? Exactly! That's why I asked question #6. But Capt. JG would
rather dis me than try to understand.
That's why I think he's a poor teacher. Good teachers can see all sides
of a question.

I'm not sure Jon feels obligated to be your teacher. Did you want to be
his student?

When your making sternway in a sailboat I think your stern takes the
place of the bow. But, how
could you reposition your lights at night? You couldn't. So there'd be
confusion. It would look
like overtaking when it wasn't.

|For large ships, the common practice is make passing | signals assuming
your stern is now the bow, and this has been upheld | in the courts.
However, this it is also "special circumstances" | because
maneuverability is greatly reduced.

Sailboats don't make passing signals.... not under the rules.

Are you sure of that? Is this your final answer?

| But, for a small sailboat doing this, how do you tell which tack |
you're on?

Exactly!

Hey, I asked you, what do think the answer is? If two boats are together
on a broad reach, one normal, the other going backwards by backing the
sail, are they on the same tack or different?