Not only does the HSF go a bit faster, it maneuvers in ways no "ship" could,
and stops in distances even much smaller yachts couldn't dream of.....
Again....."apples and oranges"..... this class of boat/ship, needs to be
thought of separately.

otn

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
. ..
otnmbrd wrote:

Big difference between "high speed ferries" and ships.

Hmm, well mostly that the HSF goes a bit faster.

P&O used to have a 35 knot monohull ferry in the Irish Sea, now replaced
with a wave piercing catamaran. The SS United States average 35.59 knots
in 1952. Visby is a conventional RoRo with a design speed of 28.5 knots.
There are also the eight fast cargo ships operated by the US Navy with a
cruising speed of 30 knots.

--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-- Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Steve Firth wrote:
otnmbrd wrote:


Not only does the HSF go a bit faster, it maneuvers in ways no "ship" could,


Except of course those with Voight-Schneider drives, like most ferrys
seem to have.

Wrong. SOME ferries have Voight Schneider, not most, and it's by NO
means a high speed drive, although it will increase maneuverability.



and stops in distances even much smaller yachts couldn't dream of.....


As with the line above, hardly relevant.

They float on water, they move around, some of them go fast.

Wrong again. It's all VERY relevant, because what you can or cannot
expect from any of the varying types is significantly different and what
you don't know can get you run down.

otn

in message t, otnmbrd
') wrote:

Armond,

Those are "high speed ferries", not ships.

As someone who also sails in an area with 'high speed ferries', I
disagree very strongly. They're ships, and frankly they're the most
frightening ships out there. And because they operate typically across
busy straits, very often in order to get somewhere you _have_ to cross
their track.


--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; better than your average performing pineapple

Steve Firth wrote:

Well, if you don't know that a rapid flashing amber light indicates a
hovercraft it could.

The **** off great hovercraft shaped thing under the light might give
you a clue to what it meant though.

Wayne.B wrote:

We have a ferry service running between here and Key West that uses
large, high speed catamarans. They can run at 40 kts or so and are
quite spectacular to watch at close range.

I had an encounter with such a vessel last summer cruising from Croatia
to Italy. I was 10nm from the Croatian coast on a NW course,
singlehanded under sail when I noticed the vessel astern on my port
quarter, at a guess circa 3 nm miles away - in the binoculars I could
see the twin hulls; I judged it to be in an overtaking position to me.

It was clearly traveling very fast and closing and the bearing did not
appear to be changing; it was a classic collision course situation - the
weather was clear and sunny, wind about 12knots, no other shipping
visible. The ferry, for that is what it was, stood on and was getting
very large, very quickly, and still coming straight for me, although I
was beginning to think I should already change course myself but because
of the speed of the other couldn't quite evaluate to which one.

By all interpretations of ColRegs I was the stand-on vessel but I was
beginning to get seriously frightened, I wasn't prepared to insist on my
rights, just wanted to survive, but I didn't know what would be the best
strategy - to stand on with no change of course by the other could
result in me being run down; to head up through to a NE course could
anticipate the other vessel's possible avoidance action but the greatest
confusion came because of the phenomenal speed of the other vessel and
my feeling of helplessness at trying to make any manoeuvre that would
get me away from such an object with my paltry 5-6 knots - I had started
the engine in case I needed the last ounce of speed. My VHF transmit
function had failed during my cruise so I couldn't call on channel 16.

In the event, I swung to starboard and round to a reciprocal and watched
incredulously as the ferry roared over my track during the next few
minutes without any change of speed or course, about where I would have
been if I hadn't changed course, I was then left tossing in the
maelstrom of a wake that was left. Very shaken.

It was a Croatian registered ship and there were figures on the bridge
as well as some passengers on deck to witness it all. With my white
sails in clear visibility at about 09:00 on a fine morning I must have
been seen.

So yes, it was "quite spectacular to watch at close range" but once is
enough, thanks.

BrianH.

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
. ..
otnmbrd wrote:

Except of course those with Voight-Schneider drives, like most ferrys
seem to have.

Wrong. SOME ferries have Voight Schneider, not most, and it's by NO
means a high speed drive, although it will increase maneuverability.

Most of the monohull Channel Ferries have V-S,and IIRC all of the Solent
ferries.

BG I forgot that this was crossposted in "uk.rec.sailing". Ok, "most",
over there, some over here.

[snip]
They float on water, they move around, some of them go fast.

Wrong again. It's all VERY relevant, because what you can or cannot
expect from any of the varying types is significantly different

Significantly different my left foot. Observation will tel you what
another vessel is doing.

All well and good, but "observations" will not tell you what a particular
vessel may or may not be capable of, unless you know what they have and are
aware of it's plusses and minuses, and many are significantly different.
For instance, at sea, underway, could you tell the difference between a
"V-S" and standard drive ferry, assuming you didn't know ahead of time that
the particular boat had one or the other drives?

and what you don't know can get you run down.

Well, if you don't know that a rapid flashing amber light indicates a
hovercraft it could.

Not too many hovercraft over here, so we tend to forget about them, as our
major "high speed" ferries are waterjet.

otn

In article t,
otnmbrd wrote:

Wrong. SOME ferries have Voight Schneider, not most, and it's by NO
means a high speed drive, although it will increase maneuverability.

TTBOMK all CalMac RO-RO ferries have VS propulsion units and they
have a lot of ferries.

--
A T (Sandy) Morton
on the Bicycle Island
In the Global Village
http://www.millport.net

Steve Firth wrote:

It's usually difficult to see the Southsea/Ryde hovercraft because it
just looks like a very low-flying cloud - with an amber light
flashing
on top.

It's about 100 feet long throws up spray & makes the noise of a
Squadron of Concordes. You can see and hear it the other side of the
bloody Solent!

You are clearly deaf *and* blind but even then I'd have thought you'd
have felt the vibrations!

Steve Firth wrote:


It's usually difficult to see the Southsea/Ryde hovercraft because it
just looks like a very low-flying cloud - with an amber light flashing
on top.


could be a Jake... lol

there was mention a few months ago of someone who had an accident through
mistaking the lights of a JCB on a quay at night as nav lights.



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Steve Firth wrote:

Sensayuma is not a small town in Arizona.



rofl, must remember that one...


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Internal from £30 External from £75 (trade)
All batteries factory new and guaranteed.
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