Well Said Lars. The first and most important rule
of boating, aviation, automobiles,... and probably
skydiving as well: Rule 1) Don't hit anything.

Don W.

Lars Kristensen wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:

On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 14:04:08 +0200, Lars Kristensen
wrote:


If the powerboats kept well clear of the sailboat



There is no requirement for anyone to keep "well clear".


Properly not but it would solve all the problems.

I do not know the exact words of the rules and certainly not the rules
in US but, I'll bet there is metioned something like pass in as safe
distance and speed as possible. Passing a sailboat within 10 m with 20+
knots is not safe. And certainly not if you for some reason would expect
the sailboat to tack or change course - reasons like shallow water, wind
shift etc.
If not in the rules... Well, keeping clear and pass in a safe distance
and speed is what I would call good seamanship. Here in Denmark we are
obligatet to practice good seamanship. To us it means follow the rules
when it is safe to do so. If no rules state how to act or when its not
safe to act the way the rules states then act in the safest possible way
and do it in a way that nobody is in doubt what your intetions are with
your manoeuvers.

Is it really that hard to respect eachother?

Yes, I do sail powerboats and sailboats (racing and pleassure). And yes,
not all danish sailors follows what is written above. I guess we have
our share of jack ass powerboaters and sail sailors as well...

Regards
Lars