Chichester Yacht Club Magazine June 2018 | Page 20

boat not under command -
rule 27 of the ColRegs, for
those of you who want to
know.)
The first time he was
cutting it incredibly fine, the
second time he went under
our bow and there was
absolutely nothing we
could do about it.
Just think about this for a
moment. There is plenty of
discussion in the motoring
press and the national
press as well as the
Highway code about the
stopping distance of cars.
The engine had its own views about being
forced from just on tick-over to reverse - and
promptly rewarded our lack of mechanical
sympathy by stalling.
“Hot Fish” was a single engine vessel and so
at that point; on a falling tide carrying us out to
sea; we were 1.8 tonnes and eight metres of
boat - completely out of control. (Remember
no engine=no steerage).
We do not expect a car to
be able to stop dead, and
they have the advantage of
travelling along a surface that does not move.
So just because Power gives way to Sail, do
not assume that a motor boat can do what a
car cannot - the laws of physics do still apply
to motor boats.
So next time you are out in the harbour and
see some ‘fool’ of a motor boat, just consider
for a moment whether he might be constrained
in ability to manoeuvre, and keep in mind, that
On the other hand the dinghy had successfully rule 2 of the ColRegs require all of us out on
tacked in front of us without us having a
the water to take steps to avoid a collision.
collision, but the momentum and the tide were
still causing the boat to move forward. We
If you want a quick refresher on the ColRegs,
were temporarily out of control but the collision the Harbour Master has done an excellent
had been avoided.
synopsis, which has been sent out with the
Harbour Plaques this year. I do recommend it.
No problem....
Happy Boating
Until, the dinghy having tacked in front of us,
and apparently completely oblivious to the
crisis he had caused us, decided in his infinite
wisdom to turn and tack back in front of us.
Unfortunately, at that point we were still 1.8
tonnes of 8 m RHIB; stalled; with forward
momentum; completely out of control, (or a
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