start as competitors ran to their boats, pushed off and paddled to the first mark. There they had to raise canvas, sail to and from the second buoy, drop the sail and paddle back to the shore. Rod had given the finish a final twist. On reaching the beach each gasping paddler had to run across the beach to touch a large oak tree. Which is what Dave and Keith were caught doing in the photos. KeithM proved to be quite outstanding, although we did confuse his heavy breathing on the final leg with the puffing of the steamboat 'Gondola'. Thanks to DaveT for timekeeping in both events.
So Sunday ended on a cheery note. It was good to have ChrisO with us, sailing his father's boat. He brought something of Bernard with him. We had a system of signing in and out and ensured that someone was on the launching shore throughout. I'm not sure that the latter always served a useful purpose, as one could see very little of what was happening on the water and no new arrivals appeared in the afternoons.
Thanks to everyone who helped to make the meet a success, especially RodL.
Outriggers And Safety (FabianB)
Preamble
I have always felt that a canoe is not really a suitable "cruising" sailing craft. It can be an exciting sports boat but if boat performance were the only criterion athletes among us would gravitate towards the modern International Moth, now a vehicle with a hull beam of around two foot (plus a load of extras!), or else the catamaran. There are several car-roof-toppable types e.g. the Sprint/Dart. There is still a good argument for having a type of boat which can both be sailed and easily rowed or paddled, and maintains certain characteristics as perceived and promoted by the OCSG. We could set parameters thus: whatever the sailing configuration, the main hull should be able to stand alone as a paddle canoe (with the crew sitting inside the hull); secondly, the whole boat can go on a car roof. It seems to me that is one of the main advantages of a canoe - easy portability etc.
My own boat is a 20 ft proa, Marram, which I wrote about for Gossip about 9 years ago. I am still playing with it. One can camp aboard, it will go on a car roof (not quite within legal limits!), and the main hull can stand-alone. It is a prototype from which I have learned much; the final design has not yet been drawn, however. My thoughts below emanate from some of my adventures.
Safety
The need for outriggers is perceived as an anti-capsize measure, quite rightly. I've read with interest some of the discussion about our responsibilities vis-à-vis each other and safety. At risk of repetition, I should first state that every canoe that goes more than the crew's swimming distance from the shore must be self-rescuing. The OCSG fussed about the EU Recreational Craft Directive some time ago but whether we want CE marked boats or not the rule for capsize recovery is instructive - in flat water you should be able to show that you can right your boat from 180 degree inversion, get into it, and bail out (pretty well) within 5 minutes. If you can't do that, you are NOT SAFE.
Apart from a lifejacket, wet suit and/or dry suit provision should be usual. In the "Dinghy Sailing Magazine" of March 2005 there is an interesting article by Simon Ladd who sailed along the S Coast in a Hobie cat - his safety precautions were to wear life jacket, two wet suits, and have flippers accessible, giving 5 hrs endurance in the water and quite a long swimming distance (3 to 6 miles - he practiced); in addition he carried on a belt in waterproof pouches back up GPS and mobile phones, hence in the water he could summon rescue to his exact position, all being well.
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