The remainder of Sunday was taken up with some more cruising, people trying out other boats and a bit of relaxing in the sun. Springtime at Rutland Water could not have been much better!
Rutland Fact-Finding (ArthurW)
I am thinking of going to your Rutland meet on 18th-19th of April, to see what it's all about, with a view to joining your group and either modifying one of my canoes or going for a more dedicated design. I have been sea kayaking and open canoeing for over 30 years, including several self contained trips abroad, including Spitsbergen, Alaska, Queen Charlotte Islands, Belize and Baja, Mexico. My sailing has been limited to racing Enterprises way back when I was at school, and using a simple downwind rig on a Klepper on some of our overseas trips. I would like to explore the idea of using a more efficient rig for future trips. If I could come along and look at some of your rigs and get ideas on which way to go, it would be appreciated. Are you using a campsite at Rutland and would there be space for my wife and I and the dog?
Well they came along, had a good look round at lots of boats/rigs and departed, promising to come again, saying they had a great time with some of the friendliest and most generous people they had met in a long time! It's nice to know we are doing it right.
In Praise Of Sponsons (DaveT)
(Sponson - noun - an air filled tank that is attached to the side of a canoe to minimise the chance of capsizing.)
There has recently been a return to discussion on the subject of canoe safety for the members of our group, and how the introduction of small "flying" outriggers has proved to be a very worthwhile addition for those members who feel the need for some form of assurance against an involuntary swim. I have been challenged to write this article on my point of view and it is only that. This is not an attempt to change the views of any members of the group as to how they address their personal safety when sailing an open canoe.
I first came to the OCSG at a time when it was very much a "do-it-yourself" adaptation of canoes to sailing, and it was that which first attracted me, as I felt that it presented a challenge to explore something new, having just retired. During my early days I spent a lot of time swimming, as I possessed more enthusiasm than skill and it was at this time that I was impressed by a member who sailed with gay abandon in a craft barely 6 feet in length, and minimal freeboard.
His approach to the sport was in no way cavalier, but very safely grounded in his reliance on a pair of sponsons, securely fastened to the outer gunnels of his craft, and I noted on more than one occasion that he became water logged, but was still able to sail; in fact on one occasion he was "run over" by a floating gin palace on Windermere and survived, intact, upright, and fortunately uninjured, and continued to sail. I would add at this point that this member has become a good friend and we share the view that "there must be a way we can do this without spending lots of money". So we are hardly models of best practice; nevertheless we value our lives greatly and are not foolhardy, mindful of our responsibility to the OCSG and its members.
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