I have been racing sailboats for many decades and have had the pleasure to race on quite a few boats in some very prestigious races. Not once have I ever seen a boat intentionally cheat. Competitive sailors will push the sailing rules and class rules to the limit but as for out right cheating I have not seen it. I have also raced other things and cheating was quite common. In car races there are cheaters and there are losers. Cheating is part of the sport in race cars. I hope sailing does not change as cheating in sailing is so easy that the race would lose all purpose. I heard of one boat that cheated in the Regatta del Sol one year. The boat was owned by a new boat owner that had never sailed or raced before and the experienced crew hit the dock saying that they motor sailed most of the way. The crew was so disgusted they refused to help sail the boat home. We don't need new rules for electric boats. We need honest sailors like we have had in the past..
As for motor sailing rules I agree that if you look like a sail boat you should act like a sailboat. If you think about it the only time this is going to matter is in a crossing situation when the privileged vessel would have to maneuver to avoid a collision if they were honest about the fact that they are motor sailing and are actually the burdened vessel. While I am not promoting dishonesty I am saying you may find it less problematic to make an adjustment so early and obvious that you remove the application of rules by removing a crossing situation or If you are a rules based person all you have to do to change from power vessel to a sailboat is shift the transmission to neutral or turn off the power for a minute or so until the crossing situation is resolved. If you are going to perform an un-expected for a sailboat manuver like driving the boat straight upwind into a situation where right of way matters then you are the burdened vessel anyway whether you are under power or sail and need to stay clear.
From: Mike <biankablog@verizon.net>
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, October 30, 2010 10:47:28 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: [Electric Boats] sailing rules and what?
Paul: I hear what you are saying and I don't think we are in disagreement on the rules. I agree that for those who race (I'm a cruiser not a racer BTW) The race committees will have to enact some new regulations because the use of electric propulsion could be used to win races without detection as you pointed out. But, that's not a navigation rules issue. I just don't think those of us with electric propulsion need to use the day shapes that are not required of those with ICE engines. Depending on the point of sail there are many times when you can not tell if a sailboat with an ICE is motor sailing or not. Many boats have the exhaust ports underwater and it is equally hard to tell if they are using an engine unless you get close and it also depends on the direction they are approaching from. In addition some diesels are smokey and some have very clean exhaust (biodiesel) and it is hard to tell if their engine is operating at all unless the exhaust port is above the waterline and you can observe it. In some cases it is impractical to raise the day shape too. For example since I went to electric propulsion I now sail (usually alone) more than ever. I sail in and out of the harbor and just use electric propulsion to get off or on the mooring. I have a dog leg turn at the harbor entrance that I can make under sail most of the time. However, there are times when the wind and currents are not quite right. When my boat stops moving forward it's time to fire up the motor for maybe a minute or less to get past the condition. It would be impractical (and dangerous) for me to leave the helm go forward raise an inverted cone dayshape for that amount of time especially since I am not required to do it in my waters. When out in more open waters under sail I also do not assume that the big 40 foot plus motor yacht heading toward me at 25 knots actually sees me and knows I am the privilaged vessel. For all I know he might have it on Autohelm and is down below with his girlfriend.  I'd rather give them a wide berth (whether I'm sailing or motor sailing) before we get too close to require action on my part to avoid a collision. I've also heard on the VHF more than once of boats in my area that were operating without control because the owners had fallen overboard. I don't assume anything on the waters when I am sailing. I'm not against using the day shape if it were required. Yes, I could use it. But, I could also forget to lower it too when I start sailing again which could also cause confusion with other boats especially those under sail. But, I see less harm if other boaters think I am operating under sail even if I happen to be motor sailing for just a few minutes and give way accordingly. IMO it's safer for all concerned. Though I would not discourage anyone from using the dayshape either if they really want to. Capt. Mike --- On Fri, 10/29/10, tartan27hull157 <tartan27hull157@yahoo.com> wrote:
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