Saturday, August 15, 2009

Kill Da Wabbit


Sailors and boats are arriving for the Laser World Championships in Nova Scotia. Bloggers are starting to blog about it...

Even the two guys responsible for all the charter boats, Brent and Josh, have a blog. Check out Brent and Josh Go To Laser Worlds to read about their adventures.

One of the US sailors went out to train yesterday and somehow got confused about the drill his training buddies were doing in Unknown Customs.

Yup, Brian tried to kill da wabbit.

I'm sure Brian knows how a rabbit start is supposed to work but, for anyone who doesn't know, here are the instructions (shamelessly stolen from NIH Sailing.)

A rabbit start can be run using no floats or marks, only the race boats themselves. The racers agree to have one boat serve as the “rabbit”. All other boats keep downwind of the rabbit prior to the start. At the agreed starting time, the rabbit crosses the other boats on a port tack. The line sailed by the rabbit is defined as the starting line and its stern is the windward end of the line. All other boats cross the line defined by the rabbit’s course and once across, have started. Once all the other boats have started, the rabbit is free to tack to starboard if the skipper so chooses.
Got it? You have to go behind the rabbit - not hit it. Don't kill da wabbit.

3 comments:

Adam Billinghauers said...

Mr. Tillerman,

It has come to our attention that at least two of your blog postings in the past week have focused upon actual or implied violence to soft, furry creatures.

We do not understand your motivation in pursuing such an agenda, but we cannot allow such abuse to continue unchallenged.

I caution you that, in our organization, you will encounter absolutely no one with an operative sense of humor.


Adam Billinghauers
Chief Counsel, P.E.T.A.
People With Entirely Too Many Attorneys

Pat said...

Oh how hare-ibbly beFuddling! A two turns penalty (720) might do it if damage is minimal, but some sailors might be further confused because the rabbit boat has some characteristics of a fellow racer, a committee boat, and a starting mark (surrounded by navigable water, we hope).

Another strangeness with rabbits is timekeeping, since boats don't really cross the line at the same time and, depending upon seamanship and the way the rabbit crew organizes things, it may be hard to predict when the line will first open.

Ole Eichhorn said...

I remember *being* the rabbit at a 505 world's start.

Rabbit starts were perfect for 505s, big fleets with aggressive starters. The boat which finished 10th in each race was the chosen rabbit for the next one. The rabbit started on port and was followed by race officials in a little zodiac, to discourage people from hitting the rabbit itself. Hitting the zodiac was considered Bad Form, not to mention, a 720 at that point was not optimal. Not to mention, in the contest between a fibreglass bow and an outboard engine, the bow loses.

Anyway nothing was more fun than crossing 100 boats on port, hitting the [favored] right corner, and tacking back to cover the fleet :) Rabbits rule!

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