[quote=JohnES][quote=ramstadt]I understand how in a long race that it is difficult to avoid shipping channels completely. Shouldn't race coordinators do everything possible to set up race courses that avoid shipping channels?[/quote]
We have plenty of races that are not near the shipping lanes and are well out of the way.... these races, not so and difficult to do... some of our best wind is right in the middle of these lanes... With that we practice good seamanship and keep our head on a swivel constantly looking for traffic...
What we do is have a safety briefing for all sailors that are participating that these are very large, fast moving vessels that once the hit you it will take them five miles to come to a stop... by then, you're shark bait. And, you'll be the one at fault for not give the right of way to a commercial vessel...
Many of these modern ships have video cameras mounted on the bow to watch for traffic, they also have a safety zone... similar to the back up cameras on cars.... the minute you enter that zone they go to battle stations, alarm bells go off, and they prepare for the worst... as well, call the Coast Guard and log an incident.[/quote]
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