[Public-List] Public-List Digest, Vol 3739, Issue 2
charles pleisse
velocharles1 at gmail.com
Sat Oct 6 08:00:23 PDT 2018
If the blocks are in good nick and attatch via a shakle you can purchase
springs that will go over the shakle between the block and the car, that
will make them stand up.
Charles Pleisse
College Park Bicycles
( <http://www.bike123.com>301)864-2211
On Fri, Oct 5, 2018 at 9:50 PM <public-list-request at lists.alberg30.org>
wrote:
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> ======================================================
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Standing Blocks for Genoa Track (Rod Symmes)
> 2. Re: Not so funny... (Arthur Chotin)
> 3. Re: Not so funny... (Gordon Laco)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2018 16:26:37 +0000
> From: Rod Symmes <weatherhelm at hotmail.com>
> To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all
> <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Standing Blocks for Genoa Track
> Message-ID:
> <
> BLUPR19MB034038EF04CAEBC11B8981C8BBEB0 at BLUPR19MB0340.namprd19.prod.outlook.com
> >
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I use bunggie for that keeper line with enough tension to keep the block
> standing when the sheet is lazy but stretches to allow the block to align
> fair when under load.
>
>
> Cheers, Rod
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Gordon Laco via Public-List
> Date:05-10-2018 10:38 AM (GMT-05:00)
> To: Michael Connolly , Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all
> Cc: Gordon Laco
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Standing Blocks for Genoa Track
>
> We run keeper lines up to the intermediate lifeline to keep the sheet
> blocks from flogging out of true? that?s the old fashioned way?
>
> But you folks know I prefer that.
>
> Gordon Laco
> Surprise 426
>
>
>
>
> > On Oct 5, 2018, at 10:36 AM, Michael Connolly via Public-List <
> public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> >
> > Jon,
> > Stand-ups are ok but not really necessary. Tend to your sheets and keep
> them
> > trimmed (lazy sheet as well) and the muck tends to go away. Take you
> current
> > genoa blocks apart and install the spring on them. Harken and Rostan
> both sell
> > springs separately. Save the money for better or new sails!!!!
> > Unless you are looking for the vintage look (Hello Gord) Garhauer is
> impossible
> > to beat for quality and price. Their stuff tends to be bulkier but does
> the job
> > very well.
> > Michael
> >> On October 4, 2018 at 4:41 PM Jonathan Bresler via Public-List
> >> <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> Its boat show season. Time to buy the old girl some presents!
> >> Thinking that its time to get some standup blocks for the genoa track.
> >> The track on Constance is 1-1/4" wide and 3/16" thick. Guessing
> >> that we all had the same track when the boats were built.
> >>
> >> There are lots of choices
> >>
> >> Schaefer $225 on sale at Fawcett's
> >>
> http://www.fawcettboat.com/pc_product_detail.asp?key=B11C962B87784DF2A96FA6E37E1C50CF
> >> Schaefer $210 on sale at APS
> >>
> http://www.apsltd.com/schaefer-stand-up-block-car-for-1-1-4in-t-track.html
> >> Garhauer $70 regular price?
> >> https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=28
> >>
> >> Could use regular single blocks and attached to the sliders on the
> track.
> >> That's what I have now. Selden PBB 60mm blocks. They have worked well
> for
> >> me. But they do flop outboard and allow the line to get into a bit of a
> >> muck.
> >>
> >> Any thoughts/recommendations about standup blocks for the genoa?
> >>
> >> Jonathan
> >> --
> >> Jonathan M Bresler
> >> S/V Constance Alberg 30 #262
> >> Annapolis/Eastport MD
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> These businesses support your Association:
> >> http://www.alberg30.org/store/A30supporters.html
> >> Please support them.
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> http://lists.alberg30.org/listinfo.cgi/public-list-alberg30.org
> > _______________________________________________
> > These businesses support your Association:
> > http://www.alberg30.org/store/A30supporters.html
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>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2018 13:18:12 -0400
> From: Arthur Chotin <art at legalprinters.com>
> To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all
> <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>, Gordon Laco via Public-List
> <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Not so funny...
> Message-ID: <004f7fc9-2316-c378-3775-c775a2a16d29 at legalprinters.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
> Gord,
>
> What a story. Good for you to not just let it go. Sounds like this guy
> has emotional issues which a suspension will not likely solve. But, even
> with sympathy for him, he puts his crew and others in danger and that
> cannot be tolerated.
>
> What does his crew think of him?
>
> Arthur
> --
> Arthur Chotin
> Principal
> Legal Printers, LLC
> 5614 Connecticut Avenue, NW #307
> Washington, DC 20015
> 202.747.2400
> 202.449.9565 Fax
> www.legalprinters.com
>
>
>
> Gordon Laco via Public-List wrote on 10/5/2018 11:59 AM:
> > Good day friends,
> >
> > Our club went through a bit of an ordeal in the past month, the sort
> which every sailing club is afflicted by from time to time. I?d decided
> not to write about it until things were resolved and I had the issue
> settled somewhat in my own mind.
> >
> > We have an overly aggressive member in our club who has made himself a
> nuisance and worse in our races for all the years he has been a member. He
> is an ex-Olympic runner up from the early 1970?s, and sails a fast boat
> which I?ve mentioned in several of my more humorous race reports. In the
> last Wednesday night race of the season, we took our turn being attacked by
> this fellow?I and cosquently the club decided not to ignore the issue.
> Here?s what happened.
> >
> > We were approaching the weather mark on the second beat. SURPRISE was
> on starboard tack and just laying the mark. Another B Fleet boat, a
> Niagara 26, was close ahead of us, also beating. There was a third yacht
> on our starboard quarter who had over stood and was coming down to the
> mark. The wind was moderate, so all of us were doing about 5 knots, we
> were creeping up on the boat ahead of us. The mark was very close ahead of
> him, less than three boat lengths.
> >
> > Down to port, we all saw our overly aggressive member In CANADIAN
> EXPRESS, an Express 30R in A fleet, coming up to the mark on port tack and
> on a collision course with the Niagara 26 ahead of us. When it was apparent
> CE was not altering course, the Niagara ahead of us shouted STARBOARD! loud
> and clearly. Without answering, CE bore off, which put her on a collision
> course with us.
> >
> > I shouted STARBOARD!, but instead of bearing off again, CE bore up. I
> realized he was going to try to cut between us and the boat ahead of us,
> where there was now less than a boat length. I shouted ?Volkmar there?s no
> room there, you can?t do it!? but he carried on until he was 3/4 of his
> length across our bow, at which point he then tried to tack onto
> starboard. I remember shouting ?OH SHIT-SHIT-SHIT!'
> >
> > His starboard stern quarter slammed into our port bow making SURPRISE
> ring like a drum. CE?s skipper then looked back at me over his shoulder
> and shouted ?GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU HAVE TO KEEP CLEAR!? Then, after he
> looked forward and saw he was about to overrun the Niagara 26 ahead of him,
> swerved to weather, swiping his extended outboard across our bow. He swiped
> it across our bow again as he turn off to round the mark. The motor and its
> mount were torn off his stern, hanging by a single bent bolt that didn?t
> fracture.
> >
> > All three boats rounded the mark, well four, including the guy coming
> down on our quarter. We heard much shouting between crew members aboard
> CE, whose skipper also screamed curses at us for not keeping clear of him,
> and about his outboard and its mount. I raised the red protest flag...
> >
> > Down near the end of the running leg, CE did a 720 turn, fouling another
> yacht while he did so, which was accompanied by his screaming that they had
> to keep out of his way.
> >
> > At the club an hour later, we were putting SURPRISE?s gear away and I
> heard angry shouting over at CE?s jetty. I told my crew I?d better get
> over there rather than let others fight my battles for me, and left them
> furling up the main.
> >
> > As I walked down CE?s jetty I found her skipper in a confrontation with
> the skipper and crew of the Niagara 26. When I walked up, CE?s skipper saw
> me and literally charged at me with clenched fists shouting ?I know what
> sort of man you are! You rammed me on purpose! (livened with foul cursing)
> >
> > Well I used to be an officer of the RCN; and one is taught how to deal
> with confrontations. I am not naturally a confrontational person but
> without thinking something clicked in my mind. (thank you Petty Officer
> 1st Class Earl Allen. You were a demon instructor in Officer's Basic, but
> you taught me lessons I?m still rediscovering) I did not back up. I
> raised my right hand flat, fingers together in the vertical plane and made
> the proscribed chopping motion toward Volkmar. I said in a low voice
> ?Volkmar, you made an error out there, you are making it worse now by
> making a fool of yourself. You do know what sort of man I am, I?m the guy
> who took the trouble to try to help you get along here. Go away?.
> Volkmar?s mouth snapped shut, then he shouted ?you all hate me because I?m
> German!? At that point the club?s commodore came up (he had been crewing
> in the Niagara) and pulled Volkmar back to his boat.
> >
> > Later in the clubhouse, Volkmar apologized to me for the collision, then
> began boasting that he?d won the series regardless of being thrown out of
> the race, and at blamed his crew for the accident.
> >
> > That evening I thought about the atmosphere in our declining racing
> fleet? about the several good sailors who had quit racing in the past few
> years after confrontations with CANADIAN EXPRESS, and the many new sailors
> who said they?d never race because of what they?d heard about how savage
> the confrontations on the course are.
> >
> > I decided that for the good of the sport I needed to ask the club to
> look into the issue again - CANADIAN EXPRESS had been suspended from racing
> for various periods of time three times in the past four years. I thought
> it no good that we had to put up with repeated transgressions of clear and
> basic rules of sportsmanship and seamanship? and that the constant issues
> caused by this member are not really washed away by his apologies when he
> always does it again, and again.
> >
> > The Midland Bay Sailing Club had already decided on it?s own to convene
> a hearing on a charge of Rule 69 and the club?s code of behaviour against
> this member, triggered by this most recent collision. A general invitation
> of all boats who in the past three years had had confrontations with
> CANADIAN EXPRESS were invited to a hearing. In the invitation I received,
> I was asked not to limit my testimony to the collisions in the last race?
> rather to be more general.
> >
> > The skippers of nine boats plus various race committee officials
> attended the meeting which was chaired by our racing committee chairman, a
> retired lawyer/founding member of the club, and an accredited rule judge.
> >
> > Volkmar had canvassed the club himself to find people who would speak
> for him? but they all declined. Two of the people he thought might stand
> with him appeared as witnesses against him. He was there alone, with only
> his wife sitting back in the room watching.
> >
> > The committee described Rule 69 (google it). Then they read the club?s
> code of behaviour. Witnesses began describing collisions, near misses,
> foul language. etc. Volkmar had the opportunity to question and comment
> after each testimony. It was ugly and sad seeing him struggle, sometimes
> begging for another chance, sometimes attacking. Then they came to me.
> >
> > I read the invitation I had received, and said that I?d answer any
> questions put to me about the recent collisions, but said that I had four
> points to discuss first. I have my note pad beside me now.
> >
> > 1. Repeated demonstrations of pointless aggression on the race course.
> > 2. Repeated demonstrations of poor boat handling, and poor situational
> awareness in traffic
> > 3. Repeated demonstrations of very poor sportsmanship
> > 4. Repeated demonstrations by the club that no serious consequences
> result from these patterns of behaviour.
> >
> > Each point was discussed in detail?. Volkmar again alternately
> apologizing, then attacking. At one point he began insulting each the
> three people on the hearing committee. At another point he shouted ?I?ve
> got you all on Rule 17!? One of the committee members said quietly ?I?m
> glad you brought that up - one of the issues in your pattern of behaviour
> is that you clearly do not understand the rules. You continually invoke as
> your defence rules that are non-existent, obsolete or not understood.
> Let?s look at Rule 17.? Alas that rule had nothing to do with what he
> hoped it did. Volkmar then said to me ?why did you drag me in here, why did
> you never come to me personally?? I replied that I had on several
> occasions, most recently earlier this season in a phone call. Volkmar
> shouted ?my wife heard that call - you called to call me a fool!? I
> replied that he was mistaken, I had called as a friend to try to help him
> understand why he was in trouble again. I saw his wife had he
> r face in her hands.
> >
> > Finally after three hours everyone had spoken. The chairman turned to
> Volkmar and asked him if he had anything to add. Clearly realizing that
> this was the time to play his last card, Volkmar made an impassioned and
> calm appeal that he not be suspended from racing. (suspension had not been
> mentioned but I expect he knew what might be at stake, having been
> suspended before) He pointed to each of us who described problems and
> apologized. He said to me ?Gord, I will NEVER do that to you again!?. He
> described that he?d been a racing sailor at a high level most of his life.
> He said that in his retirement years, racing is his life again, it ?gets me
> off the couch every week?. He said he loves yacht racing? and asked not to
> be suspended. One of the members present asked Volkmar if he would like to
> see the list of people who he had driven out of our races? but the chairman
> said this was Volkmar?s turn to speak.
> >
> > I was feeling badly for him. But then the chairman of the committee
> said quietly ?Volkmar, we have been here before with you. What assurance
> can you offer us that we will not be here again??
> >
> > At that he exploded with rage. He gathered his papers into a ball and
> stood up to leave, shouting ?YOU ALL HATE ME BECAUSE I?M GERMAN I HAVE NO
> CHANCE WITH YOU PEOPLE YOU DON?T KNOW WHAT IT?S LIKE!? Peter, our vice
> commodore and skipper of the Niagara 26 ahead of us in the recent
> collision, said ?Volkmar, I?m German too, I get on fine. It?s your
> behaviour, not your ethnicity.?
> >
> > Volkmar sat down again, smoothed out his papers and started renewed
> apologizing, But the committee said they?d heard enough and adjourned the
> meeting.
> >
> > Three days later the results were published. Volkmar is suspended from
> Wednesday night racing for the whole of the upcoming 2019 season. However
> he will be allowed to race in the much less heavily populated Saturday
> races. He was warned that a transgression in a Saturday race might result
> in a blanket life-time prohibition .
> >
> > I am well satisfied with the result of the hearing. There has finally
> been significant consequences applied; but he has a chance to change his
> behaviour, and rejoin the sport he says he loves if he manages to
> demonstrate a season without committing new issues of this type.
> >
> > ======
> >
> > Pointless aggression has no place in our sport. Cheating has no place
> in our sport. Both behaviours are corrosive and intolerable. If any of
> you are dealing with a problem competitor like ours, and are interested in
> how we dealt with him, I can send you the official judgment document
> off-list. Part of the heavy consequences of the penalty are that under
> the rules a suspension of this length is public and world-wide. The
> document is public.
> >
> > Gordon Laco
> > SURPRISE 426
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > These businesses support your Association:
> > http://www.alberg30.org/store/A30supporters.html
> > Please support them.
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Public-List at lists.alberg30.org
> > http://lists.alberg30.org/listinfo.cgi/public-list-alberg30.org
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2018 13:34:15 -0400
> From: Gordon Laco <mainstay at csolve.net>
> To: art at legalprinters.com
> Cc: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all
> <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Not so funny...
> Message-ID: <793709F6-FE6F-49AE-BF6C-C0C7B3427F2E at csolve.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
> Hello Arthur -
>
> Crew? that?s an interesting issue in the case of this member. He is
> always sailing short handed, and he changes crew often? The people who
> crew for him are almost exclusively novices who have never been aboard a
> boat before.
>
> I was mentioned in the hearing that this compounds his problems in tight
> quarters. There have been situations among those where clearly he was
> making bad decisions, where he was sailing into trouble while being
> distracted by his crew, who were clearly not comprehending what he was
> telling them to do.
>
> In the collision with us, I heard him berating his crew for not telling
> him that he was sailing into a series of unavoidable collisions. After the
> race, when he was telling me the same thing, I returned ?wait a minute,
> that?s like saying after a car accident that you turned left into the path
> of the oncoming car because the guy in the back seat didn?t warn you? It?s
> your job, not his, to be responsible.?
>
> One of his crew from that night asked me to explain why everyone was so
> angry about how CANADIAN EXPRESS approached that mark. This person had
> never heard of port-starboard right of way conventions, and didn?t know
> what constituted port or starboard tack at all?. She was upset that
> perhaps she?d caused the collisions as her skipper had accused her. I
> said what happened had nothing to do with her? that I had eye contact with
> her skipper right through the incident which meant he knew what he thought
> he was doing?
>
> So there?s another person with a poisoned view of what yacht racing is?
> She and her husband have a boat at the club. She said they?re afraid to
> race it because of the violence. I told her that next year will be
> better? I suggested that they should race it? if they?re not confident at
> the starts, just hang back and cross after the herd? sometimes that?s best
> anyway. Pick a boat and chase it? one day they?ll catch it, at which point
> they should chase the next one. Some day they?ll discover they?re up at
> the front and wish they?d paid more attention to the course instructions!
>
> I told her that Matt in SUNDANCE is our arch rival. We congratulate each
> other after every race because although we race hard, we race cleanly.
> That?s sportsmanship, and that?s what yacht racing is about. (can you hear
> the violins rising behind me?)
>
> Gordon Laco
> Surprise 426
>
>
>
>
> > On Oct 5, 2018, at 1:18 PM, Arthur Chotin <art at legalprinters.com> wrote:
> >
> > Gord,
> >
> > What a story. Good for you to not just let it go. Sounds like this guy
> has emotional issues which a suspension will not likely solve. But, even
> with sympathy for him, he puts his crew and others in danger and that
> cannot be tolerated.
> >
> > What does his crew think of him?
> >
> > Arthur
> > --
> > Arthur Chotin
> > Principal
> > Legal Printers, LLC
> > 5614 Connecticut Avenue, NW #307
> > Washington, DC 20015
> > 202.747.2400
> > 202.449.9565 Fax
> > www.legalprinters.com <http://www.legalprinters.com/>
> >
> >
> >
> > Gordon Laco via Public-List wrote on 10/5/2018 11:59 AM:
> >> Good day friends,
> >>
> >> Our club went through a bit of an ordeal in the past month, the sort
> which every sailing club is afflicted by from time to time. I?d decided
> not to write about it until things were resolved and I had the issue
> settled somewhat in my own mind.
> >>
> >> We have an overly aggressive member in our club who has made himself a
> nuisance and worse in our races for all the years he has been a member. He
> is an ex-Olympic runner up from the early 1970?s, and sails a fast boat
> which I?ve mentioned in several of my more humorous race reports. In the
> last Wednesday night race of the season, we took our turn being attacked by
> this fellow?I and cosquently the club decided not to ignore the issue.
> Here?s what happened.
> >>
> >> We were approaching the weather mark on the second beat. SURPRISE was
> on starboard tack and just laying the mark. Another B Fleet boat, a
> Niagara 26, was close ahead of us, also beating. There was a third yacht
> on our starboard quarter who had over stood and was coming down to the
> mark. The wind was moderate, so all of us were doing about 5 knots, we
> were creeping up on the boat ahead of us. The mark was very close ahead of
> him, less than three boat lengths.
> >>
> >> Down to port, we all saw our overly aggressive member In CANADIAN
> EXPRESS, an Express 30R in A fleet, coming up to the mark on port tack and
> on a collision course with the Niagara 26 ahead of us. When it was apparent
> CE was not altering course, the Niagara ahead of us shouted STARBOARD! loud
> and clearly. Without answering, CE bore off, which put her on a collision
> course with us.
> >>
> >> I shouted STARBOARD!, but instead of bearing off again, CE bore up. I
> realized he was going to try to cut between us and the boat ahead of us,
> where there was now less than a boat length. I shouted ?Volkmar there?s no
> room there, you can?t do it!? but he carried on until he was 3/4 of his
> length across our bow, at which point he then tried to tack onto
> starboard. I remember shouting ?OH SHIT-SHIT-SHIT!'
> >>
> >> His starboard stern quarter slammed into our port bow making SURPRISE
> ring like a drum. CE?s skipper then looked back at me over his shoulder
> and shouted ?GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU HAVE TO KEEP CLEAR!? Then, after he
> looked forward and saw he was about to overrun the Niagara 26 ahead of him,
> swerved to weather, swiping his extended outboard across our bow. He swiped
> it across our bow again as he turn off to round the mark. The motor and its
> mount were torn off his stern, hanging by a single bent bolt that didn?t
> fracture.
> >>
> >> All three boats rounded the mark, well four, including the guy coming
> down on our quarter. We heard much shouting between crew members aboard
> CE, whose skipper also screamed curses at us for not keeping clear of him,
> and about his outboard and its mount. I raised the red protest flag...
> >>
> >> Down near the end of the running leg, CE did a 720 turn, fouling
> another yacht while he did so, which was accompanied by his screaming that
> they had to keep out of his way.
> >>
> >> At the club an hour later, we were putting SURPRISE?s gear away and I
> heard angry shouting over at CE?s jetty. I told my crew I?d better get
> over there rather than let others fight my battles for me, and left them
> furling up the main.
> >>
> >> As I walked down CE?s jetty I found her skipper in a confrontation with
> the skipper and crew of the Niagara 26. When I walked up, CE?s skipper saw
> me and literally charged at me with clenched fists shouting ?I know what
> sort of man you are! You rammed me on purpose! (livened with foul cursing)
> >>
> >> Well I used to be an officer of the RCN; and one is taught how to deal
> with confrontations. I am not naturally a confrontational person but
> without thinking something clicked in my mind. (thank you Petty Officer
> 1st Class Earl Allen. You were a demon instructor in Officer's Basic, but
> you taught me lessons I?m still rediscovering) I did not back up. I
> raised my right hand flat, fingers together in the vertical plane and made
> the proscribed chopping motion toward Volkmar. I said in a low voice
> ?Volkmar, you made an error out there, you are making it worse now by
> making a fool of yourself. You do know what sort of man I am, I?m the guy
> who took the trouble to try to help you get along here. Go away?.
> Volkmar?s mouth snapped shut, then he shouted ?you all hate me because I?m
> German!? At that point the club?s commodore came up (he had been crewing
> in the Niagara) and pulled Volkmar back to his boat.
> >>
> >> Later in the clubhouse, Volkmar apologized to me for the collision,
> then began boasting that he?d won the series regardless of being thrown out
> of the race, and at blamed his crew for the accident.
> >>
> >> That evening I thought about the atmosphere in our declining racing
> fleet? about the several good sailors who had quit racing in the past few
> years after confrontations with CANADIAN EXPRESS, and the many new sailors
> who said they?d never race because of what they?d heard about how savage
> the confrontations on the course are.
> >>
> >> I decided that for the good of the sport I needed to ask the club to
> look into the issue again - CANADIAN EXPRESS had been suspended from racing
> for various periods of time three times in the past four years. I thought
> it no good that we had to put up with repeated transgressions of clear and
> basic rules of sportsmanship and seamanship? and that the constant issues
> caused by this member are not really washed away by his apologies when he
> always does it again, and again.
> >>
> >> The Midland Bay Sailing Club had already decided on it?s own to convene
> a hearing on a charge of Rule 69 and the club?s code of behaviour against
> this member, triggered by this most recent collision. A general invitation
> of all boats who in the past three years had had confrontations with
> CANADIAN EXPRESS were invited to a hearing. In the invitation I received,
> I was asked not to limit my testimony to the collisions in the last race?
> rather to be more general.
> >>
> >> The skippers of nine boats plus various race committee officials
> attended the meeting which was chaired by our racing committee chairman, a
> retired lawyer/founding member of the club, and an accredited rule judge.
> >>
> >> Volkmar had canvassed the club himself to find people who would speak
> for him? but they all declined. Two of the people he thought might stand
> with him appeared as witnesses against him. He was there alone, with only
> his wife sitting back in the room watching.
> >>
> >> The committee described Rule 69 (google it). Then they read the club?s
> code of behaviour. Witnesses began describing collisions, near misses,
> foul language. etc. Volkmar had the opportunity to question and comment
> after each testimony. It was ugly and sad seeing him struggle, sometimes
> begging for another chance, sometimes attacking. Then they came to me.
> >>
> >> I read the invitation I had received, and said that I?d answer any
> questions put to me about the recent collisions, but said that I had four
> points to discuss first. I have my note pad beside me now.
> >>
> >> 1. Repeated demonstrations of pointless aggression on the race course.
> >> 2. Repeated demonstrations of poor boat handling, and poor situational
> awareness in traffic
> >> 3. Repeated demonstrations of very poor sportsmanship
> >> 4. Repeated demonstrations by the club that no serious consequences
> result from these patterns of behaviour.
> >>
> >> Each point was discussed in detail?. Volkmar again alternately
> apologizing, then attacking. At one point he began insulting each the
> three people on the hearing committee. At another point he shouted ?I?ve
> got you all on Rule 17!? One of the committee members said quietly ?I?m
> glad you brought that up - one of the issues in your pattern of behaviour
> is that you clearly do not understand the rules. You continually invoke as
> your defence rules that are non-existent, obsolete or not understood.
> Let?s look at Rule 17.? Alas that rule had nothing to do with what he
> hoped it did. Volkmar then said to me ?why did you drag me in here, why did
> you never come to me personally?? I replied that I had on several
> occasions, most recently earlier this season in a phone call. Volkmar
> shouted ?my wife heard that call - you called to call me a fool!? I
> replied that he was mistaken, I had called as a friend to try to help him
> understand why he was in trouble again. I saw his wife had h
> er face in her hands.
> >>
> >> Finally after three hours everyone had spoken. The chairman turned to
> Volkmar and asked him if he had anything to add. Clearly realizing that
> this was the time to play his last card, Volkmar made an impassioned and
> calm appeal that he not be suspended from racing. (suspension had not been
> mentioned but I expect he knew what might be at stake, having been
> suspended before) He pointed to each of us who described problems and
> apologized. He said to me ?Gord, I will NEVER do that to you again!?. He
> described that he?d been a racing sailor at a high level most of his life.
> He said that in his retirement years, racing is his life again, it ?gets me
> off the couch every week?. He said he loves yacht racing? and asked not to
> be suspended. One of the members present asked Volkmar if he would like to
> see the list of people who he had driven out of our races? but the chairman
> said this was Volkmar?s turn to speak.
> >>
> >> I was feeling badly for him. But then the chairman of the committee
> said quietly ?Volkmar, we have been here before with you. What assurance
> can you offer us that we will not be here again??
> >>
> >> At that he exploded with rage. He gathered his papers into a ball and
> stood up to leave, shouting ?YOU ALL HATE ME BECAUSE I?M GERMAN I HAVE NO
> CHANCE WITH YOU PEOPLE YOU DON?T KNOW WHAT IT?S LIKE!? Peter, our vice
> commodore and skipper of the Niagara 26 ahead of us in the recent
> collision, said ?Volkmar, I?m German too, I get on fine. It?s your
> behaviour, not your ethnicity.?
> >>
> >> Volkmar sat down again, smoothed out his papers and started renewed
> apologizing, But the committee said they?d heard enough and adjourned the
> meeting.
> >>
> >> Three days later the results were published. Volkmar is suspended from
> Wednesday night racing for the whole of the upcoming 2019 season. However
> he will be allowed to race in the much less heavily populated Saturday
> races. He was warned that a transgression in a Saturday race might result
> in a blanket life-time prohibition .
> >>
> >> I am well satisfied with the result of the hearing. There has finally
> been significant consequences applied; but he has a chance to change his
> behaviour, and rejoin the sport he says he loves if he manages to
> demonstrate a season without committing new issues of this type.
> >>
> >> ======
> >>
> >> Pointless aggression has no place in our sport. Cheating has no place
> in our sport. Both behaviours are corrosive and intolerable. If any of
> you are dealing with a problem competitor like ours, and are interested in
> how we dealt with him, I can send you the official judgment document
> off-list. Part of the heavy consequences of the penalty are that under
> the rules a suspension of this length is public and world-wide. The
> document is public.
> >>
> >> Gordon Laco
> >> SURPRISE 426
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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