The dangers of starting from the rope
Ewoud Dronkert
http://www.nlroei.nl/index.php?module=Static_Docs&func=view&f=pub%2Fmmedia%2FNSCF_2006.wmv
Very funny.
(keep an eye on the cox of the front-most crew.)
--
E. Dronkert
teap...@hotmail.co.uk
I am amazed that doesn't happen more often! Lucky she didn't have a
lifejacket on - could have been nasty if that had snagged on the boat
during the 'launch'. ;-)
boatsforabillion
very nasty accident. Surely coxes should be wearing a life jacket!
Richard Packer
Surely the starting ropes should have a breakable link built in to
them to prevent this kind of incident. It wouldn't be rocket science
to fit them (a simple plastic clip would to the job). Or take the
toggle off the end of the rope and just have a plain length of rope,
no knots, loops or anything else to snag on rudder bars etc.
JD
new that happens demands a new and different solution. Focus on the
problem: The rope start system works well when the rope is pulled up.
The dope on the rope screwed up. Surely that's clear. I've had worse
incidents riding my bike - does that mean we should put a breakable
kink on the signpost because I ran into it gawking at a girl? Not all
problems reach a threshold by which they call for working systems to be
reinvented. No wonder modern life is so complicated.
JD
Jonny
Having done a number of rope and toggle starts over the years I can say
that this is one of the funniest things I have seen for a long time!
Has cheered me up after having stayed up very late to watch Brazil beat
Australia at the WC.
Richard Packer
>Surely a breakable link?
As demonstrated in the video, there already *is* a breakable link -
the boat and ejected cox ;-). All I'm suggesting is that perhaps an
alternative solution that doesn't break boats or potentially injure
the "dope on the rope" might be worth investigating.
But hey, if broken boats and damp, possibly injured, coxes are OK,
then leave things as they are.
Carl Douglas
The problem was that the toggle on the rope could so neatly engage with
the rudder lines.
Does it really need the handle? Couldn't cox just hold the end of the rope?
If you must have a handle (to stop the rope from sliding through feeble
hands), this could be in the form of a _small_ knot or splice in the end
of the rope. While a loop might sound superficially attractive, some
fool would be bound to put their entire hand through it, & a loop can
still lasso something.
Simple problems, simple solutions.
Cheers -
Carl
--
Carl Douglas Racing Shells -
Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories
Write: The Boathouse, Timsway, Chertsey Lane, Staines TW18 3JY, UK
Email: ca...@carldouglas.co.uk Tel: +44(0)1784-456344 Fax: -466550
URLs: www.carldouglas.co.uk (boats) & www.aerowing.co.uk (riggers)
Henry Law
I'm not sure I understand what I'm seeing; I've not seen a race started
like that (except bumps races, I suppose). Do I gather that the coxes
all have hold of a rope dangling from another rope stretched across the
lake, and that on the starter's command the coxes let go? Even so, as
far as I can see the victim had dropped the rope, which seemed to hang
free and perpendicular well astern, but then it snagged on some part of
her person. (It is a her, isn't it...) Explain, someone?
--
Henry Law <>< Manchester, England
Richard Packer
wrote:
>I'm not sure I understand what I'm seeing; I've not seen a race started
>like that (except bumps races, I suppose). Do I gather that the coxes
>all have hold of a rope dangling from another rope stretched across the
>lake, and that on the starter's command the coxes let go? Even so, as
>far as I can see the victim had dropped the rope, which seemed to hang
>free and perpendicular well astern, but then it snagged on some part of
>her person. (It is a her, isn't it...) Explain, someone?
The toggle at the end of the rope appears to have tangled with the
rudder bar, eventually tearing it and the rest of the steering gear
off the boat. Since the rudder lines go all the way round the cox,
she's effectively stuck in a wire loop that's still attached to the
start, while the boat's trying to move forwards. The inevitable
result is a broken boat and an ejected (and probably bruised) cox.
Not entirely sure I'd describe it as funny, even assuming the cox
wasn't hurt. Maybe I have a strange sense of humour - never did like
some of the videos on shows like "You've Been Framed".
Henning Lippke
> Explain, someone?
Cox drops the rope, which is then caught on the rudder. The rope of the
rudder is going around coxes' waist (big mistake, by the way, better
'sit on the rope' than 'wear it'), and so the cox has to follow
whereever the rudder goes... in this case 'up & away'.
Henry Law
> The toggle at the end of the rope appears to have tangled with the
> rudder bar, eventually tearing it and the rest of the steering gear
> off the boat.
I understand now; thanks. But as to Henning's strictures on "wearing
the rope", I'm not sure I've seen many (any) stern-coxed boats where the
rudder wire doesn't go across the front of the cox.
> ... Maybe I have a strange sense of humour - never did like
> some of the videos on shows like "You've Been Framed".
No I rather agree. Why it should be funny to see someone hurting
themselves, possibly quite unpleasantly, I don't know.
Mike Sullivan
"Henry Law" <ne...@lawshouse.org> wrote in message
news:11507526...@damia.uk.clara.net...
> Richard Packer wrote:
snip
>
> No I rather agree. Why it should be funny to see someone hurting
> themselves, possibly quite unpleasantly, I don't know.
If you know they didn't get hurt, I think it's
pretty funny!.
And I'm fair. I thought it was pretty funny when
I flipped my single near the start line at nat'ls years
ago when trying to take my rain jacket off before
lining up at the start. So did everybody else nearby.... :^)
The cox had great style on the pratfall, sort of like
Ethel Merman in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
slipping on the banana peel.
Christopher Anton
"Richard Packer" <use...@rjSURNAME.org.yookay> wrote in message
news:020e92t6tbhsq3k2n...@4ax.com...
>
> The toggle at the end of the rope appears to have tangled with the
> rudder bar, eventually tearing it and the rest of the steering gear
> off the boat. Since the rudder lines go all the way round the cox,
> she's effectively stuck in a wire loop that's still attached to the
> start, while the boat's trying to move forwards. The inevitable
> result is a broken boat and an ejected (and probably bruised) cox.
>
If she'd ever learnt in bumps racing then she wouldn't have made this
mistake! But seriously it's always better to design systems to remove
problems like this and it would seem sensible to remove the toggle.
Henning Lippke
> I understand now; thanks. But as to Henning's strictures on "wearing
> the rope", I'm not sure I've seen many (any) stern-coxed boats where the
> rudder wire doesn't go across the front of the cox.
In all gig-boats, the wire goes where you place it. So ideally, you sit
on the rope rather than let it go around your waist. If then the rope
gets caught somewhere, it will be pulled under your bum... maybe
unpleasant but still better than having the wire around your neck...