20 Quid

I recently posted that when I acted as race officer at our club I decided to cancel a race halfway through so I could join our safety boat in helping some of the sailors in conditions they were not prepared to handle. I asked readers for their input and several readers had some excellent comments.  Anonymous suggested a grading system, Tillerman suggested extra rescue and coach boats and Doc Häagen-Dazs basically agreed with Tillerman, but noted that in his venue (in the litigious US) races are never abandoned so that no one can accuse the Race Committee of negligence in not abandoning a race where someone gets into trouble.  Thanks to all.


In my club the discussion has continued. I particularly like the suggestion of one veteran member - simple, elegant and practical. 

"In my old club we had a simple solution. 1 rescue = 20 quid in the RNLI jar. The

only exception was youths."

The crispness of that solution reminds me of how he sails. He is a laconic fellow and when he takes his Laser out, there is just as little wasted effort. And he routinely beats most of us, although a young Kiwi has recently joined who looks to be of the same caliber.