Dear Mrs. Abrams

I am writing mainly to concur with Eric Coleman's criticism of the Emergency Tactics article.

I now realise I have been fighting a losing battle for the case against oars and am thinking hard of stowage positions for the pair we will have this season. I bought "A Fighting Chance" within 2 days of it being released and was very impressed, particularly with their landfall on English Rose III even bearing in mind. that they had two oarsmen and a heavier boat easier to keep on course; it is this fear of a lee shore that has finally convinced me of the neccessity of oars. The rowers who found it a waste of effort to row into Force 2 headwinds were those of the ill-fated Puffin as reported by a passing steamer.

I am gradually replacing fittings under strain with newer stronger ones. We have not yet suffered a failure of any new fittings we have bought – what has broken came with Calypso when we bought her. Fittings are strained considerably more when racing then when cruising and I do believe that standard racing fittings are strong enough provided that one is prepared to pay for good quality.

Centreboard and shroud plates I would like to see replaced as they are suspect because I cannot assess their quality. The latter I hope to replace before sailing. However the centreboard has not yet shown any visible signs of deterioration, and rather than spend a lot of money on a new one, perhaps unnecessarily, I would prefer to feel prepared for a breakage. Besides, I think one should be prepared for any breakage no matter how unlikely it seems or how strong the fitting is. Fatigue and rot cannot always be defeated.

Best wishes Peter R Clutterbuck