Dear Joan,

CAPSIZING & THE DCA

I do hope the officers do not take all this too seriously. Do not discuss this with outsiders otherwise an EU regulation will appear which we will obey & no right minded Frenchman will take the slightest notice. All sports have their risks. There has been talk that our village walks should be less casual, that a mobile telephone be carried together with a first aid kit.

I am fearful of a capsize alone at sea. I have to accept that there is a risk and do my best to minimise it. I feel certain that the majority of our members are competent but if not then that is their responsibility.

My Wanderer has a steel plate. I tested it once with a Firefly sail up and had great difficulty persuading Jacona to capsize. It needed a very tight main sheet, a broad reach, and me sitting inboard. Eventually over she went but in no time I was out on the plate and up she came. I suggest that this bears little resemblance to a broach in a seaway, being swamped, and then rolling in. We are not going to try in these conditions.

Rock climbers use protection that has evolved impressively over the last few years. When I climbed we did not practice falling off — I doubt if they do it now and you do not have to prove you can fall safely to go climbing. Do not let us interfere. Tell stories, publish articles but do not proscribe. Just imagine applying tests to the Eskimos or Polynesians. KD