It's not an easy decision for any race committee but to cancel Södertörnspokalen in light of the weather forecast for last Saturday was the right one. Some forecasts said 10-15 m/s whereas others indicated 17-20 m/s (with gusts of +20 m/s) and in such conditions it's not very clever to race with family boats. "Josefin" was signed up and ready to race with her crew of three but we actually took the decision to cancel even before the race committe did and saved ourselves an unnecessary transport of the boat to Morarnas on Friday evening.
Several boats ran aground during the gale in Stockholm on Saturday and one sailor was found lifeless next to his boat outside Solsidan in Saltsjöbaden. It's easy to get disappointed when a race is cancelled but when you read about casualties and boats aground it definitely puts things in perspective and all of a sudden the race becomes completely irrelevant. The decision to cancel the race was the right one and let us all be careful in the coming months as the somewhat erratic autumn weather gets a grip on the archipelago. ALWAYS check the weather forecast, consider the fact that the daylight in August-October is not what it is in May-July - adding a time factor to any course planning - and ask yourself if your boat is adequately equipped (VHF, cell phones, nav lights, distress signal-rockets, lifelines etc). Even with that covered we could of course all end up in trouble so last but not least - think ahead and make sure you always have "a way out" when the course of events starts to take a disconcerting turn. As a pilot friend once told me - It's much better to be down here wishing you were up there, than to be up there wishing you were down here. I guess something similiar would qualify for us sailors.
Several boats ran aground during the gale in Stockholm on Saturday and one sailor was found lifeless next to his boat outside Solsidan in Saltsjöbaden. It's easy to get disappointed when a race is cancelled but when you read about casualties and boats aground it definitely puts things in perspective and all of a sudden the race becomes completely irrelevant. The decision to cancel the race was the right one and let us all be careful in the coming months as the somewhat erratic autumn weather gets a grip on the archipelago. ALWAYS check the weather forecast, consider the fact that the daylight in August-October is not what it is in May-July - adding a time factor to any course planning - and ask yourself if your boat is adequately equipped (VHF, cell phones, nav lights, distress signal-rockets, lifelines etc). Even with that covered we could of course all end up in trouble so last but not least - think ahead and make sure you always have "a way out" when the course of events starts to take a disconcerting turn. As a pilot friend once told me - It's much better to be down here wishing you were up there, than to be up there wishing you were down here. I guess something similiar would qualify for us sailors.
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