Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg • Hacker News Board

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#51

Post by ff_ » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:23 AM UTC

olodus wrote: post #20

prmoustache wrote: post #12

So they have sails on the Götheborg, but aren't actually using them? Basically it is a motorized indiaman. Meh.

In the post they mention that Götheborg had to adapt it's speed to the boat being towed, which probably limited the larger vessels sail-usage. As another poster here, I also have a friend who has been able to sail on Götheborg once. The ship definitely have usable sails that are used most of the time. If I understand it correctly the motor is to some degree there as a modern safety requirement (and possibly it makes…

There's also the thing that while modern keeled sailboats are able to sail well upwind, that is not the case for these classic vessels which have a much smaller/shallower keel, and have a lot of trouble upwind. So if the wind is not right and you're on a schedule then motoring is the only option.

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#52

Post by hnarn » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:23 AM UTC

matsemann wrote: post #2

At least it wasn't Wasa showing up.. I've once sailed a smaller boat with a centerboard that didn't release. So similar to not having a rudder. Quite scary, everything else have a backup, but without that thing sticking out below the boat you're just drifting aimlessly around.

For anyone who doesn't know about the Vasa, you can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

It was a Swedish warship that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628 after making it less than a mile (1,3 km). It was salvaged in 1961 and is today one of Sweden's most famous tourist attractions.

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#53

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:25 AM UTC

ff_ wrote: post #49

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #33

I know nothing about sailing so this is probably wrong, but I was slightly surprised at the fact that the people on board the small boat didn't get rescued onto the Götheborg. Given the concerns in the article about the size difference possibly causing problems, wouldn't that have been safer?

Sailor here - an 8 meters boat is in that awkward spot where it's big/heavy enough that it can do damage if incontrollably drifting against something (e.g. the wooden vessel itself) but light enough that you can literally just push it with the strength of two people if that happens. So I'd argue it's more safe to have some crew on it in case you need to be hands-on, and just talk over radio while being towed.

[deleted]

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#54

Post by doctor_eval » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:28 AM UTC

konschubert wrote: post #46

smcl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also encountered this with German folk speaking English and pronouncing "v" as "w" - "Let's meet up in the willage" If they'd pronounced it "Let's meet up in the fillage" that would make sense as they'd be using the German pronunciation of "v", but I couldn't wrap my head around "willage".

To German ears, the difference between v and w is really difficult to hear. I speak from experience…

My wife is in charge of the wacuum cleaning.

Edit to add: she’s German, we laugh about it.

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#55

Post by hnarn » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:29 AM UTC

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #33

I know nothing about sailing so this is probably wrong, but I was slightly surprised at the fact that the people on board the small boat didn't get rescued onto the Götheborg. Given the concerns in the article about the size difference possibly causing problems, wouldn't that have been safer?

I don't think it's specific to sailing. If you're towing a car, would you let the driver of that car get in your back seat?

Someone needs to be in control of the vehicle being towed, in case you need to break (if possible), change course (if possible), disconnect the tow (if possible), etc.

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#56

Post by sandworm101 » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:31 AM UTC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6theborg_(ship)

Fysa, they almost certainly completed the rescue using their twin 500hp diesels rather than sail power. One sailboat towing another creates a host of sail/wind/wave issues. Almost every large sailing vessel, including historic replicas, has diesel engines for those times that sail is just too awkward.

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#57

Post by hnarn » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:32 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #13

prmoustache wrote: post #12

So they have sails on the Götheborg, but aren't actually using them? Basically it is a motorized indiaman. Meh.

Really? In the first picture you can clearly see people sitting on the masts, what are they there for if not for setting up the sails?

As you suspect, the post you're replying to is wrong.

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#58

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:34 AM UTC

checkyoursudo wrote: post #22

nixass wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At least it wasn't Wasa showing up.. *Vasa

In Swedish, the v and the w only became distinct pretty recently. There are still people alive today who don't know which to pick if they don't already know how a v-sounding word is spelled. Also, the same person might say "Vilma" one day and "Wilma" the next, just as an example of the confusion (and Wilma is their own daughter...) Also, also, I have had older Swedes be completely unable to hear a difference between…

In Japan, "L" and "R" are often interchangeable. Their pronunciation is somewhere between.

That's a cool story.

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#59

Post by yetanotherloser » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:42 AM UTC

timonoko wrote: post #32

belorn wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original method is to use many smaller ships to guide and drag the ship to where it need to be whenever the sails are not suitable (that and wait for better weather conditions). If they had used this original method, the sailing boat would had been rescued by those ships.

Yes. But what is the point of this ship if not fully restore the original look-and-feel of the era. Satellite antenna in the mizzen mast is also an abomination. They should have dirty drawings from France instead of Pornhub.

The original didn't have to share shipping lanes with huge modern cargo ships that often rely on their radar to go quite fast in bad visibility. Faced with adding anachronistic radar vs. dying from hazards that the original ship didn't have to face, most sailors pick the radar.

She's also big enough to be legally obliged to carry radar under SOLAS V regulations.

Re: Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

#60

Post by englishrookie » Sat, May 06, 2023, 11:43 AM UTC

konschubert wrote: post #46

smcl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also encountered this with German folk speaking English and pronouncing "v" as "w" - "Let's meet up in the willage" If they'd pronounced it "Let's meet up in the fillage" that would make sense as they'd be using the German pronunciation of "v", but I couldn't wrap my head around "willage".

To German ears, the difference between v and w is really difficult to hear. I speak from experience…

What part of Germany are you from? Isn't there a clear distinction between Wolke (cloud) and Volk (people). I ask this as Dutch speaker (so, speaker of 'West Germanic') where there is a very clear distinction between volk and wolk (which presumably have the exact same meaning and origin as their German counterparts).

Anecdotally, I once spoke with Russian students (this was long ago) who insisted that there was a Russian 'v/w' sound in the word Berenburg (the name of a distilled spirit). I couldn't hear it...