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03-26-2004, 08:43 PM

"I've seen plenty of bad behavior in all types of boats -- including those sacred performance boats. There's a lot of $$ on the lake these days and I really wouldn't assume that just because it costs a lot of money, the performance boat pilot is competent. Or the captain of that big cruiser bearing down on you for that matter. Look at the guy who flipped a brand new performance boat only last year horsing around as an example. Doesn't mean they're all idiots, but some are and they're the ones everyone notices!"

MI,
First let me say that in responding to your post I'm not trying to argue (in the bad sense) against you. Rather I believe from past history that you're pretty reasonable wrt this oft occuring "debate". I post here because I think you've hit on a good point above. First I agree in that I've seen "bad behavior" in all types of boats. I see no trend to brand any type of boat as "guilty". Then there's no good reason to assume the performance boat pilot has the credentials to be "competent". AND BY the same reasoning, there's no reason to ASSUME he/she is incompetent. This latter point seems to get lost in this debate. There's no correlation btw good sense and $$$. My OPINION is that, on the lake, there's probably, at worst, as many Cap't B's, per capita, behind the helm of performance boats as behind the helm of other boats. Just because the public doesn't NOTICE when other "non-performance" boaters screw-up doesn't mean they shouldn't (and accord scorn appropriately). That's why I find it interesting (to paraphrase Mr Spock) to see people so worried about performance boats. Not that the concern is baseless, but rather mis-ranked. I'd be more concerned about Capt'n B behind the helm of the much more numerous average boats ramming me than Capt'n B doing the same at the helm of the relatively rare performance boat.

FWIW - I don't think any deception was intended. Simply "full disclosure" was not warranted, at least until "qualifications" as a good boater came into the discussion. Frankly I can only hope that stereotypes may be tempered by the Biggus & Lofty etal posts.

PPS - Again I really don't have a dog in this fight. Our measly 24' mini-cruiser certinly isn't fast, nor large by todays standards.

03-26-2004, 08:43 PM	#118
Mee'n'Mac Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Got Boats? "I've seen plenty of bad behavior in all types of boats -- including those sacred performance boats. There's a lot of $$ on the lake these days and I really wouldn't assume that just because it costs a lot of money, the performance boat pilot is competent. Or the captain of that big cruiser bearing down on you for that matter. Look at the guy who flipped a brand new performance boat only last year horsing around as an example. Doesn't mean they're all idiots, but some are and they're the ones everyone notices!" MI, First let me say that in responding to your post I'm not trying to argue (in the bad sense) against you. Rather I believe from past history that you're pretty reasonable wrt this oft occuring "debate". I post here because I think you've hit on a good point above. First I agree in that I've seen "bad behavior" in all types of boats. I see no trend to brand any type of boat as "guilty". Then there's no good reason to assume the performance boat pilot has the credentials to be "competent". AND BY the same reasoning, there's no reason to ASSUME he/she is incompetent. This latter point seems to get lost in this debate. There's no correlation btw good sense and $$$. My OPINION is that, on the lake, there's probably, at worst, as many Cap't B's, per capita, behind the helm of performance boats as behind the helm of other boats. Just because the public doesn't NOTICE when other "non-performance" boaters screw-up doesn't mean they shouldn't (and accord scorn appropriately). That's why I find it interesting (to paraphrase Mr Spock) to see people so worried about performance boats. Not that the concern is baseless, but rather mis-ranked. I'd be more concerned about Capt'n B behind the helm of the much more numerous average boats ramming me than Capt'n B doing the same at the helm of the relatively rare performance boat. FWIW - I don't think any deception was intended. Simply "full disclosure" was not warranted, at least until "qualifications" as a good boater came into the discussion. Frankly I can only hope that stereotypes may be tempered by the Biggus & Lofty etal posts. PPS - Again I really don't have a dog in this fight. Our measly 24' mini-cruiser certinly isn't fast, nor large by todays standards.