I think I have told this story before, but a similar thing happened to my father and myself back in the mid 1970's. We were sailing a 16-foot Sizzler at the time (had one because I worked for the factory). We were on our way out to the race course area on starboard tack. Along comes a Tornado going like a bat out of hell, on port tack, also on the way to the race course. We started yelling "Starboard," but he didn't hear us. He also didn't SEE us until he was on top of us, and then you should have seen the look on his face! His port hull came all the way up and over our trampoline and stopped at the far side of our boat (starboard side)right between my father and me. We had not even moved from our positions, and it was just sheer luck that the hull did not hit one of us. His starboard hull broke one of our rudders. The Tornado skipper said, "Oh, I didn't see you." He didn't even apologize, and he never offered to pay for the damages to our boat. I think he was kind of annoyed that we were in his way.

It's not like this was a novice sailor, either. He was one of the top Canadian Tornado sailors at the time.

Ever since that incident, I have been a little paranoid when I am on a race course with boats of widely varying speeds -- especially when I am on one of the slow ones.

Probably everybody who races for many years will get into a collision eventually, but some are more potentially life-theatening than others. That's why it is so important to have your head out of the boat and be aware of everything that is going on around you, whether you are racing or cruising.