What I dont understand is how a fisherman and his kids, sitting on their boat, cannot see a fleet of cats racing towards him. I can understand that maybe if he was close to the shore and had little to no room for maneuverability, that it would be your fault, but if hes in the middle of a lake or whatever, he should follow the basic rules of the road and get that skiff out of there.

I went through a similar case when I was coming in at the end of the day from sailing around the lake on my H16. I was close-hauled on a port tack with the shore parallel to me and to port about 20ft from me and was approaching my entry/exit landing when suddenly I heard a man start screaming and looked just in time to see his pole ripped out of his hands and into the water. I immediately headed-up and appologized to the man profusely. I explained that the shore was crowded and I had NO idea that fishing was even allowed at that section of the landing. Fortunately he calmed down when we found that he only lost a hook and a worm. Not that he could have caught anything there anyway with all the boats moving in and out of there.