Observation

[booboo2]

Can someone tell me why I see sail boats docked going in and power boats backed in?

[Sailmonkey]

Most sailboats are easier to maneuver ahead, twin screw powerboats are easier astern.

That and unless I'm up to some sort of a project I don't want my lounge area on the dock

[Mickeyrouse]

Originally Posted by booboo2

Can someone tell me why I see sail boats docked going in and power boats backed in?

Don't know about your boat but on my boat I'm lucky just to get the damn thing in the slip. Backing? In reverse that gal will only go where SHE wants to go, never where the skipper wants.

[ontherocks83]

My boat only wants to go to the port when backing up and is very difficult to convince it otherwise. Never mind if there is any sort of wind then just forget it. Pulling straight in is MUCH easier.

[CaptTom]

You'll find different patterns wherever you go. Some of it is just local practice; the new folks do whatever the existing boats did. Often there's a good reason, like being able to board on the swim platform, or wanting the cockpit to face out. Other times it's a requirement, like shallow water farther in. How hard it is to maneuver in vs. out plays a role. Slips with partial fingers, or no fingers, almost always work better stern-in.

[boatman61]

Differences in decks and free board make a bow in MB somewhat difficult to get off.. stern to one just steps off.
On a sailboat it don't really matter.. also many sail boaters are loath to reverse.. one engine, wind-age high up, lousy maneuvering abilities in some types..

[JK n Smitty]

This response won't make me popular but mainly laziness. Most fellow sailboaters that see me back into my slip come up and ask me how I can do that so easily. When I tell them I practice, they become disinterested. There is no real magic trick [other than typically they are not giving it enough throttle]. Go find an empty mooring and practice backing up to it. Learn how to back your boat up and how it handles.

The legit reason I have heard is privacy. If you are bow in then your cockpit is to the water and people can't see down the companionway. I get that some times but it's not really a factor to me due to the setup at my dock but it is something we consider at transient locations. Usually the ease of getting on and off the boat with the walk through transom outweighs most of the other thoughts and we end up stern in.

It's also a skill that served me well when on a charter in the BVIs and the transmission broke. It wouldn't go into forward but would go into reverse. I simply reversed us into a morning when we couldn't sail into it due to low wind in the lee of Marina Cay.

[Kevin84]

Power is also an issue. 99% of sailboats cannot back against the current so it ends up far easier pulling into a slip verses backing in (which may actually be impossible to do.)

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[denverd0n]

Around here I see a whole lot of sailboats that are backed in. Maybe it's a local thing.

[ontherocks83]

Don't forget about trying to back in after happy hour. Especially prefer pulling straight in at those times

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by JK n Smitty

This response won't make me popular but mainly laziness. Most fellow sailboaters that see me back into my slip come up and ask me how I can do that so easily. When I tell them I practice, they become disinterested. There is no real magic trick [other than typically they are not giving it enough throttle]. .

I'll concur with this about 75% I can drive most fin keel boat astern through a fairway and park them astern with my eyes closed...gain a little way astern, then back off the throttle and they'll do exactally as you wish. But throw in a boat such as mine, and all bets are off. I can back out the fairway with my full keel, not gracefully but doable. Make a turn into the slip.....not going to happen gracefully or at all with a beam wind or a current.....but I'll try a few times if I really want the stern in.