where did this come from?

[BR Mon]

Having raced the Miami - MoBay race several time you don't start reaching until you enter the windward passage. Until that starboard turn it can be a beat.

BTW. There is no such maneuver as "tacking" It's called "coming about. It's one of the "trick" questions on the sailing endorsement test.

Captain D
Master unlimited (AGT) all routes
Master Sail 500 tons
Master Auxiliary Sail
Approved course instructor / examiner < 1,600 GT

Thanks for the "sailing class"...I was a fresh water sailer with only one short trip Bareboating on a Bristol 29 in the Abacos for a week...yes, I would announce "coming about" just before the tack....I have followed your post here and have total respect for what you guys do on the open seas. I thought about the people that caught rides on the Banana boats to and from Jamaica and wondered if this term could have been used by them after hearing the terms used by the crew.. however I have heard the term "Reach' used around the world and not just Jamaica...Oh, I can fly an airplane...yes take off and land and not bend the plane....Just incase the conversation moved from boats to aircraft...

BR Mon

C-130 CrewMember
1,802 flight crew hours
118 Combat Missions in Vietnam
Pilot in Command Cessna, Beachcraft
Jamaican Junkie
Commissioned Red Stripe tester
Grill Master

My C-130 Navigator taught me to sail in the Gulf Of Thailand....

My response is in jest as you would guess. Thanks for your contributins and your knowledge of Jamaica and life in general..

[kim&betty]

i certainly do not disparage your credentials or accomplishments captain, however tests/examinations are prepared by people, and people make mistakes. in my field we are required to take exams for different licencing levels. these are also "official" government prepared exams. on occasion questions that are answered correctly are marked as incorrect. they may be challenged, and after consideration if found to be a bad question it is thrown out of that and future exams. seen, respect.

[captaind]

That question has been challenged and NMC won't budge. I think they got the definition from Bowditch Vol ll.

You can be sure I give my candidates a heads up about this one.

[BR Mon]

This thread is now officially "In Irons"...I am going to give Captain D the "big boat right of way"...The OP asked why it is called a reach...I still say a reach is the sailors delight especially when the wind direction alows the boat to sail in a reach for a long period...Jamaica is not the only place I have heard a term used... Passengers most probably heard the term reach used by the crew...

[kim&betty]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tack i am not an english major, they say it's a verb. i really could be wrong, don't care, i'll REACH seastar in 9 days, blessings and respect to each and everyone of you!

[kim&betty]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reach look at definition 2b intransitive verb

[BR Mon]

I think the conversation on this board more fits the noun....On my last reach to Jamaica....Reach is a noun and can replace words such as trip, journey or voyage...That appears to be the way this word that got popular a few years ago on this board is used.....For a verb it could be.....What time did we we finally reach Negril after heavy traffic in Mo Bay??....Your usage above is a verb but most of the uses here are as a noun....I am not an English major but i do remember some substitution rules that can be used to see which one it is used as...

Oh, my money is still on the Sea Captain and his experience and use of sailing terms over an English Major that wrote a dictionary for merriam-webster..

Enjoy you upcoming REACH (n.) you will be very happy once you finally REACH (v.) Seastar..

[Rambo]

ITS SO SIMPLE.........

when your here your always reaching..$$$$$$$$$$

[Island Girl]

Verrryyy interesting conversation {{grin}} IRIE! *IG

[MissBlue]

it's a kind of message board slang - pretty much only used on these JA boards - that came out of an incorrect interpretation of what people THINK is Jamaican patois. it's a huge pet peeve of mine, for years now... "reach" is not a noun, and isn't used as a noun in patois either... patois speakers say something like "call me when you reach" - a verb.

If you replace 'reach' in any sentence with the word 'arrive', and see whether or not it makes any sense, that's what will tell you if it's being used correctly - either in speaky-spokey or patois.