How did they not see the ship?
I mean not with sophisticated detection systems, or by AIS or by VHF conversation.
I mean by actually opening eyes and looking.
It was actually a fairly large ship which I presume was displaying navigation lights.
We did not see it until it was right upon us does not wash with me I’m afraid.
This is like the airplane accident at DCA where it got rammed by the helicopter. Once A says I see you and will keep clear, B takes their word for it and gets a nasty surprise.
If I had to guess:
The ship was under the genoa and hard to see unless you climb over on the low side and look around the sail. The racing boat skipper thought the ship was turning and didn’t care much if they missed by 50 yards or a mile. The closing speeds were quite high, so by the time the ship captain decided to NOT turn there was very little time left. At this point the sailboat has few good options. They can’t speed up, they are already going full speed. They can’t turn to windward much and turning to leeward aims them closer to the ship. If they do a crash tack and the ship is actually taking their stern but close aboard, they just turned back in front of it. I am sure fatigue played a part in being slow maybe to appreciate what was happening.
I have had enough shenanigans go on with ships outside of pilotage waters that I never trust them to see me or change course unless we explicitly make an arrangement and even then all eyes would be on said ship to make sure it actually did it.
I don’t trust anyone with my life full stop.
If some bits of sail are impending a lookout then surely….oh never mind there is never any fault on the sailboat as they have no money to be sued. A large shipping company has assets that can be chased.
Still wonder why anyone thinks it’s ok to race yachts in the Dover TSS
But then I am just a simple ship driver.
Even in broad daylight, in fair weather, keeping an effective lookout is not that easy on a boat like this (video link). Imagine the same situation at night, with your mate in the cabin, and yourself busy on the tiller. This is no excuse, just an attempt at an explanation.
A planned crossing of the ship’s stern would not have cost them significant time. Even in a race, I think it was poor decision making to rely on VHF concord and take the riskier route across the bow.
If you can’t keep a lookout should you really be boardering on a TSS at 18kts.
This forum does not have a banging your head against a wall emoji.
Use mine for a time being.
Thanks Spo 
A resounding “no” already seems to be consensus on this forum and topic, even amongst the white rag faction 
In lieu of a wall, I will lend you this:
Thanks Float
There must be better ways to get a sore head. 
The issue was not in that no one saw the ship, they DID see it and made a big mess out of the situation and vice-versa.
One lesson learned long ago is you can’t win a race if you’re dead, sunk, or chopped in half in this case. Wasting 30 seconds taking the ship’s stern beats dealing with someone of questionable abilities and motives, just let them go on their way.
Old motorbike racer’s adage: “Before you finish first, you first have to finish!”
I felt like a total puss doing chicken gybes in heavy air (lower chute on one tack, gybe over, and raise it again). We gained 3 places because other boats suffered sail and rig damage or just had a big tangled mess to undo. Turned out discretion WAS the better part of valor 