MORE ON LARGER BOATS

Chris...mate on a large boat expands on his earlier comments:

"I am on a 27 meter (86 foot) sailboat as mate. The problem in this industry is that it is not possible to practice docking a 120 - 300 foot yacht just for the sake of training (the fuel costs being what they are, and putting a dent in a 15 million euro yacht is also a career ender). There are a lot of people that have sea miles that add up to 3 or 4 times around the world, but have never docked a large yacht themselves, until they are captains. The idea of a simulator that really works and that you can play around with on your own is good. In general people working their way up the ranks in the industry understand the theory in fine detail, but the actual opportunities to practice are non-existant. People that have merchant marine qualifications do train on professional simulators, but they are few and far between."

The Pro's problem is, in reality, the same as yours.  They can't afford to crash a boat and can't afford to practice.  You can afford to practice on your own smaller boat, but can you afford to crash it?  Boatmaster costs less than the price of a docking fender.  The answer seems obvious to me.

We'll soon have a model for Chris and his larger boat, and I bet it'll be a fascinating thing to try.  I'd predict that wind won't be as much a problem for him as for you, but that current will be the same, and inertia will be more important, as there's greater mass in Chris' boat.  Perhaps the next upgrade will include the Chris-fix, and we can see for ourselves.