Bow into a slip, or back in?

[Dane Connell]

I'm a new owner on Canyon Lake, Texas, USA. I'm fortunate to have use of a slip at the Lake Canyon Yacht Club (for now). Currently I have the mooring lines set up to nose into the slip, however, if not controlled correctly the bowsprit stays 'could' encounter the end of the slip. I'm curious if anyone has experience backing into a slip? I've not tried this, and I'd have to re-do my mooring lines. I am likely to solo frequently, and it just strikes me that backing into the slip might be less stressful. I guess my question relates to how easy is it to control/steer the vessel in reverse?

[zimp]

Welcome to this forum Dave.

Steering in reverse will never be easy with boats like the CC19. It can be helpfull if you can do some addiotonal steering with the engine, this depends on the type of engine. But topping the bowsprit gives less concerns about the sprit hitting "something".

I found two pictures of a topped bowsprit somewhere on the web.

[bellalistair]

I'll second that, the welcome and that control is far easier forwards.
To be honest even if you don't raise the bowsprit given the relatively low weight of the CC19 the waterstay meeting with the pontoon at low speed is not the end of the world and unlikely to do damage to either. (Of course I don't speak from experience.... ahem.... much...). Best avoided of course but increased speed is never the answer and so such issues are then less concerning. Whether to raise before going in, or after tying up, or not at all, for me depends entirely on the location and amount of room (and whether the marina are going to charge for the extra length :-) )

Cheers,

Alistair