Sailors with DisAbilities upgrade safety with latest Survitec gear

by Survitec Group on 20 Jan 2013 Ocean yacht racing at the best of times can be a dangerous sport, however with a full crew of 19 sailors on board, some of whom are profoundly disabled, the hazards can be magnified.

Survitec Australia is a committed long term sponsor of the Sailors With DisAbilities (SWD) group and have recently up-rated the safety equipment on board the SWD ocean racing boat, Wot Eva.

The big TP52 operated by SWD was gifted to the SWD organisation in a generous act of philanthropy by Graeme Wood, founder of the Wotif.com company.

Timed to coincide with the 2012 Sydney to Hobart campaign, Survitec Managing Director Mark Barker recently delivered a complete kit of the latest Crewsaver and Kannad safety equipment. This will be fully utilised by the crew of Wot Eva in the 2012 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Included in the safety kit are the Crewfit 190 Inflatable Lifejackets from the Crewsaver line up and Kannard R10 Survivor Recovery System.

The model supplied is a manual inflate version with harness attaching ring. The Kannad R10 is the very latest in man-overboard technology. Each crew member wears an R10 personal unit. In a man-overboard situation, the unit emits a homing beacon back to the vessel. This allows the skipper to bring the boat alongside the person in the water, even in the darkest of nights or most stormy of seas.

Survitec Australia also provides SWD with strobes, Kannad EPIRBS, RFD harnesses, liferafts and the ongoing servicing of these vital pieces of safety equipment. In addition, Survitec Australia helps with essential cash support that allows Sailors With DisAbilities to continue and expand their program.

'We recognise that our safety program has to be all the more vigilant due to the physical limitations of our crew,' said David Pescud of Sailing With DisAbilities.

'Our stated objective is to have the best of safety equipment on board WotEva and the products which we have from Survitec certainly are world class in every respect. We rate the support that Survitec offers us as highly relevant and very genuine.'

'We are very much indebted to Survitec and Mark Barker for having such a robust safety program.'

In addition to WotEva, the SWD organisation continues to operate their original blue water yacht, Kayle.

'We became involved with the SWD organisation when we saw the fine work that they were doing with young people,' said Mark Barker, Managing Director of Survitec Australia.

'Not only do they provide an opportunity for people with a physical disability to try sailing in a safe and supportive environment, but they also do a fantastic job with school children with behavioural problems. We recognised that the SWD organisation needed a heightened level of safety equipment for their 16.2m racing yacht, Kayle, so we stepped up and provided the essential safety gear to assist.'

Survitec Group in Australia (RFD Australia Pty Ltd) is primarily involved in the supply, service and project management of marine, fire, life support and gas control equipment to Government Departments and major corporations in the region. In the marine segment Survitec Group services recreational boating as well as the defence, shipping and aviation industries. Major brands distributed include: RFD, Toyo, DSB, Lifeguard, Beaufort, Plastimo, Kannad Marine, Comet, Hammar and Compact.

More at www.rfd.com.au