your responsibilities as a sailor

Well you may not have heard of any problems SB - but I had the very upsetting task of pulling out a dead Fireball crew after a TH entrapment in my teens.  Big reservoir, sunny day, F2-F3.  It happens.

Personally I have had a couple of scares with entrapment (admittedly over 40 years of sailing) - once with my crew on a 505 and once myself helming the 49er.  Bouyancy aid didn't help or make it worse in either case - having a crew who knew what they were doing made the difference.  Despite their problems always use a QRH now (and have used it once - probably could have got out without it - but just so reassuring to bang out at the slightest sign of a problem).  I wish there was a better engineered solution than attaching a hook to yourself!

Mark


Edited by marke - 20 May 13 at 6:02pm

Originally posted by 2547 You often see discussions like this on cycling forums about helmets and nanny state.  I think ba's should be a matter of personal choice for adults when free sailing but if you wish to participate in an organised event then you have to accept the organisers requirements.  Their demands have been shaped by the blame and claim culture.  It is a facet of modern society unfortunately.

Sounds like the most common sense approach, and when 'free sailing' inland at one of the bigger clubs, we need to probably accept that It also constitutes 'organised sailing', even if we don't like to admit it.

for clarity, I'm not advocating the banning of traps... far from it.  

Our had pfd's forced on us by wessex water, so no choice for us anyway.

when I was a kid that I got trapped under the up turned hull of our mirror the buoyancy aid helped and hindered. I was 7 and a good swimmer but the buoyancy aid definitely helped while I was under the boat. However when my dad tried to get me out by pushing my head under the water to past the gunwale it hindered a bit. Luckily I got out on though

Originally posted by marke Well you may not have heard of any problems SB - but I had the very upsetting task of pulling out a dead Fireball crew after a TH entrapment in my teens.  Big reservoir, sunny day, F2-F3.  It happens.

I've been fortunate to have never experienced a fatality in 40 years of sailing, but I've seen two incidents of dinghy sailors ending up unconscious in the water at my club.  One was down to a heart attack, the other was down to a sailor getting knocked out & overboard by the boom during a gybe. In both cases safety cover was with them in a few minutes and they both recovered. Did wearing PFD's help keep them alive, I'm not sure, but personally I'd never go on the water without one.