Safety In Sailing

Whilst any accidental death is deeply shocking and sad, all this fuss about the death of ONE sailor in the world, is grossly disproportionate. I am always AMAZED that there are so few serious sailing accidents (especially for those sailing on "Donna Mia"). When you compare it with the FIVE deaths that have occurred in the two months or so that the schoolboy rugby season has been running this year, Sailing must be considered an extremely safe sport.

Of course one should always wear a safety harness when sailing offshore at night - that's what seamanship is about. PFDs are also a good idea, though some tend to be bulky and are potentially more dangerous than the elements around you. Common sense must prevail. Sailing is only a game and we must always remember that you'll miss a good party if you don't make it to the end.

I sailed dinghies for more years than I care to remember, and have witnessed some seriously dangerous incidents which have been caused because sailors HAVE been wearing PDFs (life jackets). Apart from seeing people trapped under capsized boats, I have seen people collapse when they came ashore from heat exhaustion.

Around the world, there are many excellent sailors who are appallingly bad seamen. As I understand the RRS, you are obliged to offer help to any boat in distress which, to my mind means that you do not sail past a capsized boat before satisfying yourself that the crew are OK.

Please let's get things into perspective. Winning sailing races isn't as important as safety at sea. We have a very safe sport as long as we obey the basic rules of seamanship.

The last thing we want is for the politicians to move in with overkill legislation (as they've tried in the past).

Gavin Smith