Trapeze harnesses

My oppinion may not be taken likely here due to my age, but at largs i help with ALL events im not racing in, and that for the last 5 years has been mainly safety cover. The most recent event that comes to mind was the RYA youth trials and championships, we had hobie 16s 29ers 420s lasers and windsurfers. To start, the windsurfers were mixed in wearing/not wearing yet all seemed happy with their choice and they were not a problem all week. Avoiding the lasers here, the split in the 420s between people wearing rashtops over everything and not was about 50/50 and in the 29ers just about everyone wore a rash top over everything. Now speaking from expereince, i much prefer wearing my gill top over everything as the hastle getting snagged on something causes when trapezing is beyond irritating, i even wear it sailing the moth because snagging was a bit of an issue at first. Back to my main point, that event had some of the worst weather weve seen all year with a good few races being abandoned through sheer foul weather and poor visibility, i spent the week on the safety coordinator RIB mainly rescuing 9ers and hobies (which are very acrobatic boats in high winds and big seas ) and hauling people out with a rash top was not a problem at all. THESE THINGS ARE DESGINED NOT TO BE A PROBLEM!!! they stretch. I dont want to sound patronising, but its not fair to comment on situations if you have never experienced them. I accept that i still have a hell of a lot to expereince at only being 17 but ive never had a problem being rescued myself wearing the kit i have. It all boils down to expereince, and if you are a QUALIFIED safety boat driver, even powerboat level 2 covers some of this topic, you will know what to do, the course is specially designed by the RYA to keep you informed of the latest ways of rescuing from different scenarios as well as letting you practice them. The only class i believe should not wear aids is the 18s but only because it is inherantly unsafe to wear them. With other matters like other skiffs, it is down to the individual persons choice if the rules permit it, at all sailing schools and youth racing now, the influence is on always wearing a bouyancy aid, yes some are inconvenient with harnesses so buy a new aid that isnt, one that is again designed not to be a problem. i now leave my post open to criticism, we learn best from our mistakes, but even more from other peoples mistakes....

sorry there, i didnt want to sound like "everyone should wear a vest" i was just commenting on some misconsetions from the rescue boat point of view there and i'd have to agree with you there above, that having a knife along the lines of an RRK knife on the transom area of the boat is a big bonus as everyone knows where it is.

Originally posted by Isis So why is it that windsurfers (in general) do not wear life jackets? What about the aussie skiff sailors? very few of them do from what ive heard and yet ive noticed that most of them have yet to die without one...

I've been considering that myself recently and the only excuse I can think of is that there is a lot less 'stuff' to get knocked out on. However there is a much greater chance of getting separated from a board then a dinghy.... maybe windsurfers are expendable?

I don't think that 'most (sailors) not dieing' (IE over 51%) would be an acceptable safety record in any sport. Entrapment has been shown by the RYA to be a media driven perceived risk which is tiny compared to other sailing hazards. Promoting the sort of bravado that relates wearing a buoyancy aid to lack of 'bottle' is completely irresponsible.

Edited by Matt Jackson

I was not forgetting anything ,

 

My point was that if I am wearing a wetsuit I WILL FLOAT , alive dead unconscious or otherwise ,

A bouyancy aid will not turn me over so my face isn't in the water - lifejackets are intended for this and is a requirement to be a lifejacket .

I don't promote not wearing bouyancy aides merely pointing out the obvious and reminding folk , most SI's will require the use of EXTRA bouyancy .

Ps it is still possible to drown whilst floating  head up and conscious in a LIFE JACKET it does happen !

Bouyancy aides keep you warm !!! perhaps why I can get away with a 2/3 mm wetsuit all year round .

When I sail leadmines I wear a self Inflating Lifejacket , as I could sink otherwise if unconscious etc.

 

 

 

Sorry to hear that Spot. There will always be people who've had bad experiences and getting them to change their minds will be difficult - I had a girlfriend once who refused to wear a seatbelt in a car for the reasons I mentioned earlier.

However I believe it's very important to separate that from a general disregard for safety otherwise our kids will identify with these (admittedly rather cool) individuals and refuse to wear safety equipment as well. With the abundance of well designed equipment around today there is no need for it.