Sunsail Court Case

I think you need to be carefull what you write on a public forum I would probably delete these posts and think abou the implications of what you are saying as Sunsail may take this the wrong way i would hate to see what you say here comming back to haunt you.

If you really want to get this off your chest it might be advisable speaking to a journalist that could offer you some legal suppport and publish your views.

Originally posted by tack'ho  to ask an young person with little experience in the field to formulate their own policy possible is frankly rissable and constitutes a shocking abdication of responsibilty.  This doesn't absolve them of any moral responsibility but if following a few near misses sunsails management had issued instructions not to allowing trapezing off the leeward hull, etc etc, they would known the dangers and been able to do their best to mitgate them.

They are supposed to be qualified instructors and therefore, you might hope, do have "experience in the field". http://www.sunsail.com/club/dinghy_sailing.html

However I agree that policy can't be the responsibility of seasonal staff. 

Originally posted by Stefan Lloyd Originally posted by Bumble The incident will have no bearing on the UK situation but it is worth remembering, if you like your kids, you wouldn't let them go rock climbing/horse riding (incidentally the statistically dangerous thing you can do)/caving/etc without any proven experience on their own....... so why is sailing any different. They weren't meant to be "on their own". They were at an organised sailing centre with rescue boat cover.

That was my point (possibly poorly given) - the issue is that inexperienced sailors shouldn't be doing that on their own. I like BOABS quote

Originally posted by BOABS When my father was competing at International level, 35 years ago, he had a phrase 'Rescue boats can only rescue corpses', which whilst melodramatic and probably only aimed at me instilled a self preservation ethos.

You can whine on and on about how the rescue should have been this and the rescue team should have been like this, but that will never reach a point where there will be no risk. Only monitoring peoples skill and matching it to the risks involved will ensure saftey.

Originally posted by St'L' Insurance has absolutely nothing to do with this. You can't insure yourself against criminal charges.

It would do had it been in the UK which I was refering to. You CAN insure your company against costs incured due to negligent action and costs due to 'unforseeable accidents'. Trust me, Ive sold the stuff. The policy costs for this kind of 'liability cover' has risen so much in the UK it is hard for smaller outdoor (risk related) activity providers to operate. You can trust me on this, I sat on the board for 2 such outfits and gave financial advice to 5 customers who no longer operate.

This is a sad tale as it ended in death, but it comes down to a matter of point of view. Do you think risk related activity providers have a legal imperitive to remove all risk....... not possible. Do you think pavement providers have a legal imperitive to remove any possibility of tripping (risk) ...... also impossible. Do you think paper providers have a legal imperitive to make it impossible to cut your self ..... blah blah. People do sometimes need to take alittle resposibilty for the risks involved with living, and more so with 'pleasure seeking'.

Originally posted by Bumble You CAN insure your company against costs incured due to negligent action and costs due to 'unforseeable accidents'. Trust me, Ive sold the stuff.

"Trust me, I'm a doctor." Possibly. "Trust me, I'm an insurance salesman." Hm.

You are missing the point. The costs are not the issue. The staff have jail sentences against them, albeit suspended. You can't insure against going to jail.

Do you think risk related activity providers have a legal imperitive to remove all risk....... not possible. Do you think pavement providers have a legal imperitive to remove any possibility of tripping (risk) ...... also impossible.

No, but they do have responsibility to exercise due care, especially when dealing with children. They also have a responsibility to comply with the law, which they apparently didn't. 

Without knowing all the details, the verdict of this tragic case sounds about right to me - "gross negligence", not manslaughter.  The boat was being sailed in an inappropriate manner (although we've all done it) and clearly the supervision and safety facilities on offer at the time were inadequate.  One person on a rescue/safety/observation/callitwhat youlike boat is simply not enough.  Surely any such boat, whether at a sailing school or Olympic games, must have two people on board?

I'm not saying that all risk should be taken out of sailing (it can't be), but it seems some fairly basic things were not done on this particular day.  Whether that was the fault of the individuals convicted is difficult to tell, but the centre manager has to have overall responsibility.