Sunsail Court Case

I was once trapped by my trapeze hook being caught on the underwater gunwale lip of a capsized FD. I actually came to the point where I thought 'this is it' (wouldn't have been too bad a way to go, actually). Luckily, once I'd relaxed, I tried something else with my last effort and slipped free.

All the while there was a German Police rescue boat alongside, crewed by trained life-savers in wetsuits ready to jump in at any moment, but under the circumstances (I won't go into more detail) they had no way of supposing my plight before it would have been too late, and in my view on that occasion they would have been completely blameless had I drowned. It was just one of those things, one of the risks we take when we go sailing (but generally don't fully appreciate).

I can only endorse the earlier comment about rescue boats only rescuing corpses. I view them as a means of getting home if e.g. my rig collapses; the responsibility for my safety is ultimately mine, and even a personal rescue boat couldn't necessarily be expected to save me from drowning. Maybe that's a point that needs to be made to novices before they become too gung-ho and develop a false sense of security ('No probs, there are rescue boats to save me')

That is an excellent suggestion; young kids "stuck" on the job don't always have the means to resign and walk ... even if they know somthing is wrong.

Yes

There is a difference between sailing under instruction and sailing for your own means. When hiring or under tution in a boat, there should be rescue cover to cover you to the highest degree and when sailing independantly you take your own risks. When I sail my own boat, I don't expect anybody to be able to rescue me, save my boat and in most situations would only see rescue cover as a possible assistance. We have a formulated standard of procedures for the worst case scenario on my boat and if every teaching establishment knew their boats properly they would be able to do the same. Not every boat is the same and you can't simply cover rescues with one set of rules. We know that if a crew member is trapped below the boat, we won't be able to right it before the trapped member becomes unconcious and know how to deal with it. Maybe establishments that use high performance boats should consider the same areas as we have. Every place I have worked with confirms to the highest standard of procedures, to the point that we had to log every slightest risk of safety to the pupil. I have the deepest sympathies for the family involved with this tragic incident and also for the staff that had to attend to it. I also hope that management within this area take responsibility and take measures to prevent it ever happeneing again.

Interestingly the RYA article http://www.rya.org.uk/NewsAndEvents/newsroom/news/lefkadaacc ident.htm says:

"The conditions of RYA Recognition for Training Centres have now been revised to ensure that instructors are aware of the dangers, and masthead floats are now used where necessary to prevent inversion. Safety boat crews are now trained to right an inverted boat immediately, rather than try to disentangle the crew."