Foiling Moth sailor rescued

 

The people on this forum who have never had a breakage or needed any form of outside assistance have obviously never left port. Remenber the old adage a sailor who has never run aground has either never left the harbour or is a liar.

 

You guys would do well in the nuclear industry never going down stairs without holding onto the hand rail with both hands or never carrying a hot drink on stairs. The list goes on and on. My wife is in mountain rescue and they have to deal with a few people breaking limbs whilst walking. I think we should ban walking:) 

I think you've clearly missed the point of any criticism levied in this thread John.  Those who are critical are actually trying to defend a free and non-interventionist approach to sailing we currently enjoy.  However it is by the actions of some individuals that leads to groups getting legislated against and potentially banned from pursuing their passions.  It is the reason why some local councils have attempted to ban windsurfing at their beaches through by-laws, this is despite years of history with little incident- the reason, kite surfers and the perceived danger of their long lines, especially if they try solo launches.  Do you really think a local harbour authority will differentiate between a foiling moth, laser, musto skiff or wayfarer? 

I think consensus of opinion here would support everyone's right to sailing freely, however the caveat that comes with this is that we should take necessary precaution to mitigate risk and that a foiling moth, with no means of communication in the depths of winter on the solent probably was a bit of bad call.    

 

That was a very interesting read.

Recalling a programme about the Penlee lifeboat disaster, I got the impression that the situation deteriorated after the Master of the Union Star had declined to negotiate or accept help from salvage tugs which were available to assist. O.K. salvage tugs are not charitable organisations, but the principle is the same.

It's a funny business when vessels get into difficulty... At one time potential rescuers could stand off and deliberately allow all in peril to drown before they could rightly? claim the spoils.

I'm not an expert in maritime law, but there should be some sort of mechanism that protects the interests of all involved. Just look at the current case of the Costa Concordia, there is bound to be fallout from that, and certainly the delay of the captain declaring the situation to the coastguards (when he was already in a lifeboat) will be a major point.

I think we are very fortunate in the UK to have organisations like the HM coastguard, RNLI and air sea rescue that are prepared to risk themselves for us.