Safety standards: Point – Counterpoint

When Scuttlebutt asked whether rising safety standards for events was making a difference, as the goal was to prevent fatalities, here are two viewpoints:

From Edward Leslie:
I started sailing with my dad 57 years ago. He grew up on powerboats, but wanted the peace and quiet of sailing. So, when he left the navy, he bought a Bristol 28 from Palmer Johnson in Racine, WI.

The boat came with three sailing lessons, and during one of those lessons, it was so windy and we were so overpowered, I was free floating from the lifelines… or so the story goes. Dad and I had our fair share of learning seamanship together, and there were plenty of old salts around to teach the tricks.

Dead reckoning was a valuable skill to know when one junior sailing trip was sailed back to home port in dense fog, with just a chart, depth meter, and knot meter. Fun times. Kmart was our source of foul weather gear. How the times have changed.

Today, all the regulations placed upon the racers has reached governmental proportions in order to protect less than a 1% accident. Yet fools still head out to sea without dutiful respect of mother nature, while very rarely do folks leave safe harbor in conditions less than ideal.

We are all a collection of our experiences, and while a two-day Safety at Sea Seminar (I took one perhaps 10 yrs ago) covers a lot of ground, it really does not provide the experiences necessary to prevent all accidents.

From Joe Cooper:
I used to think the cry ‘Man Overboard’ was the worst phrase anyone on a boat could hear, but no longer. For the Newport to Bermuda Race I was, for 2022 and 2024, and will be for 2026, the director of the Fleet Communications Office.

In the 2022 race, I was the watch stander who took the first call regarding the MOB information concerning the owner of Morgan of Marietta. Our office went through the drill that such an event demand.

A short time later, I took another call, this time from a USCG officer calling in regard to the MOB event we were in the midst of. This officer asked “if we had next of kin information” for the crew member overboard.

That sailboat racing is not a cheap hobby is news to no one, but I ask, how much is it worth to owners and crews AND their families, friends, co-workers, dry cleaners, corner market, car mechanic, guys at the gym, next door neighbors, etc. that are used to seeing you on a regular basis, to not hear that question?