Safety standards keep rising, and while hard to say that’s a bad thing, has it made a difference? The goal is to prevent fatalities, but with less participation than a few decades ago, are incidents reduced by a comparable metric? The names have been changed from this conversation:
Joe said, “Charging $450 per person for the two-day Safety at Sea seminar must be a brake on hopes of participation growth. You might expect, if US SAILING really thought safety was important, they’d figure out how to make it free, or no more expensive than Race Officer seminars. And while mandating pricey personal locator beacons is nice, you still need the practical seamanship skills to get the crew back aboard once you find them.”
Peter replied, “We keep trying to improve the sport, but are we? Every incident prompts a new idea to save people from themselves, but is this now masking how practical seamanship isn’t what it once was. Plus, more cost and complexity create a taller wall that not everyone will climb, and if they do, odds are there will be another wall being built.”
Kaylee added, “Organizing authorities shield themselves from lawsuits by saying participation is at the skipper’s discretion. However, the more organizers mandate for safety requirements, the more likely someone could make a case that the organizers have assumed so much authority over safety, that they are responsible for decisions about whether or not to sail, thus opening themselves to liability.”
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DemirHindiSG 05 Mayıs 2025-00:39
