Sports boat
safety
23 June 2010 - A sailors view of the sports boat scene by
David Lush and Hugh Styles for Towergate Mardon.
Before going for a sail, you have to know
certain things; and make certain decisions; such as the wind
direction, forecast, and strength, the state of the tide, and where
you are going in order to get home. However it would be possible
drive a sports boat without any such knowledge.
In November 2007 a 24-foot Bayliner, left
Whitby harbour in a near gale, the boat was almost instantly
overwhelmed, and all three crew were lost. The subsequent
investigation found that the skipper had neither, qualification or
training, and that the boat was unsuitable. What are the factors in
ensuring sports boat safety, and will any of these inform your
buying decisions?
Seaworthiness
As can be seen from the example of the 24’
Bayliner, and the death in the Solent of a businessman thrown from
a seven metre, 225 HP Rib in 2006, size will not guarantee
safety.
What you are looking for as a prospective
purchaser are inherent characteristics that will make your new
sports boat safe. Some things are obvious; such as freeboard and
transom height others need further investigation.
A common cause of accidents in small sports
boats is flooding, throttle back or attempt to go up a beach in a
large swell can easily fill the boat from a following wave, so try
and choose a high transom and long or extra long shaft motor.
Ask the seller about bilge pumps and the
construction of the hull, many boats are unsinkable because, like a
Boston Whaler, they are foam filled. Or unsinkable because they
have several enclosed hull sections, such as Cheetah
catamarans.
Some earlier attempts at foam filling have
left boats with heavy soggy foam, often evidenced by wavy hulls and
cracked floors where the foam has expanded when the frozen water
expanded.
Most small aluminium boats normally have
closed cell foam in the seats and these boats feel very safe, as
they are both light and buoyant.
Auxiliary power in the form of a small
outboard, or even oars and paddles will give peace of mind, and
many motorboat users choose to do longer journeys in company.
Fuel safety
There are reports every year of fires in boats, and these are
mostly sports boats, where either electrical systems and petrol
systems malfunction, or human error when refuelling.
But fuel is also a problem for sports boat safety with
contamination and low fuel levels. Diesel can easily be
contaminated and affected by bugs, so clean tanks and filters are
essential, is there evidence of this in a recent service or
survey?
Petrol also suffers from water contamination, often caused by
condensation when tanks are left nearly empty. Removable tanks are
great as you can keep one as a spare, and they are easy to clean
out, but the only safe gauge on a remote tank is picking it up and
seeing how heavy it is, the float type gauges are very inaccurate.
However changing tanks in a rough sea can be difficult, and if the
tank is very full, and the day quite hot, petrol can spurt out from
the connectors under enormous pressure, so never allow smoking when
refuelling. Most sports boat insurance
policies insist on a fire extinguisher, check its type and date, a
simple car extinguisher will be adequate for most small boats, but
they do need careful wrapping in sealed plastic, such as a zip top
freezer bag to stop them rusting. Always carry a couple of fire
extinguishers in accessible places.
Communication
Before going out tell someone where you plan to go and when you
will be back, and make sure that you have a radio and adequate
training to use it properly. Hand held radios are great, and unlike
a mobile ‘phone they do not rely upon proximity to land to keep
their signal. Modern ‘phones are not very water resistant, and
touch screen mobiles don’t work well with cold wet fingers, and
mine have even failed with condensation in the screen after being
left in a waterproof jacket pocket.
Preparation
There are two phases to this, before the day and on the day;
Before going out in a sports boat, think about training, the RYA
have level one and two sports boat qualifications and a two day
helmsman course, and there are schools offering this in most
locations. Your sports boat insurance
provider may even expect these qualifications, and they will always
help you get the most out of your boat. On the day, use the
internet to get wind, tides and weather, the admiralty have a tide
site, and the Met office have accurate gust forecasts, but other
resources are ‘winguru’ and links from local Clubs and Marinas.
Print these off, as it’s easy to forget timings, and your crew,
particularly children, will appreciate being involved in the
planning.
Always wear a kill cord and buoyancy aid
Every sports boat helm should wear a kill cord where
appropriate, as a sudden wave or turn could prove, literally,
fatal. It is a great discipline to turn the motor off near
swimmers, or when you have crew in the water jumping on and off
ringos and wakeboards. The US Coastguard has published a report of
sports boat accidents, and 70 % of all fatalities are drowning, and
of those, 85% were not wearing a buoyancy aid. So the lesson for
sports boat safety is to wear a personal flotation device; a dinghy
buoyancy aid can look and act like a gillet and keep the user warm,
and inflatable life jackets are small and comfortable, so neither
are much trouble to wear. Try companies such as Magic Marine for
these clever new safety gillets.
Protection
Many boats have small cuddies or coach houses, most will have
consoles and screens, and there is always the option to have a
folding spray hood of some description, so sports boats are very
civilized, but the problem of wind chill is much greater at 30
knots than 5 knots, or nothing if going downwind in a sailing boat.
The sight of freezing people in wet sports boats was the enduring
memory of last summer, so every passenger needs sensible clothing
and some way of staying dry. Unfortunately our climate changes
quickly, so dry stowage is essential, a cool box seat such as a
Coleman from the USA can be fitted to sports boats and double up as
great storage. Boxes like this come with corner fittings for the
hull and shock cord tie downs, and can even make the boat look more
modern. It is also important to carry sun protection, and hats, as
even the most overcast day on the water will have a lot of
reflected light, and good quality wrap around sunglasses are
essential, turn your head at speed in open sided glasses and they
will disappear over the transom! In fact keeping a good lookout is
obviously vital at speed, in 2009 5 people were killed in Florida
when a sports boat ran into a tug, and someone died in the UK last
year when his Rib ran aground at speed.
Drinking and driving
One shocking statistic in the US Coastguard report on sports
boat accidents was that, in 2002 there were a massive 758
fatalities involving motorboats, and 23% of these involved alcohol.
There have been plenty of ‘drunks ahoy’ headlines since 2007, when
the government proposed a new drink drive law for leisure mariners;
The then Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman said the alcohol limit
for "non-professional mariners" will be 80 milligrams per 100
millilitres of blood, 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath
or 107 milligrammes in 100ml of urine. The limit, which already
applies to professional seafarers and motorists, equates roughly to
a pint and a half or two pints of ordinary strength beer or three
pub- size measures of wine. It would apply to anyone navigating a
vessel more than seven metres (22.9ft) long and/or capable of a
maximum speed of more than seven knots (about 8mph). So although
this has yet to become law, the sensible sports boat safety advice
is not to drink and use a sports boat, as even without the law a
drunken sports boater could still be prosecuted for manslaughter if
the worst were to occur, and motorboats can easily become difficult
to control.
Man overboard, often on purpose!
There are some great ladders and swim platforms on modern sports
boats, and these are essential when using wakeboards, skis and
ringos, but they are also a useful sports boat safety device for a
man overboard. They can be retro fitted and will add value to any
boat, so they are very high on the option list.
But sports boats are safe
Every sailing event relies upon Ribs and sports boats to provide
safety cover, and the simple fact is, that a well equipped,
sensibly used sports boat is a great way to introduce the family to
the water, none of the tacking all over the place and noisy, flappy
sails, less of the heeling and none of the being becalmed. So
whilst discussing sports boat safety may be rather gloomy, it will
help a new buyer chose the right sports boat for them, and give
years of safe pleasure.