Another Sunsail bang on the head.

Bav34

Bav34

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1. Hope the guy is ok

2. Is it mandatory?

I've only watched the Seaside Rescue programmes a few times but they always seem to be working on Sunsail yachts. A bit more training before they let people out?????
 
A few years ago a friend of mine was instructing a group of students on a Sunsail yacht in the Solent - and they managed to clobber him on the head with the main boom.

I do not know the circumstances, but he was knocked unconscious, air-lifted off by the helicopter, and taken immediately to (I think) the hospital in Salisbury, where they confirmed he had a fractured skull.

He survived OK, but he was very lucky that he didnt go overboard at the same time that he was clobbered.

I think all of these incidents dramatically illustrate how important it is to be very aware of how dangerous a boom can be when gybing.
 
The problem maybe is that until you have seen a gybe in a reasonable wind, it is difficult to image what happens. Sunsail boats mostly have inexperienced crews. Even if you brief the crew before a gybe and explain the boom will fly over with some force there will be someone who cannot even remember what the boom is! In yachts of that size, for beginners, would it be better to have a knot before the topping lift clutch so that the boom cannot come down to head height. Sunsail should perhaps consider that and also have the mainsheet on the cabin roof so that doesn't injure as well - it can be just as lethal. I am sure we can all remember close shaves. These yachts teach a huge number of beginners every year the pleasure of sailing.
I know there will be a lot of people who say it should never happen and that the boom is pulled in until the wind gets behind it and then let out progressively but in a "race" which livens up that initial sailing experience, it is often forgotten. Just a thought.
 
It was very windy, NE 6 to 7 , in Pompey harbour at that time. What did the guy in charge, if Sunsail have such a person, think he was doing. It was not a day for the inexperienced to get into a gybe situation.
 
I understand that both the serious head injuries sustained on the Sunsail fleet last year had very experienced crews on board.

I think you have to remember that these boats do a great deal of sailing and much of it racing, its a big fleet too.

To some extent I think saying 'but they always seem to be working on Sunsail yachts' is like saying volvo boat engines break alot.

Having said all of that the mainsheet arrangement in their cockpit is a bloody danger.


At last years industry sailing challenge the safety briefs were very thorough and the risks when gybing talked about in depth.
 
Totally agree re the fact that the number of serious incidents will be higher because there are more of them out more of the time, but they have already been warned :
here

How long before somebody is killed? What about the poor sod who has to keep swinging out of a very expensive helicopter?

I have been a Corporate client of the Company on three occasions and found their briefings adequate but still the accidents happen. As already mentioned what are they doing letting people, who perhaps lack experience, out in gusting F7 winds?
 
Agree with that.... letting inexperienced sailors out and into gybe situations without very close scrutiny/direction is not clever at the best of times, and in a F7 is downright dangerous....

Its OK briefing people about the risks of gybes, but a very inexperienced crew member will have no idea either what a gybe is, or any idea of when its about to happen.... they may be briefed, but bet my bottom dollar that they don't fully understand it, and have forgotten much of it 20mins later...

Sorry, I'm all for new people getting into sailing, but a F7 ain't the time to do it.
 
Just an educated guess Ken.

We were going for a sail today but when we saw double reefed yachts rounding up just outside our window we thought better of it.

HAD we gone out we sure as hell wouldn't have stood anywhere near where a boom could hit us. That, IMHO, shows a huge lack of common sense/experience.

I have raced round the IOW in enough F5/6 s to know the dangers of stray booms .... I think the same could be said of any EXPERIENCED sailor. This boat wasn't racing ... they were putting their main up. To be hit by the boom given the care they should have taken, given the conditions, seems to suggest inexperience.

Hey ho .... I hope his headache is better /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
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they always seem to be working on Sunsail yachts.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that, in fairness, it is likely that the majority (though by no means all) accidents of this nature happen to inexperienced crews on vessels with which they are not familiar. It is the nature of Sunsail that they are therefore going to experience these sorts of incidents more than others because they are taking huge numbers of people sailing for the first time.
 
A while ago after a number of dinghy boom mishaps the idea of hard hats was pushed as being the solution. Perhaps they should be more commonly used, in strong winds and or with less experienced crews. In fact all of us have close shaves or mishaps with the boom every now and then, so where do you draw the line? Should charter yachts all have a boomless rig like a Freedom Rig or a spritsail (Thames )barge or like a Drascombe Lugger. Or should booms be banned altogether. Or should we all be banned from sailing above force 4, or how long before the pontoon access to boats is considered too dangerous. Somewhere there must be a point at which we don't tell each other what to do but take responsibility for our own actions. An inexperienced crew will always be at more risk, but how do you get experience?. If Sunsail were to stop sailing in strong breezes then then the first time newcomers to the sport face a capful of wind might well be when they are on their own in the boat they have then bought.
 
My first day sailing on a big boat was a force eight gusting ten. I was in love instantly. Would I have been if it had been a flat calm? Well quite possibly, but it was still the best days sailing I have ever had.
 
Shortly before we got married, my wife-to-be chartered a couple of Sunsail yachts with skippers to sail across to Cowes: I suppose you could call have called it a hensail. Anyway, they get the briefings, get prepared, and set off in to what must have been an F2, gusting to F3. One particular lady is shown how to use the winch, practices under supervision, and appears to get the hang of it. 30 minutes later, there's a scream, and she's winched one hand.

No lasting damage, but part of Sunsail's problem (or any other charter company) is that a charter boat is where you are most likely to find the odd crew member who has got ZERO idea that physical things can bite back. Typically, they work in marketing or the media. All the safety briefings in the world won't help. The only way to complete a safe passage with one of these on board is to tell them where to sit, and instruct them to be absolutely motionless for the entire duration of the passage. The issue for the skipper is identifying if you have one (or more) in the crew before you set sail.
 
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