Are overweight people a liability on a boat.

[alan_d]

You should go and thump the biology teacher. As any fule kno, ginger, like blue eyes, is a recessive gene. Two gingers will always produce a ginger child, but you can have two non-ginger parents and if they both have the ginger gene lurking in the background, they've got a 25% chance of a ginger child.

Not true. Hair colour is not determined by a single gene, so although a recessive "ginger" gene is quite influential it is still possible for two ginger parents to produce a non-ginger child. For greater detail see here:http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythredhair.html

 

[Applescruffs]

redheads are the hottest though surely...


Ohhh yeah....but only the females.......


The male definition of 'ginger'......is ....well.....not quite the same....

 

[Uricanejack]

If I round my hight down to 5 10 I am obese and a liability if I round it up to 5 11 I am meerly overweight.

Although I would point having a hefty fellow or two on the windward rail comes in handy.

 

[Capt Popeye]

This is not relevant. I am average size and weight whilst the vast majority of people are shorter and light than me. I bought a 275N Life jacket on the basis that my size plus oilies, boots etc would be a problem. When I went on a Sea Survival course, I regretted it, as the difficulties of climbing anywhere, either back on board or into a life raft, are greatly increased.

A standard LJ suits any adult body size, the larger versions are for workers who might be wearing or carrying something heavy when they fall in.

Very interesting observations: I was looking at most LJ who give sizes as - S - M - L - XL - perhaps XXL
The Chest size and Weight being stated as criteria to select between them.
Grossly overweight (or what we might understand as) did not seem to figure in the manufacturers listings.

Could form an intersting PBO (or??) test, with people at each end of the extreem weight, and perhaps disabilities, going through tests of recovery etc?

 

[Bosun Higgs]

According to the BMI, some 64% of britons are overweight. If the typical crew is two people that means that 90% of boats have at least one bloater on board. My boat always has one.

 

[Zagato]

Pass the pies, I'm going to add less weight! How much money did the Atkins diet bloke make pass the beef...

 

[alant]

The say that the population of the UK is or is fast becoming grossly obese.
You probably stand more chance of being run over by a obese person in one of those chariot things speeding along the pavement than you do of being hit by a car.
When it comes to sailing though does someone who is well overweight become a liability. On one hand I have seen people really struggle when moving about a boat or find it almost impossible to get in or out a dingy. On the other hand I have friends who are overweight a still make excellent sailors but usually have someone else aboard to do some of the more nimbler work.
Would you refuse to take someone sailing on safety grounds if they were just too big for their own good?

See this MAIB report on a 125kg Swedish guy, who died in an accident in 1999 on a UKSA boat.

http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/wahoo.pdf

They couldn't get him back on board & I believe they actually towed him into Yarmouth without success, so yes, large overweight people are a hazard on yachts.

 

[Lakesailor]

When towing obese people you need to be very attentive to the attachment point. Porpoising can be a problem.

 

[photodog]

When towing obese people you need to be very attentive to the attachment point. Porpoising can be a problem.

And you need to display the correct lighting for towing a barge.

 

[johnalison]

Some obese people are quite light on their pins and can make good dancers. I remember seeing a spherical bloke who was a barrister and rafted a couple of boats off the shore. I have seldom seen anyone trip so lightly over the guard-wires and across the inside craft. I wouldn't have enjoyed trying to haul him out of the drink, though.

 

[2Tizwoz]

Yes

And obese pets don't help

 

[Capt Popeye]

See this MAIB report on a 125kg Swedish guy, who died in an accident in 1999 on a UKSA boat.

http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/wahoo.pdf

They couldn't get him back on board & I believe they actually towed him into Yarmouth without success, so yes, large overweight people are a hazard on yachts.

Great info alant! many thanks.
A very sobering thought! getting back 'on board' can be impossible with light craft or hight sides! I wonder if a 'lifebelt' might be a better option that a LJ if the person is 'with it' and communicating? a lifebelt might keep them up right and head further out of the water, than a LJ?

Recovery, in these circumstances, can also prove a prob if the crew on board are weaker either from being the weaker sex, ill, have a disability, or aged!

 

[DogWatch]

On the other hand I have friends who......

No you don't.