Atlantic rowing race rescues.

kindredspirit

kindredspirit

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Do you think that the Atlantic rowing race participants who have had to be rescued should pay for their rescues?

They are, after all, doing something which involves a fairly high possibility of capsize and damage to their boats. They are taking an inordinately high risk which is far greater than that of sea users in general.

Just wondering what people think?

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In principle I have no problem is asking them to pay for their rescue but if I had to vote on it, I would come down on the side of never charging anyone to be rescued. The problem is that once you start charging where do you draw the line? So for the few extreme cases like the rowing boats itsnot worth changing the general policy .... never charge.
 
I agree with Gludy this time. However, do see that mandating a safety boat for some of the more insane attempts would make a lot of sense. NZ leads the way in this with their requirements for boats setting of to transit away from NZ - but believe that this is only relevant to NZ registered craft.
 
Well, to a degree they have been. The rowers have been accompanied across by two support yachts - the rescue yesterday morning of Spirit of Cornwall was by one of these support boats. I would imagine that a proportion of the entry fee goes towards paying for them. OK, so it hasn't been perfect because other rescues have had to be carried out by other ships.

Also, the weather for this race has been particularly difficult. The race has been successfully run three times before, and the boat design (at least the single/pairs boat) has made at least 100 crossings under the auspices of the race - not to mention other ocean rows.
 
Point is, the 'cost' of a rescue may involve, for instance, the Navy, who were going to be out there doing something anyway: press ask "how much does it cost to run a frigate three days/200 miles?" and print it.

Have to say, the local RNLI was once billed for damage to an inflatable beach toy during the rescue of the occupants: a bill for £800 for the launch was sent by return.....
 
I think any of these so called explorers or record attempts should be made to take out insurance against any rescue costs, and if they refuse make them pay. They are deliberately putting themselves in danger if they weren't why do the attempt at whatever they are /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

The money paid for the rescues by the insurance companies leaves more resources for everyday people, easy.
 
But then you get into the whole question of what is a record attempt, what is risky - what is not risky etc just in order to decide what to insure for and what not to insure for. Once you open this box you have to have overheads in a system making these value judgments and seeking the payment etc. It opens Pandora's box.

It also means that the example where a small boat set of for a family local trip, no radio, no life jackets and kids in tow then needs help when their mobile fails to work (as reported in another thread) constitute a bigger isk than a simple record attempt for something across the Channel. So you end up with all sorts of value judgements and the overheads involved in making them. Best left as it is.

One of the things that always puzzles me as other have pointed out is when you hear how much it cost to put x troop here ot there. Are these costs the extra costs ovcer and above what we have to pay anyway (marginal costs) or are they the total costs? It seems depending on what assumptions you make costs can be almost anything.
 
Same arguments have raged for years about mountain rescue. As has been pointed out, the armed services involved use rescues as training opportunities. If they weren't called out they would have to do their own "mock" rescues anyway.
Mountain rescue in Britain has always been conducted by volunteers who raise their own funds, although in the Alps, for example, insurance cover is mandatory.
I'm against charging at sea, hasn't it always been the duty of anyone to offer help in an emergency?
 
Keep the spirit of adventure alive. This was not a foolhardy race, just one that pushed the boundaries of man against the oceans, and has been run succesfully before. In these circumstances I applaud the people brave enough to try it, and am happy for my taxes to be used in rescuing them if it goes wrong.
 
Thin edge of the wedge.

The same argument is raised for mountain walkers (Rescued free) and has done for years, usually from none walkers. So am surprised to hear this comming from a boater.
 
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