Cowes week tragedy
- Thread starter VicS
- Start date
girlofwight
Well-Known Member
It pi55e5 me off when I life is lost doing a hobby we all enjoy, whether cruising, racing or pottering. Off to the boat in East Cowes in just a mo, and then down to Fireworks on foot later. A lot of partying. But I for one will have a space in my mind for the sailor who didn't make it back to the pontoon.
RIP
RIP
dom
Well-Known Member
Just terrible news - it’s not quite clear how the mainsheet caught him, but sounds like rotten luck. RIP
lw395
Well-Known Member
Terrible news.
A wake-up call for all of us.
A wake-up call for all of us.
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Agreed, and it should be investigated to see what lessons can be learned, but accidents will always happen anywhere outside a padded cell and, when racing, there's a risk that people are focused more on getting the last 1/10 of a knot out of the boat or making the mark rather than their personal safety.
I always used to reckon that the most dangerous part of my weekend's sailing was driving round the M25 and, in spite of this accident, I'd say the same about someone racing in Cowes Week. By all means improve safety wherever possible, but please don't let Nanny decide racing's dangerous, with the inevitable outcome. (And I don't race)
tudorsailor
Well-Known Member
Of course awful for victim and the family. However its always interesting that one sailing fatality makes the national news. Meanwhile there are at least 5 deaths a day on UK road. There are about 10 deaths a year in the UK from horse riding - but they rarely hit the news. In the Alps there are as many as 100 deaths a year of skiers.
So why is it that when you tell people that you sail, that many ask about the dangers? They would not ask if you said you were going skiing next winter!
TS
So why is it that when you tell people that you sail, that many ask about the dangers? They would not ask if you said you were going skiing next winter!
TS
lw395
Well-Known Member
I can't say I've had people ask me about the 'dangers' of sailing.
Cost, yes.
Difficult to understand the point of it, for sure.
Cost, yes.
Difficult to understand the point of it, for sure.
Cuan
Well-Known Member
[70521]
Well-Known Member
While the loss of anybody is sad to those who knew and loved them. Life for the rest of humanity goes on.
I spend five years in a mountain rescue team and bringing the lost, injured and dead off the hill was at times difficult you learnt that life goes on.
RIP.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
Celluloid poisoning presumably. I have always though that squash was the prime sport for sudden death in the middle-aged. Perhaps the numbers involved are not high enough to feature.
Sgeir
Well-Known Member
Very sad, but full marks to the crew member of Riff Raff who spotted the casualty and jumped in to attempt to save life.
TallBuoy
Well-Known Member
Not sure that was such a good idea. In those conditions (I was out there) he could have ended up as a second casualty.
girlofwight
Well-Known Member
I know. I undertake practical courses in human anatomy; I’ve worked with cadavers who, one suspects, passed on peacefully, and those who didn’t. But as you say life goes on.
Seajet
...
As long as he - or she - had their own lifejacket on I'd say ' good idea, well done for trying ' - it's not as if they would be left for long before help arrived, and may have tipped the balance in favour of the caualty - so hats off from me to the crew member of ' Riff Raff '. :encouragement: