Enclosed cabin powerboat - kill cord usage debate

ari said:
Umm, switch off the ignition perhaps..?
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For a petrol engine, yes. Simply turning the ignition to "off" doesn't stop the diesel engine on my boat though; it has to be turned further to a spring loaded "stop" position. I suspect that is the case for many other VP diesel installations.
 
BruceK said:
Bingo! But then H&S has to assume we are all a bit thick, like concrete, which isn't all that unfair given the imagined scenario
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Bingo is the word. Very rarely can substantive claims be made on human beings. Not only are they unreliable, but they are randomly so!
 
BruceK said:
The engine manufacturer would. He has to as he doesnt know your boat. But wait for the day you are going balls to the wall and you accidentally cut the engine. Have you read the manual where it warns against doing this and the dire consequences of doing so?


Edit. In case you were wondering and hadn't your manual is full of these little gems

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View attachment 94305

ad naseum
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Good point.
Although going high speed is always additional risk in itself - and open to the engine tripping/stopping independently of the kill cord/switch.
You'd hope that the manufacturer has considered the balance of stopping immediately at full speed [and the time at risk] against the boat cruising at 20 knts not under command.
 
You'd think, but they haven't. They play the card both sides with the trump being better a life than an engine but if you kill the engine you could still kill a life so give us our cake we want it and to eat it.
Personally for you I think the risk on either account is small so it becomes a case of preference. I was just pointing out the blind adherence to the recommendation without full understanding isn't a calculated risk and in itself a danger
 
ari said:
The cost of wearing a crash helmet is minimal too, but you wouldn't wear them whilst sat inside a wheelhouse cruiser for the one in a billion chance that it might be beneficial in the event of a 'perfect storm' of an unseen rogue wave just happening to hit the boat at just the right angle with just the right amount of force to bang your head against the side window just hard enough to knock you out just long enough to crash into a floating petrol tanker full of nuns and puppies.

I think that's the point Portofino is making. If you want to dial out ALL risk to the point of wearing a kill cord whilst sat in an enclosed wheelhouse of a circa 30ft boat at 30 knots, then you'd better start diverting planes away from cities and maybe limiting all road transport and trains to 10mph.
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You are getting confused with the boat engine manufacturer's risk and your risk.

The engine manufacturer is attempting to make a standalone 'safe' system. To claim their design is safe for use [and keep the legal beagles at bay] they include a kill cord/switch. If you don't use it, they don't care - their work is done. They definitely don't care if you don't wear a crash helmet.

Another point is insurance. Would be interesting to see if a kill cord is mandatory if fitted. I wouldn't like to be the one who tests it!
 
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Whippersnapper said:
My boat fits the criteria and has a kill cord fitted. I never use it.
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Understandable, but a bit of LFE here...

We have a kill cord/switch and initially weren't using it, it was plugged in and wrapped round the VHF.
In the middle of going through the swellies the engine cut, and we got ourselves in a panic as we couldn't restart the engine going through all the usual causes. I finally realised the kill cord had come out due to being stretched to the vhf. If it had been round my leg, it would have been obvious.
Food for thought (y)
 
ari said:
Umm, switch off the ignition perhaps..?

GrahamHR said:
For a petrol engine, yes. Simply turning the ignition to "off" doesn't stop the diesel engine on my boat though; it has to be turned further to a spring loaded "stop" position. I suspect that is the case for many other VP diesel installations.
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Then turn it further to the spring loaded stop position! This isn't rocket science. :D

Just to take this to its inevitable conclusion.

'But they might not realise that you have to turn it further'. True, but they might not realise that pulling that bit of string will stop the engine.

"But I could tell them before we leave that pulling the bit of string will stop the engine'. True, but you could instead tell them that turning the key further will stop the engine.

I'm still a bit baffled by this whole thread to be honest. What next, should I wear a lifejacket in the car before entering the marina car park? :D
 
LBRodders said:
Understandable, but a bit of LFE here...

We have a kill cord/switch and initially weren't using it, it was plugged in and wrapped round the VHF.
In the middle of going through the swellies the engine cut, and we got ourselves in a panic as we couldn't restart the engine going through all the usual causes. I finally realised the kill cord had come out due to being stretched to the vhf. If it had been round my leg, it would have been obvious.
Food for thought (y)
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Or don't stretch the kill cord and wrap it around anything, just remove it (obviously leave the plug in bit that makes the engine run).

Baffling.
 
ari said:
Or don't stretch the kill cord and wrap it around anything, just remove it (obviously leave the plug in bit that makes the engine run).

Baffling.
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You could even leave a small red “emergency stop” tag attached to it if you were worried about other people needing to stop the engine.

A lot of the arguments here would seem to mandate kill cords for passenger use in any car fitted with cruise control, though.

I‘ve been thrown half out of a small boat at 25kt, a scary moment but the kill cord connected to my lifejacket did its job, I climbed back in and carried on. That‘s the environment they’re for.

Pete
 
ari said:
Or don't stretch the kill cord and wrap it around anything, just remove it (obviously leave the plug in bit that makes the engine run).

Baffling.
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Read my earlier post about humans. You quite obviously are an exception :p

We don't have one by choice, but its mandated by the engine manufacturer. So its there.

Another important point to note, is that if you have one fitted and don't use it in the boat, it becomes difficult to argue with kids/teenagers about using them religiously in the tender.
 
"Dont do as I do, I've made all my mistakes already, just do as I tell you" or you wont be using my tender. Kids are dead simply that way. It's the wife you have to manage carefully!
 
Kill cords: Everything boatowners need to know - Motor Boat & Yachting

"Are you legally required to use a kill cord if fitted?

There is currently no legal obligation for leisure boat owners to wear a kill cord even if it is fitted to the boat they are driving.


However, there may be a clause in your insurance policy which requires you to operate the boat in a safe manner and which could potentially count against you in any litigation proceedings related to an insurance claim."

It's a bit like life jackets. Only a bl***y idiot wouldn't.
 
Is there any evidence that any life would have been saved by use of a kill cord other than in small open boats and jetski's
 
MartynG said:
Is there any evidence that any life would have been saved by use of a kill cord other than in small open boats and jetski's
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Why are kill cords in the news?

Because of a tragic accident on 5 May 2013 in which two people died and two more were badly injured near Padstow in Cornwall.







All six family members were thrown from their 8m RIB, which then continued to circle around them killing the father and eight-year-old daughter and badly injuring the mother and four-year-old son before it was brought under control by a local ski instructor.

Had you read the link, you wouldn't have needed to ask .

 
Easticks28 said:
In an open O/B powered boat, yes at all times. In a cabin boat no.
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There's a lot of bloody idiots in the med then......

There really are a lot of idiots in the med, but they're not idiots for not wearing a life jacket.


I saw something that I did think was stupid the other day, a 40 something foot princess v something or other, probably had about 7 or 8 people on board, teenagers through to adults. The boat was travelling at about 25 knots in good conditions, but there was one girl lying on the bathing platform (the bathing platform not the sun pad) sunbathing. The bathing platform wasn't modified with guard rails or anything like that, if she'd fallen off nobody would have noticed. No lifejacket either.
 
Easticks28 said:
Had you read the link, you wouldn't have needed to ask .
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I think you may have mis-read my question.
The incident in the video link involved a small open boat

My question is

Is there any evidence that any life would have been saved by use of a kill cord other than in small open boats and jetski's
 
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