Is single-handed sailing wreckless/illegal?

[Rob_Webb]

What are the esteemed member's views on this:

MacArthur broke the world record by taking 71 days to sail around the world
solo in her hi-tech £1.3m trimaran. But Ken Appleby of Northumberland, a
former merchant navy captain, claims she broke regulations for the
prevention of collisions at sea. He says solo sailing should be banned, as
all boats need a proper crew.

"All vessels must have a lookout at all times by sight and hearing - but if
someone is on a boat for 71 days, it's not possible. It is a basic rule of
the sea - if someone falls asleep on watch they can end up in court and be
fined or lose their jobs. I think her achievement is good but these races
should be stopped - there should be at least two or three people on board.
No matter how many gizmos you've got you cannot cover the unexpected."

This Appleby chap sounds a bit of a damp squib but maybe he's got a point.....

 

[BrendanS]

I'd have my post pulled if I told you what I really thought!

Damp squid will have to do, the ******** ****

 

[StephenSails]

No.

 

[Metabarca]

Single-handed sailing is indeed very often "wreckless" and long may it remain so!

 

[ParaHandy]

Re: Schadenfreude ... ???

did your lot not lose the Americas Cup because your opponent's capt/helm/etc "singlehandedly won it" and who was also from round your way .. ? this, clearly, was acceptable whereas if he'd been a pom etc etc ....

 

[Becky]

Maybe he speaks from experience? Plenty of merchant ships don't actually obey the watchkeeping rules, relying possibly on radar alarms, or the occasional peep outside.
IMHO anyway.





But I am a woman. What do I know? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Riggy]

Sounds like Monsewer Appleby is just another 'Bliarite-employed' Nanny!!!!!
My bestest friend in all the world only has one and a half arms and he goes sailing LITERALLY single-handed all the time and is one of the most competent and safety-concious sailors I know. Taught me all I know abour seamanship for which I will be eternally grateful. P*ss Off Appleby......shouldn't be hard for you to find a job in Brussels where they rubber-stamp and then Gold-plate all the rules and regulations!!!!!!!

 

[FWB]

If it's wreckless then I guess it's not reckless.

 

[Guest]

ALL single-handed sailing?

Colregs

Rule 5

'Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and the risk of collision.'


Note "appropriate in the prevailing circumstances"

I'll bet that the look-out in a racing fleet of Lasers/Solos/Finns etc. is quite good.

Maybe one can argue about long distance, but certainly not all single-handed.

ALL GENERALISATIONS ARE BAD

 

[AlexL]

yes yes its terribly reckless , obviously having any form of fun is to be frowned upon in the Blairite's nanny world, so better not do that. Better not allow single handed pedestrians either, as so many people get run over each year, you should always go walking with a lookout.

Get a life Mr Apelby of Northumberland and don't stick your nose into other peoples business. Besides A merchie complaining about lookouts , hmm . the words pot, kettle and black imediately spring to mind.

 

[RMA]

It seems to me that whatever activity I enjoy there is always someone who either disapproves or wants to restrict it or ban it.

If there is one thing I really dislike it is someone who knows what’s best for me.

 

[DJE]

I had no problem getting insurance for single handed sailing. No additional premium either. (Not for daylight hours anyway). Insurance companies aren't usually know for endorsing reckless or illegal activities.

 

[Matrosen]

People who think they know everything really annoy those of us that do know everything. ;-)

 

[srm]

Singlehanded sailing for more than a few hours could be rulled as being illegal - you are contavening the collregs.

Whether it is reckless depends on the vessel - 20 plus knots in a racing machine without a proper lookout (skipper hamming it up for a camera perhaps?) could be reckless given the damage that the vessel could inflict in the event of a collision with another vessel. A boat like Jester on the other hand is unlikely to inflicy damage on anything out in the ocean, so the only risk is to the skipper.

Two summers ago I sailed a 31 ft catamaran single handed from Plymouth to Orkney, with occasional stops for sleep. The only problem during the trip was with an overtaking 40 ft plus ketch which was involved in filming a TV production about Atlantic islands. The TV crew left the skipper to take the boat up the Minch to Stornoway. I had to take avoiding action north west of the Shiants to prevent his bowsprit occupying the space between my backstays. Where was the skipper? Fast asleep below. As the ketch had radar he could presumably set up a guard zone alarm but obviously did not.

Which of us was illegal or reckless?

 

[jenku]

This ketch was not the "Auk" (spelling?) by any chance? A very nice TV production actually. Sorry to hear about the incident, the skipper seemed very competent on TV anyway...

 

[Guest]

I know little about maritime law, and would be grateful if any marine lawyers out there could correct me, but it seems to me that:

Let's get this is proportion: contravening the colregs is not, so far as I am aware, in itself illegal (in the normal sense of 'illegal' ie. that you're committing a criminal offence). In certain cases, if you are in territorial waters of a particular country, they may fine you under bye-laws for breaching particular rules, eg. heading down a TSS the wrong way a la Grant Dalton. But I think that the the IRPCS are rather a code of conduct agreed under international law for defining who is at fault in the event that things go wrong.

If I am right, then not keeping a look out is not illegal. What it does mean is that, if you flatten something, you lay yourself open to being sued for lots of $$$'s for negligence. So far as the merchant navy is concerned, they should be delighted if a yacht is not keeping a proper look out since they are the ones who are going to be doing the flattening, and the lack of a proper look out on the yacht will at the very least reduce the number of $$$'s they will have to pay.

The group of people who have more of a right to complain are those that are small enough to get flattened by the likes of B&Q ie. other yotties. If yotties are not up in arms about the issue, then it is a non-issue. Singlehanded sailors bear the risk that they may be sued, but I think that there are worse risks that they face when heading off into the Southern Ocean.

 

[Peppermint]

Re: Clearly

Singlehanded sailing for any length of time puts you at odds with the ColRegs.

The risks involved are very real.

There have been large numbers of well documented incidents of people doing it.

I can't think that anyones been prosecuted though.

If this is an illegal act it's not being upheld very rigidly. Even Mr. Plod could find out where the evil singlehanders are practising their diabolical arts and scoot along with a summons. I'd say that custom & practice and common sense seem at work here. It makes you wonder why this level of sense isn't used by the Old Bill on other matters.

This will change if a singlehander tops an innocent bye-stander though.

 

[Rob_Webb]

Re: Schadenfreude ... ???

Parahandy - not sure why you felt the need to turn this into a nationalistic argument cos it wasn't one to begin with - seems like you often look for an argument where there isn't one! And besides if you read my profile you'd realise that I am also a pom not a kiwi.