reasons for accidents in small fast boats????

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lenten

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i had a 13 foot dell quay dory for a couple of years---planed( (just) with a 15 hp outboard---used mainly in sheltered waters---but i couldn t see any potential faults or vices in the setup----wondering what is the cause of accidents/sinkings in small fast craft----badly designed boats or bad driving???
 
been some recent ones---not overloaded with people---didn t crash?-----are small fast boats just not very safe---------------genuine ?? from a small displacement boat man
 
To quote the nice old Glasgow Police, who showed up just after I crashed my first bike.

"speed kills son"

Add in lack of, training, knowledge, experience, over confidence, complacency. no alcohol for me.

I suppose the same could be said of any boats, Particularly Small fast boats the lack ability to recover from an error due to lack of time.

I remember thinking "Oh shit" then bang.

Or just add alcohol. Does not go well with operating anything particularly anything fast.
 
I guess even if a badly designed boat is driven within it's limits and conditions it will be safe?

I think that all accidents are down to bad driving, whether that be the drivers lack of training / experience / stupidity etc etc.
 
sprocker said:
I guess even if a badly designed boat is driven within it's limits and conditions it will be safe?

I think that all accidents are down to bad driving, whether that be the drivers lack of training / experience / stupidity etc etc.
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After years in the emergency business, I am all too aware that there are accidents where neither the human factor nor the design/engineering one can be held solely and directly responsible. Insurance companies still play the Act of God cards from time to time, though they normally relate to large-scale events such as earthquakes and tsunamis. But if your boat runs into a just-submerged tree trunk in the dark, that is a 'natural' cause of an accident.

There's the Swiss Cheese theory of accidents, which requires at least two problems, either/any of which on their own would not be enough to cause a problem but which, if they happen to coincide, result in an accident.
 
sarabande said:
After years in the emergency business, I am all too aware that there are accidents where neither the human factor nor the design/engineering one can be held solely and directly responsible. Insurance companies still play the Act of God cards from time to time, though they normally relate to large-scale events such as earthquakes and tsunamis. But if your boat runs into a just-submerged tree trunk in the dark, that is a 'natural' cause of an accident.

There's the Swiss Cheese theory of accidents, which requires at least two problems, either/any of which on their own would not be enough to cause a problem but which, if they happen to coincide, result in an accident.
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Good point well made, and one I hadn't thought of. I stand corrected.
 
Observing someone that knew what they were doing (that was with us, in convoy), I would say that helming a small boat in choppy conditions needs more experience than a larger boat in the same conditions (having to work the throttles, steer around the larger bumps etc.).

But people with smaller boats sometimes have less experience ... it might be their first boat.
(I know this a generalisation ... there are some very experienced owners of smaller boats on here).

It used to the way with Windsurfers that you started with a barge, then your board got smaller and smaller as you became more experienced :)
 
lenten said:
i had a 13 foot dell quay dory for a couple of years---planed( (just) with a 15 hp outboard---used mainly in sheltered waters---but i couldn t see any potential faults or vices in the setup----wondering what is the cause of accidents/sinkings in small fast craft----badly designed boats or bad driving???
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Because the uninitiated think they are a car, cos its got a steering wheel + throttle, so can't be difficult to drive, cos I can drive a car.:rolleyes:
 
oceanfroggie said:
Lack of intelligence is probably the cause rather than design
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Quite right! .... either a lack of knowledge or just plain stupidity which usually equals showing off. Two in a boat killed recently by an idiot on a jetski, out with half a dozen mates all on jetskis ... (this in the paper this week although it might have happened some time ago) Those things were designed for the brain-dead to kill people with.
 
Its a long list of possible causes. The MAIB much like the AAIB list the many instances which many times are hard to believe or imagine. Where boating is divided into two main areas pleasure or commercial the risks and mandatory requirements over years have been centralised from International safety organisations like the RYA/MCA and the IMO. For commercial the risks and requirements are very different .
When you engage, hire or make use of a commercial craft small or large the risks are very low. The craft, training, conditions when used along with safety have very carefully been outlined and detailed much like the aviation business.
The UK marine leisure business is a whole different animal which I would not deny has improved over recent years. Registration, inspection of craft, crew competency and freedom of use for the leisure purchaser and user is still very often in the hands of the 'at the time user' where they still decide how much, how fast without too many mandatory requirements established. The insurance companies in many instances have had to take the lead in the safety list before venturing into what could well be the unknown for many.
Some very extensive recommendations have been made following some horrific and preventable accidents. Organisations like the RYA offer a very wide support for the pleasure industry which has had to introduce tighter regulations over the years and there is always room for improving risk.
If you can operate a Cessna, Robinson, Harley Davidson or race car with the minimum of requirements the outcome is pretty much a given.
Having anchored many times amongst alcohol fuelled pwc's and tenders as well as having cringed on seeing the top fuelled sports craft depart busy boating areas after lunch it is easy to see a little more operating control is definitely needed. How that is policed is a whole different and long discussed question.
 
The summer effect. I boat all year for others summer is a stressed out time with huge effort to get to the sea and finally on the water, there is a 'nothing is going to stop me' attitude meanwhile they haven't had time to relearn all their boating knowledge. Summer has another effect, people forget all sense of personal safety, they just step out into traffic don't wear their bicycle helmets and when on exotic holidays go into neighborhoods they might not at home.
 
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