Just wanted to get a few opinions here about what you all think should be the responsibility of the skipper when it comes to the safety of your crew and others.
This actually happened at a regatta last spring at Lake Sommerville in Texas: The winds were pretty honkin and one P 19 had a front crossbeam failure causing the boat to break in half and injure the crew enough that she needed to be rushed to th emergency room with a bad knee injury. I'm not real anal about boat rigging but this boat looked pretty bad before it broke. I wouldn't want to sail on it. Anyway, while someone else took said crew to the emergency room, the skipper was somewhat amused by how bad his boat broke apart. He was a former rigger in the Clearlake area and upon looking at the mess, I think I have a good idea as to why he went out of business. He showed no concern at all about his crew. From what I was told, he never went to the hospital to check on her. He packed up the mess and went home. I later got a call from one of her friends asking to help find the skipper since he wouldn't return the crew's phone calls as she needed surgery for her injury. She had no health insurance. The word I got was he didn't have insurance on the boat either. I could be wrong on that one but who knows.
I believe the skipper should be fully responsible for the crew's safety and well being.