Lots of pics on the website below of the 18ft skiffs racing in Australia. Notice that none of the crews are wearing PFD's. What gives? Are there different regs in Australia regarding the use of PFD's? Do their race organizers not require them? Maybe some of the Aussies on the side can shed some light on this.

http://www.highoctaneonedesigns.com/

I think they're wearing Bouyancy aids under their rash guards.

I recently crewed on a traditional "Chesapeak Log Canoe" for a race in StMicheals Md. Since every boat has a support/training boat that leads/follows them around the race course they have "special dispensation" that allows all the Life Jackets to be carried on the support vessel and not on the log canoe itself .... and Yes, it felt strange to me not to have my life jacket w/ me.

The owner/skipper of the 43'Tri I crew on regularly said he knew he had assembled a crew of experienced, serious racing sailors when we each arrived w/ our own foul weather gear(Gill/Helly/Lloyd ...etc), deck shoes, sailing gloves ..... and LIFE JACKETS !!!!! He had never before had "crew" bring their own "Life Jackets" .... I told him that was normal for us .... as we are all experienced BEACH CAT SAILORS!!!!!

I even take my life jacket on vacation to the Caribbean resorts ... and as my life jacket gets more and more sunfaded, I get less and less questions .... to the point now they just point at a boat and say "take that one" ....

My current Life Jacket is a (sunfaded) red Kokatat ... all my life jackets have always been red because it is a highly visible color and warm on cold days. I have never understood blue colored lifejackets .... you fall off the boat in the middle of this big blue body of water .... and what are you wearing .... a blue life jacket?????

Life Jackets need to do primarily two things: keep you afloat (face-up) and make you visible enough so as someone else can spot you and rescue you

Sail Flat, Sail Fast, Sail Safe
HarryMurphey
H18Mag/P19MX

It doesn't matter what color lifejacket or foul weather gear that you wear. There have been numerous studies from different govt. agencies (including US and GBR) utilizing red, yellow, blue, black, etc. gear. It's reported that the only thing visible on a person when they are in the water is their head and arms. Hence, many foul weather jackets have bright hoods, and reflective tape on the cuffs and shoulders.

if you're really worried about being seen from the sky, carry a sea-ribbon or a smoke flare

No 18' skiff sailors do not wear bouyancy. 'It gets in the way' and that is more dangerous than sinking. Other skiff sailors see fit to follow this poor example - to the extent that one 49er crew won a race at the Athens olympics and was disqualified for not having a PFD - not so cool now eh guys!

Poor example for any aspiring youngsters I think

Just noticed that we have a Kite Surfer asking about safety - is someone having a laugh?

Karl are you a kite surfer, or just a dude that likes to surf and is named Karl?

Karl surfs... the web.

And he "Kites"...checks.

;^)

No...not a kite surfer. Tried it a couple of times, but decided the risk was a bit much. I'll stick to windsurfing, surfing (first name Karl hence ksurfer), and sailing.

Apologies for branding you with that insult.

A 12' skiff sailor told me once that it was dangerous to wear a life-jacket on a boat with such a big kite. The theory is that if you are flung forward during a nosedive with the kite up and land under the kite, the life-jacket makes it difficult to swim out to get air.

It is a tricky situation, with rescue boats around on a short course you are unlikely to spend more than 10mins in the water, which most sailors should be able to tread water for, and that's only if you get separated from your own boat. So from that point of view life-jackets aren't really necessary.

But if you get knocked out and end up in the water you really need a life-jacket to keep you afloat. But do our racing life-jackets actually keep our noses/mouths/heads out of the water if we're unconcious?

But if you were under a large kite and in the water you would not want a life-jacket on because it is easier to swim without one.

Most/all of the 12' sailors I know now wear life-jackets. The new life-jackets aren't too cumbersome in or out of the water.

Call me a "Safety Nut" ..... and while I've never done the "Worrell" or "Tybee", I did cut my teeth by doing "The Down the Bay", C-100 and the origonal "New England 100" many times, these were all "Open Water" point to point races .... so .....

My "RED" Life Jacket has attached to it the following: spare clevis pins w/ rings, a swiss army knife, whistle, Mini MagLite, cell phone in waterproof pouch, and ..... a 12hr Forespar "PERSONAL SAFETY STROBE".

You never will know until the moment it happens ... but it does happen and then you are dependent on some "good samaritan" to save your butt ... I want to give them all the fore-thought and help in saving my _ss as possible.

As you usually are floating on your back while awaiting to be rescued w/ your chest facing up ... it's IMHO color is important ..... and may actually save your life

Colors:
1) Yellow while bright and highly visible ... is very "cold" as it reflects most of the sun's energy
2) Blue/Purple are not visible when one is floating in a large body of blue water but are warmer since they are dark colors that absorb the sun's energy
3) they do not produce (yet) flourescent orange or lime-green Life Jackets suitable for racing small sailboats .... but I do have a friend who races wearing flourescent orange bucket hats so that if one of them "goes overboards" you can spot that little black head clad in flourescent orange bobbing around in the water .... I prefer a brightly colored baseball hat/brim ..... usually red.
4) That leaves red which is highly visible and it also absorbs the suns energy making it a "warm" color

(when I do wear a flourescent orange hat, that's a different sport and I'm carrying/holding something that goes BANG ....)

Sail Flat, Sail Fast, Sail SAFE
HarryMurphey
H18Mag/P19MX

They don't sail fast enough. Sail a faster catamaran and get thrown clear when you wipe out!

While I appreciate your thought going into your choice of jacket...

at night, red has the same colour value as black. Think about what happens in a black-and-white photo of something red. Red is 'converted' to black, as it were. Which is the same reason that red absorbs energy.

If your prime objective is visibility, better to go with yelo or orange

I'm thinking either red or lime green for day, and SOLAS reflective tape (maybe with that glow-in-the-dark stuff) for night.

In the few times I've been offshore, I have a few items in my camelback pouch:
- dye marker
- whistle
- handheld strobe
- signal flare (sold as PWC safety kit)
- handheld (submersible but in waterproof bag, too) vhf

Cell phones don't usually get reception beyond 4-5 miles offshore.

All that stuff probably weighs about 2 lbs.

I can actually tell you guys first hand as the coast guard and other boats searched for me for more than 3 hours after my trapeze broke and I separated from the boat.... when the s**it hits the fan, arms and heads are the only thing visable in high winds&waves (until you are floating the next morning). More import than color is amount of buoyancy... I use a 35lb manually inflatable (2x normal buoyancy)when I do distance sailing and always use some form of sport-jacket for everyday. Also from this experience, we had flares, phone, and VHF radio in the boat that could never be used....

Matt

Hi Guys and Gals,

You got me curious ... so I checked my Kokatat life jacket and it does have relective patches on it, front & back .... and I do wear it on the outside, over everything else ....

For after dark sailing that is why I have the "Personal Safety Strobe ... I picked the "Forespar" because it is good for 12hrs, most of the other ones are only rated for 6-8hrs. And I have the MiniMagLite as a back-up for signaling ...

If could find a flourescent orange life jacket (w/ pockets & reflective patches) suitable for catamaran/dingy racing I would purchase one (actually two, one would be for my niece who races w/ me on my beach cat and also races Lasers in a JR Sailors Program). I think "orange" would tend to be warmer then "lime-green" .... but I'm not positive on that fact. (I had a yellow spray top, and I was always cold even in the middle of the summer!!!)

Where I sail currently on the Cheapeake Bay we have 100% cell phone coverage (by Verizon) ... now I do carry on the boat in the tramp pack, (2)handheld VHF along w/ (2)GPS's when competing in "Distance" races .....(I try to purchase replacement equipment BEFORE the first one dies or borrow from a friend a back-up for the race)

I would estimate 1-1 1/2lbs of additional "gear", but I've used at different points in time during a race all of it including the clevis pins w/ rings when we "pulled" the leeward clevis pin out of our sidestay while tacking ... luckily we discovered/noticed it before we tacked back .... of (6) spares the first two were dropped overboard, but we managed to get the third one installed just before we HAD to tack away before crashing onto a "Rip-Rap" clad shoreline ....

So, you may think me crazy .... but the life you save maybe yours .... or the life of a fellow competitor ..... and you all know someone and have personally benefited from these precautions ....

Mr White, do you remember competing in "The Down the Bay Race" many years ago??? With Ron(?) and you de-masting on a NACRA on the third day, out in the middle of the lowwer Chesapeake Bay???? Glenn Ross and I luckily spotted you two, altered course, and tossed you our "spare" VHF attached to a "throwable cushion", which allowed you to contact the CG, who sent the Marines (Whooo-Ra)Safety/Rescue Patrol out to render you assistance. I seem to remember you discribing them as "enthusiastic" and Mary also tells a humorous store of trying to "get on base" w/ a trailer to pick you up.

Now over the years I won several trophies in those distance races ... but upon reflection the "thing" I'm most proud of is the fact that Glenn & I were able to "render assistance" to a fellow competitor and maybe save their lives .... the 20-30mins we lost while "standing by" until we KNEW that assistance was on its way may have cost us a trophy .... but that's not what was important .... I don't even have to think about whether I would do the samething again .....

So thinking about "Safety" is important .... start w/ something small ... like the color of your Life Jacket .... it maybe your life you save .... or a friend's .....

Sail Flat, Sail Fast, Sail SAFE
HarryMurphey
H18MAG/P19MX