I just finished reading Left for Dead by Nick Ward. It is an account of Nick’s experience during the 1979 Fastnet a book that is worth a read. Last week my instructor at IYT constantly made a statement I don’t agree with racing and racers are unsafe. I believe that is a very general statement to make. Yes in racing you take risks that you don’t when going out sailing for pleasure however, if it wasn’t for racing we would not push the envelope and go out in adverse weather conditions and push the boat and people to their limits. Without pushing ourselves to the limits we wouldn’t know what breaks and why. I didn’t learn that much from the book merely it reminded me of reasons the safety rules we comply with are in effect. Without races like the Fastnet and Sydney Hobart that have turned fatal we would not have development in safety standards.

88 boats out of the 303 starters finished that race in 2008 29 years later only 60 out of the 271 starters finished the race. The conditions were not as extreme as the 1979 Fastnet however, people retired. There has been a lot written about RORC’s decision to postpone the race and why so many boats retired. RORC is I believe compiling a report on the reasons for retirement. My take after reading the book, after 5 Fastnets and retiring ourselves in 2008 is not that people are any more or less qualified to do the race nor are their boats less well prepared (in fact with the more stringent rules their boats are better prepared) but that simply RORC’s contentious (brave) decision to postpone was in my mind the correct one. This decision meant that unlike in 1979 the fleet was still in the English Channel and therefore was able to bail out when each boat individually got to its limit of crew and boat capabilities. From reading Nick Ward’s account I believe if they had had the capability of retiring to shore when they saw the barometer dropping they would have but they didn’t have that option as by this time they were well out into the Irish Sea. Yes in terms of wind speeds the threshold of boats in 2008 seems to be low but at the end of the day this is for a majority of people who go out racing a recreational activity. When ever I start the Fastnet race in the back of my mind there is the memory of the 1979 race (even thought I was only one years old) that memory is what most likely helped swayed many skippers in 2008.

Sailing is something to be enjoyed it is not meant to be a mission in survival or a test of search and rescue techniques. It is not meant to be sport that leaves our families in fear of us not returning when we leave the dock nor one where we risk the life of members of the emergency services when they have to come and rescue us. Remembering this and the 15 people who died in the Irish Sea reminds me each year to spend time and money to take safety courses in an attempt to mitigate the risk involved and hopefully allow me to survive if the unforeseen occurs. Take the time this year to do a course that actually requires you to get in the water, set off a flare, right a liferaft and recover a MOB. Have fun on the water wear a lifejacket and clip in.