In article , Peter S/Y
Anicula wrote:

"Peter Wiley" wrote:

All we really need to do is restrict EPIRB's to people with insurance
sufficient to cover the cost of SAR and the whole problem would go
away.

That sounds like a good idea.

I like the international col regs and some of the other international
maritime law.
I don't mind rules regulating the security of crew and passegers on
comercial wessels, but:
Amateur sailors should be able to sail as they wish and should take the
responsibillity for their own actions. To me this is a bacic human need.
Sailboats are in general not dangerus for other people (unlike cars in the
city), so free us from all the rules and expences that restrict the freedom
to sail and bear the consequences of our own actions.

I don't have figures, but I belive that actualy very little monney is spend
on saving crasy people crossing oceans in small open boats from their own
folly.
I think much more monney is spend saving people with ekspencive boats,
wellequiped with electronic gadgets and safetyfeatures, but who fail to
understand the dangers and risks, because they are lulled into a false sense
of security with all the gadgets and all the rules they comply to.

Unfortunately true. I am reminded of a couple who got themselves
'rescued' from a quite seaworthy vessel because it got knocked down in
a storm. When rescued they had a working engine, an intact rig and the
storm had passed. Bruises but no broken bones or internal injuries.
They got off onto a freighter and the newspaper reported that they had
a hard time getting their yacht to go fast enough to match the
freighter's minimum speed for maintaining steerage.

Complacency followed by panic.

I note that Navvie, having started this thread, has now abandoned it
when nobody thinks his Govt's approach has any merit. Pity because I
was wondering about whether Tilman's boat would have passed NZ's
seaworthiness test. Kinda doubt it..... which would have been really
funny.

Peter Wiley