Re: Rule 43 - the recommendations.

Paul wrote: 
Jane

The issue of whether the current capsize drill is adequate is a
slightly separate issue.

No it isn't. It is central to the issue of life & death. And it certainly is not a separate issue when 13 months have been allowed to slip by with nothing whatsoever done since Sikander Farooq drowned while attempting to follow the dangerously ill-conceived ARA capsize drill.

What is it about the ARA & Mr. Harris that means they can be relied upon absolutely to refuse to do the sensible thing? 2 boats sink in a storm & 1 man dies - the ARA asserts that neither boat sank & fights a sordid, fatuous war against shell buoyancy. A boy dies in cold water following ludicrous self-rescue advice - the ARA blames the kid & does absolutely nothing about cold-water kit, cold water advice & revising the useless capsize drill.

The 2 Coroners give stern advice to help the ARA put its safety affairs in order. Harris (to whom neither of those letters was written) appoints himself to write back to preach to & belittle those Coroners & their advice. How clever is that?

Mr Pollard, the S. Manchester Coroner in the Leo Blockley case, told his court that "It would be a bold organization which ignored a Rule 43 letter". Harris as patronised 2 Coroners, insulted the good work done by FISA on shell buoyancy, & meanwhile he & the ARA have done absolutely nothing to address the various safety issues raised by those Coroners. Instead Harris has wasted 12 pages in writing an incoherent, venomous, irrational & fundamentally dishonest fiction to one of the most highly regarded Coroners in the land.

I beggars belief. The ARA is now horrendously exposed & vulnerable. Do not its Council members & Harris's executive colleagues grasp this?

Adding a cold water warning would of course be 
useful. At this time of year you just need to get someone to stand on
the landing stage and put their lower arms in the water for 20 seconds
to know what cold can do, I've tried it.


Useful is a slight understatement, IMO.  Try "essential".

But if a beginner arrives in 
July they won't get much idea from that or a river capsize drill. That
needs some form of robust literature, videos are all well and good as
an add on, but not every club has a TV/video on site and if you give
someone a tape and send them away there is a good chance they won't
watch it. Please don't think I am trying to be difficult, but I have
rowed/coached at clubs where there are no facilities other than a shed,
no electricity even. What ever the ARA comes up with must be useful
yes, but also practical for all clubs to implement.

I believe that most rowers these days have homes, often equipped with TV, video machine(s), computer & even a few beer glasses. How much skin is it off a member's nose to have his/her Tinshack RC clubmates around to their place for a tutorial on safety. Where there's a will, there's always a way.

What I absolutely don't comprehend, Paul, is the sheer negativity of much of what you say - it seems you wish always to assume that everything is too much trouble. Rowers who find things too much bother to organize & do right are not rowers with whom anyone should want to row.

Cheers -
Carl
--
Carl Douglas Racing Shells        -
    Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories
Write: The Boathouse, Timsway, Chertsey Lane, Staines TW18 3JY, UK
Email: carl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  Tel: +44(0)1784-456344  Fax: -466550
URLs:  www.carldouglas.co.uk (boats) & www.aerowing.co.uk (riggers)
.

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