There are countless articles, videos, courses and opinions on the subject of safe sailing. And for the most part they all have something to offer. But one thing that I often find myself talking about is something very basic, and very essential: attitude. The Cruising Club of America has just put together a succinct “Guidance,” which is available online to all sailors. It emphasizes the essential need for safety to start with attitude, not equipment. Sailing is traditionally a very self-reliant sport – we don’t call the Coast Guard because we run out of gas. We practice person overboard maneuvers. Anybody who’s prepared a boat for a serious offshore race knows the extent of the medical kit. There’s so much to consider the real place to start is with the culture. If done correctly, it needn’t be onerous or inhibit fun. This guide is a great place to start. -KH
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| NEW YORK, May 13, 2020—The Cruising Club of America has published guidance entitled “Creating a Culture of Safety: The Skipper’s Responsibility” that spotlights the skipper’s overriding responsibility for the safety of boat and crew. The advisory, which takes the form of a series of recommendations, emphasizes creating a culture of safety aboard the boat as the only logical means of successfully fulfilling the skipper’s responsibility. According to John Robinson, chair of the CCA’s Safety & Seamanship Committee, “We wrote the paper because of our concern about the number of sailing safety incidents over the last few years that resulted in loss of life and near losses—all of which appeared preventable with appropriate preparation, training and decision-making at sea.” “As many sailors look to the CCA for advice regarding safety at sea,” Robinson adds, “we felt that the highest level of advice should start with the skipper, before setting sail, and should draw attention to the broad scope of issues that their leadership role requires.” Posted on the CCA’s website, the recommendations can serve as a skipper’s checklist covering four areas—leadership, boat and equipment preparation, crew training, and best practices at sea—which together help to build a strong culture of safety. Notably, the CCA paper’s publication also highlights a coalescing of efforts towards more effective safety-at-sea education and collaboration among major U.S. boating organizations that conduct classroom, hands-on, on-water, and online safety training, which include the CCA, Storm Trysail Club, New York Yacht Club, The Sailing Foundation, U.S. Naval Academy, and US Sailing.” Mark Lenci, a former captain of a nuclear attack submarine who leads the joint CCA/New York Yacht Club safety at sea training says, “Change a couple of technical details and ‘The Culture of Safety’ issued by the CCA would be just as relevant for a nuclear submarine as for a sailboat. In fact, Magellan would have endorsed it. The ‘culture of safety’ at sea is timeless. This will serve as the opening message to attendees at our future hands-on safety at sea courses.” Rich du Moulin, chairman and moderator of Storm Trysail Club’s safety at sea programs, says, “Storm Trysail Club echoes the CCA’s emphasis on the skipper’s leadership and will be organizing an event later this year specifically addressing the need for leadership at sea.” David Tunick, chair of the Seamanship Committee of New York Yacht Club, says, “Collaboration with the CCA and other groups at the highest level of leadership in safety at sea, including support for US Sailing, is a cornerstone of our growing safety program. Safety leadership will be a core principle at our advanced Level 200 safety at sea seminars, in part modeled after the course pioneered by the Storm Trysail Club.”  Introducing sailors to firefighting practices is part of hands-on safety-at-sea courses available through the CCA/New York Yacht Club and others including the the Storm Trysail Club, U.S. Naval Academy, and other boating organizations. |
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.