drysuit
I would have to disagree about drysuit and pfs in k1. I paddle old style icf k1 (van dusen eagle) and during winter only option on workdays is paddling in dark alone. I am very comfortable in pfd and one peice drysuit and also wear this during races in cold months. I probably look like a geek but I am safe and comfortable.
Neither pfd nor drysuit interfer with my paddling and consider it irresponsible to tell others not to dress for immersion especially in very tippy boats that do not allow for rentry or roll.
eugene
I guess there’s theory and practice.
In theory, motorboats ought to be looking out for rowers and other speed bumps. In practice, rowers and kayakers need to be very careful.
As others mentioned, PFD law is state-by-state. In Mass. PFD’s are required to be worn during the cold months, but racing boats (kayaks and rowing shells) are exempt.
There is lively discussion in the rowing world about appropriate safety. In the accident I saw, there was no support boat with blankets and rescue equipment. In some areas, e.g. the Potomac, rowing clubs have established guidelines about safety.
I still believe that most rowers are unaware of the risk of cold water, or simply bound by the tradition of ignoring the water temperature, and that this will likely only change after a tragic accident. Their boats were only required to have sealed flotation after lawsuits in Europe following a rower’s death. I don’t see why a rower can’t wear a self-inflating PFD. If they were interested, manufacturers could easily design sport-specific models that would avoid chafing and other issues.
Personally, I think eulink is properly cautious to dress for immersion while paddling a sprint K1, even though he/she knows how to handle the boat and is unlikely to capsize. But, I guess we all have to make our own judgements about risk. Others could criticize me for paddling the ocean alone in the winter.
Sanjay
rowing safety
Having rowed in school, I’ll agree that it’d be near-impossible wearing a conventional PFD. But given the number of rowers in high school, college, and adult programs, I’d say there’s a big enough market for some smart manufacturer to target with a rowing-specific model.
There’s no excuse for the coaching launch not to be equipped – and the coaches trained – for capsize rescue.
As for visibility, there’s a lot you could do. Reflective tape on the hull and blades, in combination with navigation and perimeter lights, would make a huge difference. LEDS have made it much easier to have a bright, lightweight, and reliable lighting system.
Headlamp…
with a tiny LED, not even noticable when you’re wearing it. I use one for running in the wee hours, and it sits neatly atop my balding head, showing me the way but also making me quite visible to others. In Wisconsin we are fortunate to have fairly open waterways for paddling, relative free of imbeciles in power boats. However, because of the occasional drunken Packer fan driving an oversized fishing boat, I may start wearing my headlamp on the water. It’s interesting to read all of the comments here.
.
And about every rock climber in a popular magazine is shown not wearing a helmet.
message
a message from Donald W. Sweeney to the sprint kayak board:
I am the Vice Commodore of the Inwood Canoe Club in
upper Manhattan. The friends of missing rower, Jim
Runsdorf, who went missing on the upper Harlem River
after being struck by a power boat, are asking for the
help of the kayak community. Many areas of the search
cannot be reached by land or by the search boats but
can be accessed by kayaks or canoes. Please help our
fellow boaters in their time of need by volunteering
to paddle in the area of the upper Harlem River and in
the Hudson from about 125th St. north.
The web site for more info is www.nyrowing.org and the
location of their boathouse is
Peter Jay Sharp Boathouse
1 Swindler Cover Park
Corner of Dyckman Street, 10th Avenue,
and the Harlem River Drive
Manhattan, NY
what ought to be and "what is"
What ought to be and what is are not always the same. What ought to be would have the powerboat not traveling any faster than 1/2 of the speed it takes to stop in their field of vision in fog. What ought to be would have the rowers with bright lights and a person on the look out and not traveling in area of unrestricted speed.
On the other hand, they were adults and knew the risks of early morning travel on busy waters and reduced visibility. Perhaps we can all learn about what is being different than what ought to be.
Don’t know about current practice,
but when I was sculling and rowing, the coaching launches were not planing speedboats. They were true displacement hulls, and did not make a lot of wake.
Of course, the best planing speedboats plane so well that they don’t leave a wake either. But those are too fast for trailing oarsmen for coaching.
depends on the program
A lot of programs can’t afford nice coach launches and have to settle for small jon boats. Those kind of run half on plane when trailing a crew but the wake still isn’t much of a bother even in a sprint k1. Heck, I usually irritate the local team because I like to get on the coach boat’s wake when the eights go by at good pace.
So gasoline is increasingly expensive
and we’re going to continue fostering a “sport” which consumes it wildly? I don’t mean rowing, I mean speedboats. We need to make sure that there are no explicit or implicit government subsidies for powerboating and that they are charged for the damage they do to the banks of rivers and lakes everywhere. When they pay the real cost of their sport, they will not be running over as many paddlers.
a bit of irony
Don’t get me wrong, I love sailing and canoeing, wouldn’t be caught dead in a “stinkpot” unless I was Fishing or skiing but… I read that the skipper of the powerboat is on the board of directors of his towns rowing club. This “assuming they know I am here” attitude has fortunately been covered by others in this thread as well as the potential consequences. When you are 6 inches off the water you better assume they don’t see you.