Yachting and Boating World forums: "Liferaft" is it needed for coastal cruising in UK

Several people have contacted me and asked me for an opinion on the preceding debate, and as the RNLI has been quoted at some stage I thought I would add a comment. The original post asked the question about whether a life raft was really necessary for coastal cruising and the ensuing discussion migrated somewhat from that to talk about the decision process about whether one should buy one not through the principles of probability!!

Because of this migration and with no offence to the original poster, I think maybe the wrong question was asked, especially in light of opposing views espoused. Perhaps it should have been "What are the best precautions I could take in the event of me being forced to leave my boat in the event of some catastrophe or other?

The safety equipment carried by recreational boaters usually depends on three things, in my view. The first is the type of boating undertaken, the second is budget, and the third is attitude to risk. All of us make decisions according to the constraints that those three factors impose. Thus the safety equipment for coastal sailing must be to a level that ensures, as far as possible, survival to the point of being rescued.

There is no doubt a life raft can keep you warmer and drier for longer than if you were alone in the water, similarly it is easier to find a life raft rather than an object about the size melon, darkly coloured in a dark sea. There is however a continuum, or a spectrum, of amelioration of the risk of dying if you enter the water. At one end is no lifejacket and nobody knows you're there. At the other end is a life raft and a very exact position where the SAR assets have a good chance of finding you. Given the availability of the PLBs and EPIRBs and given the length of time a lifeboat will take to get to a casualty, with the implication that he or she will not expire of cold water shock of secondary drowning (this implies he is wearing a lifejacket, for if he were not then our chances of finding somebody alive are smaller); then a reasonable thing for a coastal sailor to do would be to make sure he is wearing a lifejacket and to set off a 406 PLB or EPIRB. To offer this opinion I have in mind sailing only a mile so from the coast.

So what I'm saying is that a life raft is best, especially if you have alerted the coastguard with a reasonably accurate indication of your position through a Ch16 VHF mayday, or better a very accurate one through the GMDSS system, next best on the survivability scale is keeping afloat, and an accurate position report (PLBs have homing frequencies for us); and around the zero survivability rating is not to be wearing a LJ, and a vague, or no, position indication. We hate searching when we know the likelihood is that we’re a looking for a body.

A poster did comment that our SEA Check service did not recommend a liferaft for anything other than extended passages, and this remains the case, however SEA Check advisers would urge coastal offshore sailors to think about whether they should have one. Our stance is always to encourage people to think about their own circumstances and take whatever action they think necessary. We don't want to be accused of imposing nanny state rules, rather to give information based on our experience and what crews see, and let the boater decide for himself.

I hope Scuttlebutters find this helpful, please don't try and draw me into an extended debate as I would find it very time-consuming as a one fingered typer, but I will monitor any further debate in case there is anything useful I contribute.

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Peter Chennell
Sea Safety Manager - RNLI

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