Safety at sea. A necessity not a choice!

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[ AGAINST THE WIND ]

SAFETY AT SEA A NECESSITY NOT A CHOICE!

by Andrea Pezzini, CEO & Co-Founder of Floating Life

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any years ago when I was a little boy, a man who had spent his entire life at sea (my granddad), told me: “Remember that you don’t have to be afraid of the sea, but you do have to respect it”.

Years later when I was talking to another very experienced sailor, he said to me: “You won’t make it a mile (1,852 metres) off the coast if you aren’t incredibly sporty and an expert ashore. Remember that when you are designing your boats. Tomorrow there will be people aboard them and you will be responsible for them even if you are not physically aboard with them”.

Those simple words had a very positive influence on my entire life but also make me exceptionally critical when I, all too often, see yachts, particularly those under 500 GT, built or maintained without taking these observations into account.

Unfortunately, today’s rules are making it easier and

easier to build at the very limits of safety and to ignore what was once called the designer and builder’s sense of responsibility as the “head of the family”.

We are seeing more and more beautiful Class A yachts with the CE brand deemed suitable “for unlimited navigation” but with the bare minimum (if that) of safety requirements to tackle squally seas.

The sea can get up during a long, possibly ocean passage, for example to the Caribbean, and then there is no port or cove nearby to take shelter in.

So I would say to my fellow designers, the yards and owners too that when they are designing, building or buying a boat, be it small or large, please ask yourselves “If I were aboard this craft when the waves were four metres or more, would I be coming home?”

Ask yourselves this simple question and then you can be at peace with yourself and your conscience and go on with your work or your purchase.

But will my plea be heard…

Or will I just be shouting against the wind?

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