The number one ingredient of safety is daily comfort. This may not seem obvious at first but when you realize that most disasters are caused by human decisions, it becomes clear. People make many more mistakes when they are exhausted and stressed. So naturally it follows that as long as you are comfortable and full of energy, you will be able to literally ride out the storm. The disaster described below on this page involved a lot of boats and people. An investigation concluded that human decisions caused more death and dangerous conditions than the storm itself.

        Catamarans improve safety in at least three ways:

• Catamarans rarely sink. Sometimes they turn-turtle and become the laughing stock of the traditional sailor. Incidentally, traditional boats would have sunk.
• Catamarans are more stable. This becomes especially important when the sea gets rougher and waves get higher. Traditional boats will start rolling, yawing, and pitching significantly which exhausts you and your passengers. On a catamaran these movements will be there but to a much lesser degree.
• During storms, due to the movements of mono-hulls, it will be a great endeavor and nearly impossible to make food, eat or keep food down. And of course, this means you cannot replenish your energy when you need it most. Because a cat moves around significantly less, you will be able to keep your energy level up. 

       We would be lying if we said that everything is always going to be cozy and fun. In fact, there have been many disasters and accidents in the past. As a boy I loved reading books about people travelling on boats to far-away places where they often got more than they bargained, not only meeting adventure, fortune, and love, but, occasionally, death, disaster, and financial and physical ruin. There were also times when the ship and the entire crew would disappear.

       You might be thinking: 'that was then and now is now'. But even fairly recently,  when we already had radio-communication and advanced rescue teams with fast boats and helicopters, disaster can strike.

       In the 1979 Fastnet Race in England, disaster struck when a violent gale, reaching force 10 or 11, hit the participating 306 boats. 5 boats sunk, 77 boats rolled (turtled), 125 yachtsman were picked up on sea and 15 men died.

       Emergency services, naval forces, and civilian vessels from around the west side of the English Channel were summoned to aid what became the largest ever rescue operation in peace-time. This involved some 4,000 people, including the enture Irish Naval Service's fleet, volunteer lifeboats, commercial boats, and helicopters.

      Do you know where most injuries happen? It is not on the road, not during earthquakes, and not because of other natural disasters. The sobering answer is 'at home' where 77% of all accidents happen, causing as many as 20,000 deaths, 7 million disabling injuries and 20 million hospital trips in the US every year. The expression 'in the safety of your own home' seems to be dubious at best. But the main reason for this being the case is that "home" is where you least expect accidents to happen - that's when and where you relax, become complacent, and forget about safety.

      For boaters and sailors it is the same. Of all the lethal accidents, only a small portion happen during storms and while cruising. Here are some 'dry' statistics from the 2010 Coast Guard Reports:

• In 83% of sailor fatalities, the cause of death was drowning.
  
• Only 26% of the sailors who died were actually sailing at the time.
  
• Of boaters who died by drowning, 88% were NOT wearing PFDs.

      These statistics clearly show then when people become complacent, accidents occur.

US Statistics comparing private car and recreational boat safety:

•  There are about 240 million cars (2010) in the US with well over 10 million accidents of which 36,000 - 45,000 a year are fatal.

•  In 2013, there were 11.99 million boats for recreational purposes in the US with about 4000 accidents of which 560 were fatal.

It is difficult to compare the two fairly for a variety of reasons.

•  If we just look at the numbers of fatalities at 14.5 per 100,000 cars versus 4.7 per 100,000 boats, boats are about 3 times as safe.

•  Also for the number of accidents cars/boats, we find there are more than 100 times as many car accidents.

•  However, when there IS an accident, the number of fatal accidents on boats is about 400 times as high. At the same time, in about 75% of those fatal accidents, the victim was not sailing. In other words, they probably fell off the boat (or out of their rowboat on the way to their boat), for some reason, often out of complacency or inattention.

•  Furthermore, in all drowning accidents, 88% were not wearing the PFDs.  (So, based on all of the above, we might be safe in assuming that easily over 90% of those drownings could have been preventable by wearing a PFD.)

On the up side, the Fastnet Race disaster led to many improvements, organizationally, structurally, and technically.

• Crews are now advised to stay in their boats until sinking is inevitable.
• Yachts have been re-engineered for more stability. 
• Satellite and long-range radios give ships minute-by-minute weather forecasts.
• Heaving to has also proven to be a good storm tactic to prevent capsizing. Not one of the hove to yachts in the 1979 disaster capsized or suffered any serious damage.

But what can you do right now?

1. Sailors need to know the risk is always present, especially when things are calm and you feel no reason to be fearful (particularly in cold water).
2. No need to obsess about dangers, but always think about what could happen.

• What IF someone falls overboard RIGHT NOW in this situation?
• What IF the engine dies RIGHT NOW as I am entering this narrow channel?
• What IF I slip and fall overboard while I am pulling up the anchor and the boat starts drifting.

The Essential Safety Equipment

Only two pieces of equipment are essential for preventing most sailing emergencies and fatalities - but only if you're actually using them before the emergency occurs (remember: when you least expect it)

Bouys