Sydney - Hobart

[bitingmidge]

Aww come on guys!!!

Firstly the rescuers not their choice what rot!!

Mick, you wouldn't be a fireman if you didn't like putting out fires, and that's why some of us volunteer to be Air Sea Rescue or Coastguard chappies as well, we actually like getting out there and doing that stuff.

A couple of the guys I work with are Chopper pilots and I have to tell you they are scared out of their wits landing on ships in huge seas in the dead of night to evacuate injured sailors, but wouldn't give it up for anything.

Next:

Half the time they end up upside down in some remote part of the southern ocean

Now I'm no authority on Solo round the world racing, but in twenty years or so I can remember two (2) boats that ended up being rescued in the southern ocean, one of them upside down. Most if not all of the others have been rescued by other competitors. Idiots they may be, but they are supremely fit and clever idiots!!

If you guys are going to get all excited about the costs, how about we ban private boats altogether...the cost of normal weekend SAR services is far greater than the occasional yacht race disaster (which forms part of a training budget for the services involved anyway).

Or better still.... if it really is a user pays thing...the victims of any home workshop accidents should pay their own way as well...after all dangerous machinery has no place in the recreational lives of decent folk.....

Apparently.


:confused: :confused: :confused:

P (grumpy cos he's at work!)

[Gumby]

I usually agree with you BM but I think the risks these guys take and the gung ho attitude is a worry. It's only a matter of time before there are more deaths out there. Having said that, you do have a point about the rescuers. They also choose their professions, and we should thank them for that.

Haver a nice day at work............I'm off to the garage to play with my toys.

[Daddles]

(grumpy cos he's at work!)

Grumpy, the midge grumpy? Nah. Don't believe it. Couldn't be.

Richard
at home ... with the kids down at the school wearing out the new cricket bat ... so I've got a chance to do some ... wait for it ... WORK! :mad:

[Iain]

I'm entirely with BM on this, nothing like a hands on rescue for training which they do anyway.
If we adopted this philosophy for all emergency services the police, ambulance and fire brigades would cost everyone a fortune.

[journeyman Mick]

Midge,
yes, I enjoy fighting fires but I weigh up the risks. There's one property owner who has an access that I can barely get the appliance through, with no space to turn when you get to his dwelling. There's long grass, dead trees and dry paper and cardboard "mulch" everywhere. We've told him that we won't respond to a fire at his dwelling unless he clears it up. Better one house gone and possibly its occupant than that and a truck full of fire fighters all gone.

A lot of these yachts are sacrificing seaworthiness for speed. If they want to go flat chat under sail in an eggshell maybe they should do it in safer waters. Reguarding user pays, I'm not suggesting that the rescuee meets the full cost of the actual rescue, just that for this race each entrant pay into an insurance fund which would roll over each year to help meet the cost of any rescue. I don't know about the other states but in Qld people pay a fire levy and an ambulance levy. The fire levy doesn't cover the costs involved when the fire brigade attends a motor vehicle accident, this is paid by your insurance company. Also in Qld if you live outside of an urban fire brigade area and your house catches fire (or is threatened) and the urban brigade responds you will be charged.

Yeah great, the yacht race rescues are good training but the taxpayer is still footing the bill. Surely if they can afford to build a bloody huge (and expensive) carbon fibre/kevlar etc toy to go racing in they can pay into an insurance fund to help defray rescue costs.

Mick

[Gumby]

Did you notice that Skandia is uninsured!!!!!! That's unbelievable!! :eek: :eek:

[bitingmidge]

And from the Australian:

GRANT WHARINGTON broke down and wept late yesterday when he flew to his abandoned $4million super-maxi Skandia in Bass Strait and discovered it was floating upside down.

If there was any consolation it was his decision to abandon the uninsured racer was justified. He and his 15 crew are safe. And in his mind he is also ahead financially. He raced without insurance because of the $700,000 premium demanded.

"It's probably going to cost a few hundred thousand dollars to get the yacht back," Wharington said. "And a few hundred thousand dollars more to repair it. Add that up and I think I'm still ahead."

Back with more argument tomorrow!!

(I'm still at work so I can go away next week!!)

P

[Gumby]

Regardless of the cost, it means he wouldn't have 3rd party insurance either. Even my off-the-beach Sabre had 3rd party insurance in case I hit some poor clod swimming when I came in. Not to mention hitting other boats. In the context of what this thing costs and the damage it could do, I think he's taking way too big a risk.