Yeah, don't be posting pics of minors without written parental consent. Kind of like poking a momma bear

I think one point that needs to be stressed with the issue of the minors at the regattas was the the minors at the regatta in question were not accompanied by a parent,guardian, or coach. This is the reason for the big question of who makes the call about them sailing.

Jay,

Yeah...yeah...yeah.....it's a lot easier to brain storm and make plans and take precautions now then having to defend your lack of planning in court. Any attempt is better than no attempt. Mark speaks of cost....quite true, but nothing compared to the cost of defense and associated discovery. Of course dealing with kids, we won't even get into any type or award and or punitive issues for doing nothing!

Karl,
That's a huge issue of dumping kids and leaving. Let's keep it simple and they get stung by a Honeybee......how do you handle that? I mean brainstorming is great and what ifs. These discussions just open the eyes of those who have exposure here to consider in the future. Its to bad its come to this, but believe me.....dealing in litigation all day, I see the issues would have been different if just some planning and organization in this area was attempted. Credit for Dave to raise the issue.

To be fair, the kids were not exactly "dumped". Both were at least 16 years old, one was sailing with another youth who was there with his father, and the other, at 16, is more mature and a better sailor than most of us will ever hope to be.

True I'm sure, but it doesn't change their legal status.

FWIW, isn't USS making the big push toward youth sailing? If so, where do they fit in? Congressional mandate and all that...

And, I hate to be a ghoul but we just lost that young girl last summer. Surely USS has a position.

On page one, it alludes to "reasonable care". How does one define that? Reasonable care by whom?

If it's nasty and the PRO decides to run a race with the ADULTS, what can you do to stop the youth sailors from going out and sailing besides not scoring them. What if they win? What if they get tangled in a downwind gate and someone gets hurt ?

Also on page one, perhaps replace "Natural" guardian with "legal" guardian? But I'm not an attorney...

[quote=waterbug_wpbAlso on page one, perhaps replace "Natural" guardian with "legal" guardian? But I'm not an attorney... [/quote]

You can't do that in FL, the statute is very specific about exactly what the waiver must say and who is permitted to sign it. Only a "natural" guardian (defined as the child's biological mother or father or legallaly adoptive parents) may sign a waiver on behalf of a minor child.

At some events in the past, Sail Newport has stated that each child must be accompanied by an adult throughout the regatta (some go on the water, others stay ashore, depending if they bring their own boat).

I didn't see it mentioned for this event, so I didn't include it.

They've also stopped doing check-in / check-out tags locally (all around NBYA, actually). I've seen some nasty penalties come from not turning in your tag, well deserved after volunteers spend several hours trying to call your emergency contact to find out if you're accounted for.

Mike

ha ... the upcoming JO's/Hobie 16 NAs are to use this scanning system this July. I get to shoot each kid with the scanner gun that comes off the water. (I have also demanded a water pistol). ... I have no idea if this will work.... hearing that newport dumped the tag system... I hope the scanner will be better.

Mark,

Can you dig up a copy of the form parents must sign to enter their child in the AYC Jr Oly? I am trying to get the one we use at PYC for our festival. Perhaps a comparison of these documents might help our percerptions gain some traction. I'll ask again tonight - made a note - B

So a foster parent falls under this category? Good to know ya'll have checked this out in detail. Despite the head-in-the-sand comments, I feel this has potentially huge ramifications not the least of which would be devastatingly bad press.

Sounds like the rebel-catsailing community is being assimilated....

The foster parent issue is one that is still being worked out at the State level. Apprently our ifidently wise legislators failed to take that into account when they wrote the statute. The letter of the law says, no, foster parents cannot sign.

but back to other topics, I wonder if youth and non-youth should be combined (same course, regatta, etc) if for no other reason than this "reasonable standard of care" is probably different for both groups.

Non-youths may be able to agree to race in conditions or on a course with less support than a similar youth group...?

I just returned home from a Jr Oly planning meeting and must refer to Matt's reminder that US Sailing has created a waiver form that is applicable for sanctioned events featuring youth sailors. Our yacht club has a maritime lawyer that keeps our paper trail in focus. About the only thing we better never do in an NoR or SIs is require competitors to wear a fifty pound weight vest.

The real bottom line is that the PRO better have a quality safety plan in effect so that the competitors will not be shortchanged due to a lack of race track resources. Mark set boats performing rescues are no longer mark set boats>>> Quality angels will aid in decision making.

All well and good when the OA gets it, and is willing/able to supply the resources.

The real problems come when the OA thinks they know more than the class or PRO ("we don't need all these power boats, nothing has ever gone wrong here before")...

Said another way, the saftey plan is a joint responsibility of the OA and RC.

Mike

Yep, and when something blows up just one time, they will get a quick expensive lesson real fast!

Hunter Thompson said you don't know you are on the edge until you've passed it. We have been lucky. Last year our on the water response team prevented three visits to the YC by para - medics. This time of year dehydration is a real enemy along with booms and turtled cats with a crewmember trapped under the boat. Her dad cut her out with a knife.

Racing should be conducted for sailors by sailors.