I got trapped under the tramp of an 18 in a similar situation. A pitch pole while heading dead down wind. The jib sheet caught round my neck and I was under the tramp for perhaps 15 seconds (it felt quite a bit longer). I ended up ripping off my hat and glasses to get the rope off and lost both to the bottom of the lake.

On reflection I think the diving knife or safety hook is an excellent idea - time to go shopping.

My thoughts on this tragic accident - if regulations called for the 11 year old to be supervised then the employees of the company do appear to be negligent. Fitting mast floats to rental boats would appear to be a very sensible practice. When people buy and sail their own boats I would defend their right to personal choice and not mandate floats.

Chris.

This is a very sad story. From reading though it did seem that the boat was being supervised by adults from a crash boat. It's really just a terrible accident. Also a reminder of bad things that can happen out there and to be prepared.

Deaths in cats are pretty rare. But cats are getting pretty rare also. I use to take this pretty lightly until I had an issue one day. I was running downwind and pitchpoled in a good puff. As I slid across the tramp somehow the bungie got a loop around my leg. After we flipped I was hung upsidedown until my crew could come and help free me. You can't break bungie and you can't pull it off until you can relieve the tension. After this I bought a dive knife which I wear on my lifevest always. People sometimes make fun of it but I can't imagine what would have happened had the boat turtled with my leg stuck in the bungie.

I also know that the award (I forget the name) was given out a few years ago because a woman had got the hook from the trapeze "looped" in the sidestay. The sidestay was actually looped around the hook. There was no way to free her. After struggling for a long time her skipper was able to get the harness off of her so that she could surface. This was a very close call and only due to her skippers quick action was her life saved.

I also know of 4 cats totally destroyed by motor boats.
1. Eric Arborast H20
2. Barry I20
3. Gordon Isco's A cat.
4. Tornado by a coach boat. The skipper lost a leg in this incident.

These are all people I've met or know and so this is not an uncommon occurance. Be careful around powerboats. They are clueless.

With all of that said, I also believe catsailing to be a very safe sport when precautions are taken and common sense is used.

Mike Hill
www.stlouiscats.com

Most of my experience has been with White Water Kayaking in West Virginia. Between 1995 and 1997 all commercial rafting companies were asked to report fatal and non-fatal injuries. It was very difficult to compare data on different rivers because the conditions were so varied. We did find commonalities in types of injuries. The most common was facial injuries, usually after bailing out in a rapid and getting hit by the boat. People between 20 and 29 had more injuries than those over 30. The most telling was of course experience with the boat. Those with less than 20 hours experience were the more likely to die in circumstances where boaters with greater than 100 hours of experience reported a 'near miss' or suffered injury but lived. (One of those near misses was mine)

I mention this study because I think it would be similar in catamarans. The conditions would make the data difficult to compare but if you look at WHO gets in serious trouble, it is directly related to experience more than conditions. For instance, a very inexperienced sailor might assume too much about a motor boat giving them way. It might be interesting to see what injuries are common to the sport. From what I am reading it seems to be legs and in particular knees. What is your feeling?

Also...men were 14 times more likely than womento have a fatal injury but, like catamaran sailing, I would guess that has much more to do with who is participating in the sport. There aren't very many women kayaking either.

Before vowing to carry a large, sharp knife on your person:
try to cut a piece of mainsheet, jibsheet, spinsheet or bungee with it. Then try it under duress, being dragged, or hanging upside down. It ain't so easy. Some of these modern (Kevlar-containing?) lines are very difficult to cut.

Check it out, even nipping off a bit of your new line- to have a fair idea what, and how fast, and even IF it can be done! The life you save could be your own-or your kid's.

If in that situation, forget cutting the main sheet, cut the tramp and sort yourself out from there...... It just may save your life

I had a similar incident happen, and consider myself fortunate to have been told by a few in my fleet to always have: A knife, with a serated edge if you can, keep your wits about you while ABOVE water and always remember - don't panic. Very, very sad incident, but I do understand this is a rare incident (?).

Exactly.

Get some air, then worry about un-tangling !

You need to think this thru as to what order you do things and have it clear in your mind.

1, Which way is up (trust me it's not as silly as it sounds)
2, Air route (cut tramp?)
3, Now breathing, less speed required
4, Un-tanglement
5, Recovery

Gerber makes a safety knife with a serrated blade.

The Gerber has a rounded tip, so you cant jab or cut yourself with it if you are trying to get the knife between your body and whatever has you tangled.

Spyderco makes one too, the point isnt quite as round as the Gerber. http://shop.store.yahoo.com/landfallnav/ssk08.html

I couldnt find a picture of the Gerber.

I'll bet there are more (sailing) deaths from hypothermia than drowning.

If memory serves, there have been 5 deaths r/t hypothermia and alcohol in Southwest Florida in the last 25 or 30 years.

None by drowning that I'm aware of.

Correction- recently a guy fell out of his dingy and drowned. This while trying to board a monohull. Alcohol was a contributing factor.

Some great safety advice here.
A few questions:
1) If you use a blunt tip safety knife with a serrated edge, can you still easily cut the tramp? I'm concerned that with the blunt tip it may be hard to get the cut started?
2) Yes, good idea to put the knife where you can get at it with either hand; do most people put it on the front of their PFD to do this? If not, where?
3) Do most people use a sheath on their vest to hold the knife rather than a flip open style knife?

Jerry

I am also a fan of the gerber river shorty.

I wear it on the hard point on my life jacket. It is a snap-sheath style. This means I can easily access it with either hand.

I haven't tried to go through a tramp with it as a test but I am confident that I could. The blade has a blunt squared of tip that can be used as a screwdriver or to pry in an emergency. The blade is thick so that it won't break easily.

Flatlander18, I believe you're talking about the excellent Matson QR (quick-release) buckle. Not sure why they are no longer made... probably some @!*& lawyers involved. I know of no design defects, and mine has never let go when I didn't want it to. I have simulated "rescuing" myself with it under loads exceeding my body weight, and it releases nicely. I also like the plastic retainer which keeps you from coming unhooked when slack, and will retain the hook in an emergency release.

Mine is holding up well and you can't have it. ;') The new replacement (from a different mfr.) in the Murray's catalog looks to be weaker, less failsafe, and (*ta-DAH*) FOUR times the cost! Is that "progress"???