Strangford Lough Race abandonment

[michaelcheers]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/nort ... 123022.stm

What learnings can we take from this incident?Post edited by: michaelcheers, at: 2007/12/02 15:40

[knotman]

and this, same page. Sennen http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 122844.stm

[moe]

Press seems to have been slighty exagerated. Yep ask what can be learned but before anything is said the Belfast Kayak Club is to be commended for organising an event in first place.

http://www.belfastkayakclub.co.uk/phpBB ... .php?t=326

http://www.belfastkayakclub.co.uk/phpBB ... ?p=531#531

michael

[michaelcheers]

Yes, the press seem to ham things up a bit for a good story.

[michaelcheers]

Hi Phillip thanks for your reports. In my humbIe opinion I think it is valuable to pick over the bones a bit. All credit and thanks must go to the organisors as they seem to have had a difficult situation to manage one way or another. I think the real value of the exercise is to see what can be done to make this task easier for future organisors faced with the same situation. A positive response from everyone will ensure that people will not be discouraged from staging future races which after all require an enormous effort and time, and must be for the good of the sport.

So here\'s my take.
I\'ve noticed reports of two other sea kayak races that occured in the UK that have also generated some incidents and comments regarding saftey. Is there an issue in this area? I don\'t know, but let me play Devils advocate and propose the idea that Sea kayak races DO seem to be prone to problems. Here are some notions as to why this might be.

1 Distribution of experienced paddlers. There is always a big group of paddlers and as a race progresses the group will get strung out, generally stronger paddlers at the front and weaker or less experienced at the back. The stronger paddlers who may well take control of a rescue situation on a normal trip situation aren\'t always around because they are at the the head of the field this leaves weaker paddlers more exposed.

2 Group Psycology and dynamics. In a normal sea kayaking trip we paddle very much as a loose knit team, but in a race we are very much focussed on ourselves our own performance and getting as much distance between ourselves and our competitors. By its very nature it requires a selfish perspective. Thats\' not to say anyone would paddle away from someone who was in the water, but when paddling as a team we would be aware of, and deal with someone who was suffering fatigue before they took an early bath. In a race you WANT your competitior to suffer fatigue so you can win!! These factors elevate the absolute requirement for liberal quantities of RIB safety cover.

3 Media. Another function of a large group is the fact that if an incident does occur the authorities will task their assets for a worst case scenario. I read that at one point two SAR helicopters were tasked to Strangford Lough at one point (fact or fiction? not sure!). More people = bigger potential incident = bigger response from coastguard = geometrically bigger media response. The point is perhaps the big media response creates a false impression of a situation, and as a secondary effect that also sea kayak racing is percieved to be more prone to incident that other forms of sea kayaking when the reality is not the case.

4 Human factors. Given a situation where a Go/NOGo decsion has to be made in the face of an iffy forecast or other local factors (saftey boat availability, the course, comms, etc). The more people who turn up to the race, the more pressure there MAY be on the organisors to let the race take place. Perhaps we could learn from sailing in this regard by appointing a Race Officer (as Phillip has suggested) who has a clear set of guidlines as to when he is permitted to commence with a race, and who has a number of shortened course options he can resort to if conditions worsen during the race. All of this requires good on-the-water communications with the competitors and safety boat cover. In sailing they often use predefined flag signals for communications - its cheap and less prone to technical failure.

just some ideas.....

kind regards

MikePost edited by: michaelcheers, at: 2007/12/04 21:24

[philipl]

I think ISKA may well be a good place to produce a set of guidelines for these kinds of events. I think our rules took into account safety as much as possible, but we really did not expect our safety cover to be lost in such a way.

I would ask anyone interested to look at our rules for the race and give comments.

Note also that the participants were not young (sea kayaking appears to be a sport of the middle aged or those nearing middle age) and this was never advertised as an event for learners. In an environment were most people in sea kayaking would have no or few qualifications in kayaking, how do make sure that everyone has skills? ISKA, in my understanding, leaves that to individuals to decide.

Philip

[michaelcheers]

Dunno how to solve the skills issue but even more experienced sea kayakers - with qualifications or not, tend not to paddle alone. Effectively a race of 40 people is 40 people paddling solo!

Perhaps one idea when there is a question mark on the conditions on the day or skills or whatever is to run a race for teams of 3, like in the team slalom event. This would allow the less qualified/confident/willing to compete whilst still benefiting from all of the usual safety support that one enjoys when paddling in a group. You could also impose teams only ruling on the day if your saftey cover is not up to it. This would be a test then of seamanship and teamwork.

mikePost edited by: michaelcheers, at: 2007/12/04 22:25

[philipl]

Not really 40 solo paddlers - that is a bit of an exaggeration of the \'race\' element since as with most of these events, most paddlers are not racing but just participating. Most made their way up the course in groups. I was only alone for the very final section, when I think I fell behind a bit.

[michaelcheers]

ah I see !!

[DaveWalsh]

This discussion is very educational, interesting, and enjoyable. I am the greatest ever believer in the de-brief. Please, no angst, but no holding back either.
Please, Gentlemen, seconds out, round two.
The ISKA will however absolutely NOT judge.
Its mission statement
\"To represent, promote, develop and advance the activity of sea kayaking in Ireland, by
The provision of a means of communication amongst Irish paddlers
The provision of a means of communication between Irish paddlers and other paddlers
The fostering of respect for and encouraging the protection of the flora and the fauna and the amenity of the Irish maritime environment
The promotion of safe paddling by the encouragement of formal and informal training.\"
For competitive events in a canoe, contact ICU.
DWalsh