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In response to your feedback on the death of Austrian Tornado sailor Johannes Haeup we have received further comments from you on the debate over safety in sailing dinghies

From an International 14 sailor:
My 14 crew and I both carry a 'Z-knife' strapped to our harness. This is designed for divers to free themselves from nets and is hook-shaped with a blade on the inside part of the hook.

As always something like this is a bit of a compromise, but it doesn't get in the way when sailing (at all), would be all but impossible to injure yourself with and cuts through most line very easily. It won't cut through wire rigging, but I'm pretty confident I could use mine to cut myself out of my harness (which I now wear on top of everything else). I think they were around ten quid each, including a quick-release velcro patch. Well worth a look...

What have you found is the best knife to carry on board and where do you carry it?

RS200 sailor David Mahany raises a number of pertinent questions
If a crew or helm is lost overboard, conscious or not, how soon could the remaining crew get back to rescue them? Can you get the asymmetric down on your own? Can you keep the boat upright on your own? And all the time you must be watching your lost crew or you will loose sight of them in the waves!!

How long can you keep yourself afloat in the cold? Even with a dry suit you will get cold quickly. Yes even in the Med. The sea is still colder than you are! If the boat capsizes with just one crew aboard it will be blown one way, whereas a body in the water can be taken in a different direction. Could everyone swim back to the boat?

Once the boat is over a rescue boat would approach, and could be directed to the lost crew, but otherwise how does the boat indicate to the rescue craft that they have lost someone? Do they all need handheld VHF? The wearing of personal buoyancy must remain. The type used by most sailors are buoyancy aids thus will only keep an unconscious wearer afloat not necessarily alive! Personally I have a manual gas inflated lifejacket with no permanent buoyancy, I manually add air prior to going afloat. On another safety note does anyone carry flares when racing? Is there anywhere suitable to carry them on the modern dinghies? My RS200 has a bag attached to the inside of an inspection hatch. This would keep the flares dry, but accessible? I would also mean breaching the integrity of the boats buoyancy to get at them, or any other emergency kit and rations!

Perhaps someone should come up with the grab bag for all this, although in the heat of the moment it is most likely that only knifes, flares and other paraphernalia you are carrying will be valuable. What do you think?

Magnus Grävare has had experience of similar situations:
When sailing high speed skiffs you will at times do spectacular wipe-outs and chances are that you knock yourself unconscious or get stuck. Sooner or later you will end up in a situation where you need help.

I speak from first hand experience on this issue. A few years ago while capsizing I got my trapeze harness hook stuck in between the shrouds and the cap shrouds on my 49er and wasn't able to get myself untangled as the boat turned upside down. I remained under the surface for more than five minutes (so I am told) and became unconscious much quicker (that I know!)

So what are the lessons that I learned? First of all when the accident happens it is often up to the people around you to save you and I owe my life to my crew and the Spanish sailors that jumped from their boat and helped my crew control our 49er while she got me untangled.

Definitely do bring a knife and keep it in a place where you can reach it. Try to minimize the risk of getting caught by wearing clothing that isn't bulky. Keep your boat uncluttered. Don't go sailing by yourself when it is windy and cold if you can avoid it. Keep an eye on your crew and your training partners when they capsize. In short behave in a responsible manner.

Do teach new sailors about the dangers and how to best avoid them. As time goes by I know that I have become more careless again. The tragedy in Mallorca will hopefully make me bring that knife again next time I go sailing (something I failed to do last week). It should be apparent to anyone that while the risk might be higher in a fast skiff, accidents like this can happen in any boat that people take out on the water.

So take your time before you go out sailing again and think through what are the possible dangers that lie ahead and what precautions that you can take to minimise the risks. Don't let your crew, family and friends go through what mine had to.

Thank you Magnus for your helpful advice

Sarah Butcher offers a solution:
Aside from being saddened by such a death, I was horrified that the safety boat did not have a knife onboard. The safety of the sailor ALWAYS comes before the boat, a principle which seems self evident. A human life is irreplaceable. One thing that could be learnt is for all events to ensure that not only the competitors and their boats pass the required class inspections, but also the safety boats should always contain a standard basic kit on board - and that those in charge of the safety boat know what to do. Perhaps this is something ISAF could look into for all events, from Olympics to local races.

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