RIB Death in America - Propellors Are Lethal Weapons

29th November -0001

The Instructors RIB involved in the fatal accident in Centerport, NY

We know that RIB crews and Instructors in our Junior Sailing Programmes are given the most rigorous training in safety writes W M Nixon. Yet over the years who hasn’t occasionally seen an outboard-driven RIB being treated as though it’s a toy, designed for playing harmless nautical chicken? But in reality any propellor – and an outboard propeller in particular – is probably the most lethal weapon with which you could possibly share the sea, even when it is being used responsibly with the best intentions.

So a report here in American Scuttlebutt will strike a chill in the hearts and minds of all thinking sailors. Put simply, a ten year old boy sailing pupil has been killed by an instructor’s RIB while taking part in a capsizing exercise. The story is here. It may have happened in America. But it is always lurking, ready to happen anywhere.

Published in RIBs

Tagged under

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.