Sport Today

Pasted below, a short summary from Oct/Nov-98 New England Windsurfing Journal (sorry if someone already ran this) aimed at those that can't reason why someone would sail without a PFD.

No flames on how a PFD saved your life please...  -Barry Ritchey

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Excerpted from: Oct/Nov '98 New England Windsurfing Journal

On Labor Day Sunday, shortly after noon, Tony Armenta was run over by a 24-foot, twin-screw powerboat at Dennis Beach, Cape Cod. It seems the skipper was dialing in that new GPS and not paying attention. While preparing to waterstart, Tony looked upwind for a gust and saw the bottom hull of a boat about to hit. He let go of his gear and dove for the bottom. As the boat passed over, he felt a quiet stillness and then felt a dull flapping on the back of his legs. Back on the surface of the water, Tony reached back to feel what had happened to his legs, and his hand went inside his leg...

After over 300 stitches, metal staples, surgery, and a 3-day hospital visit, Tony is at home recovering. With time, Tony hopes to back on the water ASAP.

Tony feels that it was fortunate he wasn't wearing a life preserver. "There's no way I would have been able to dive deep enough if I had been wearing a PFD. The boat would have hit me on the head and it would have been all over."

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Check out NEWJ (a great regional rag) for more details...   -B

Tony is a really nice guy. He was one of the sales people at Sailways
that I used to do business with.  He is also a very lucky guy to be
alive after being ran over by a moron who didn't have enough sense to
look where he was going. Despite receiving over 300 sutures, he hopes to
be back on the water as soon as he can.

I hope that anyone considering using a PFD won't be put off by this
incident because this type of accident is very rare. The article states
(quote from New England Windsurfing Journal Vol. XV, No. 8):

..The odds of a power boat scoring a direct hit on a windsurfer are
arguably very small ("in all my involvement with windsurfing and
boating, I've never heard of this happening before," says Tony)....  
There are specific cases where it can be shown that any "safety device"
has short comings.  Even seat belts - where the car explodes upon impact
one could argue that it would be safer to be thrown clear of the
vehicle, or be able to jump out of a car as it rolls over a cliff.
However, for the vast majority of non-wavesailing windsurfing, a PFD is
a life saver not taker.   Ben Kaufman

--
Ben Kaufman

antispam: To Email me, change domain from spam_sync to pobox.

 - 10/18/98

Ben,

My intent was to shed some light on the flip side to the "to wear or not to wear" dilemma. I tire of blanket pro PFD use statements by many of the "experts" on this forum as well as the idiot logic of PFD's aren't cool. Although I do not wear a PFD, I always wear some neoprene unless it's incredibly hot or at least wear a flak jacket. And yes, the odds or getting struck by a boat are slim, but the odds of having your rig detach from the board are very probable (I'm statistically overdue myself). Swimming after a detached board is a no-win situation with a PFD. Otherwise you'd see PFD's in the olympic swimming events. And PFDs are nice if you're knocked unconscious... the authorities can find the body much easier...  I'm digressing. My apologies.   Keep us up to date on Tony's recovery. -Barry

Anybody got one?
-----------------------
Pete Cresswell

1. I use a PFD in Lake sailing sometimes because of the convenience for
waterstarting.

2. I never use a PFD when wave sailing because of the problem of getting under
waves when caught in the impact zone.  I am caught in the impact zone more than
I would like.

Bob

I left a message on this voice mail the other day (considering
snowboarding in addition to XC skiing this year). I'll ask him if
there's any follow up to the story, like what kind of $resolution$ did
he come to with the guy who hit him.  

Ben

--
Ben Kaufman

antispam: To Email me, change domain from spam_sync to pobox.

 - 10/19/98

I wear a PFD because I am LAZY and like the extra flotation it gives me for
waterstarting those huge sails.

I could care less if anyone else does.

(Also the wife insists I wear one when sailing alone.  Now THAT is really
stupid.)

Tom  - Chicago

Ben

--
Ben Kaufman

antispam: To Email me, change domain from spam_sync to pobox.

 - 10/19/98

Bob

His back still troubles him a bit but he escaped major injury.

No, he didn't die.  But I'd rather have him around than supply you the
perfect anecdote.

William

The second sailor died in late October on a 3.5 day at Third at dead low
tide.  He was wearing a PFD (and a helmet, I think).  He suffered a broken
neck.  The prevailing view was that he ran aground on a full-out plane and
hit his mast or similar hard object.  The body was found a couple days
later near Palo Alto airport.

-Ed

Yep -- caught the inducer.

Mike \m/

Notice the keyword that Mike spoke of - "FLOAT VEST" not
PFD. Float vests / flak jackets probably have 1/3 the
flotation and bulk of a PFD. -B