lifejackets

is it Compulsory to ware a lifejacket at your club & do you wear one

  • yes i wear a pfd ect. as i do not want to drown

    Votes: 43 78.2%

  • no i dont wear a pfd ect. as i do not want to be weighed down & decrease mobility around the boat

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • yes my club makes it Compulsory to wear one to race so that they reduce the chance of death

    Votes: 23 41.8%

  • no my club do not make racers wear a pfd ect. as they think they are not needed

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    55
keiran searle AUS

keiran searle AUS

New Member
just thought it would be interesting to know if you wear a pfd ,lifejacket ect & if it is Compulsory to ware one it would be good to know what brand ect everyone is wareing as i am in need of a new one
 
is aus, the people at the marine boards are bringing in a rule, where everyone on boats without life lines, iirc, have to wear a PFD type 1 (ones with the neck thing) when not racing & we will have to wear PFD type 2's when racing, this sucks cause the PFD1's are the shitest lifejackets, i bet i wouldnt be able to get under the laser boom with a PFD1.
I wear a PFD2 cause they are comfier & because they are cheaper than some of the comfy PFD1's (the CO2 cartridge ones).
 
yeah but that riule is not allways inforced i am just about to leave for a second day of a regatta & some people dont ware anything for bouancy ( i live in aus to rob)
 
At every Laser regatta I've been to, it has always been in the Sailing Instructions that a Coast Guard (here in the US) approved life jacket (PFD) must be worn at all times. Even when I sail at my club it's mandatory to have one on. When I'm sailing by myself, I still reckon It's a good idea to wear one. PFD's nowadays are so light and are so non restrictive that you've got nothing to lose. I currently have a Retrojoust By Extrasport.
 
mac- I think you are wrong about the restrictiveness, if I could afford an inflatable one cause they are PFD1's & are better than the PFD2's when its deflated, it is a great lifejacket because it also has a harness thing for offshore sailing (the one my mate has) so you can use it offshore as well. but did i mention they are expensive, so i wont be buyin one. but the normal pfds suck for movement compareds to having nothing, but i will always wear one on any dinghy.
keiran searle- I think those rules for the PFD's dont come in just yet though, but I think in all our club races, we have to wear PFD2's.
 
IM the only laser sailer right now at my club, and every one else sails CL16 (canadian wayfares). I almost never see anyone else out other than the small race night, and dont believe there is any requirements to wear a life jacket. But i never go out with out mine, to me theres no point, i dont find it to restrictive, and it just makes sence.
 
Everyone has to wear a life jacket or bouncay aid to be legally allowed to sail over here
 
I wear one of the Henry Lloyd side zip vests, it's pretty comfy and has a pocket etc on the front. It's also fairly small and out of the way making it easy to duck under the boom, as i'm pretty tall.

Hey Rob, i'm sailing from Brisbane to Warrnambool on a 40 footer in the holidays.. how much are the gas cartridge life jackets with the harnesses and everything? My skipper recommended I have one for the trip.
 
Howdy Y'all,
In the state of Texas I believe it is mandatory to have one on or in the boat. I wear mine all the time. It's nothing fancy just your standard Sterns life jacket. But when you think about how hard the boom comes across on a jibe when it is even a moderate wind and if you were to recieve an especially good clout to the head and get knocked out and wind up in the drink.... Would you like to float or sink while hoping other sailors saw your plight and how long will it take them to get there.
Did anyone else see Fred Schroth's write-up on the Laser N.A. mailing list?
If so you can imagine how much fun it can be to find a drowning victim. Just think of how good you'll look after being under water for a couple of days until the gases of decompostion cause your body to float to the surface.
Still worried about your mobility in the boat, ducking under the boom or how much excess weight is your PFD? I'm not....
Best Regards,
Fishingmickey
150087/178894
 
mmm, i think they are like AU$500+, dont waste your money either, go for the Stormy Seas one, the marine board of vic did a test on all of them & they found that the Stormy Seas ones were waaaaaaaaaaay ahead of the others in terms of safety & everythin. dont buy one that isn't a PFD type 1 (stormy seas ones are) either cause if the water police people pick you up, you are buggered i think.
 
Yeah... i went and bought the gas self inflatable PFD yesterday. The Stormy Seas brand is considerably more expensive than any other brand. I guess you pay for quality.
But seeing as this is a one off trip I bought the Burke brand PFD1 with harness and everything, it was $200. Hopefully I wont be using the life-jacket, as i'd rather not be bobbing around in the middle od the Pacific.. but i'm sure the harness part will be useful.
 
SALUS LIFE JACKETS ARE THE BEST! if your going to get a good life jacket you gotta go SALUS! choose either Abacus or the Kiwi(I have a kiwi because it was desined for girls but then the guys liked it so they made them co-ed...if thats what you wanna call it)
 
I wear one for the same reasons stated by Fishingmickey.
My PFD of choice is the Lotus Lola. It would keep my head above water even if I were unconscious, and it is cut to provide full movement. I got the red one for visibility; kind of silly to not wear at least one visible bright color.
I'm off to Lake Houston today to practice tacks/gybes...don't think it's "frostbiting", but it is nippy here today at 40s-low 50s F.
Have you been hitting Canyon Lake, FichingMickey? :)
 
Howdy Odin...
I sure have... I hit it three days over Christmas and been out several times since. The winds haven't been nearly as good this year as they were last year. It seemed like last year I was having 15-20+ every weekend. Still I've had some beautiful sailing just not the planing conditions I had last year. The timing between cold fronts is off. I'd love to have some company to sail with, let me know if your in the area or vice versa when I'm down that way. Do you sail out of Seabrook or HYC?
I usually head to the coast once a month or so and sail out of Port Aransas either in the intercoastal or I launch off the beach depending on surf conditions and of course combine it with some fishing thrown in. Shoot me an email ([email protected] or [email protected]) some time and perhaps we can do some practicing together.
Are you planning on coming up to the Muy Frio regatta at AYC on the 5th and 6th? It should be a really good time. If so I'll see you there work permitting.
Regards,
Fishingmickey
150087/181157
 
Good morning.
I went to Lake Houston on Saturday and Monday. Each day was relatively light wind (5-10 mph mas o menos and kind of shifty N/NE, but I was able to get out on the water and enjoy the cloudless skies). On Saturday I was the only sailboat, and yesterday I was the only boat on the whole lake! It was overall a very nice three-day weekend.
I was through your area over Christmas, Fishingmickey, but not for sailing. A friend and I wanted to flee Houston for New Years, so we went to Natural Bridge Caverns and the wildlife park and San Antonio to see the missions. We spent New Years Eve/Day camping on the Guadalupe River. I'm going to have to get a kayak! There are too many rivers in Texas and my wanderlust compels me to explore them as well as keep up the sailing.
So far I have been "freelancing" as far as the sailing goes and I am not in a club. I do plan to join the Seabrook club next month, though, as I want to start getting involved in regattas. As I am new to sailing competitively, I think SSC will be great for me. HYC is WAY TOO expensive for me! OMG, they want thousands of bucks initiation dues and over 100 bucks a month dues! If I were younger it would be much less, but they really stick it to the 35+ group! I'm a teacher with a dinghy....just barely better economically than being a grad student!
I do intend to take a weekend trip to Lake Travis in February or March, depending on the temps in February, when I will camp on the lake (Windy Point or one of the other LCRA parks) and sail for the weekend. I'll let you know more about that as the time approaches.
I'm also planning a weekend trip to Padre Island National Seashore when the weather warms up. Do you camp? I like to go dowen to Padre (NOT South Padre, but rather the National Seashore) for kicks and this will be the first season I have the boat to take along. Maybe meet me down there when I go! I also want to make a trip to Matagorda Island; launch from Port Oconner with the camping gear lashed down to the deck and sail the few miles to the undeveloped island, which is only accessible by boat. That I'll probably do in the summer when I am free from teaching duties.
I'll definitely keep in touch and we'll get together for some Lasering this season.
 
Howdy Jay,
Sounds like we're from the same mold, hate crowds, love sailing and being on the water. You had to be pretty darn close if ya were camping on the Guadalupe over New years... one of the outfitters/camping sites off of River road in New Braunfels?
I'm still trying to wear the new off of my competitive sailing here also. Last season was my first full year on the D-15 circuit.... Hope that Mr. DFL tatoo is wearing off of my back by now, Heee heee.
Stay in touch...and we will do some Lasering, the folks I have met and sailed with in the D-15 fleet are the best and I am eagerly awaiting the start of this next season. First event should be in Seabrook in March if I remember right. The 2005 D-15 schedule isn't up yet. ;(
Hasta,
Fishingmickey
150087/181157
 
Originally postesd by yachtie2k4
is aus, the people at the marine boards are bringing in a rule, where everyone on boats without life lines, iirc, have to wear a PFD type 1 (ones with the neck thing) when not racing & we will have to wear PFD type 2's when racing, this sucks cause the PFD1's are the shitest lifejackets, i bet i wouldnt be able to get under the laser boom with a PFD1.
I wear a PFD2 cause they are comfier & because they are cheaper than some of the comfy PFD1's (the CO2 cartridge ones).
Click to expand...

Oh man, I hate those lifejackets in dinghys! I've never tried trapezing with a PDF 1 but I can imagine the neck thing would be fairly annoying, not to mention getting caught up in the boom vang etc. I wear a PDF 2 and I really can't afford to buy another lifejacket. Is it definate that this rule is coming in??
 
salus for sure
or something i only saw out on the west coast once no idea what it was called, they were very task specific (ie foredeck, trapeze, dingy grinder type specific) anf very expencive, good luck finding it
 
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