Should the Sunfish Class allow VHF Radios? - What if Andre did not rescue Bob Findlay?

sadkins372

sadkins372

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ARTHUR B. HANSON RESCUE MEDAL AWARDED TO ANDRE PATIN

Way to go Andre Patin, along with John Porter!. I am fairly new to the Sunfish Class and Bob Findley has been so helpful and welcoming to my wife and I. It would have been a tragedy to loose him on June 11, 2023 if Andre had not retired and sailed by him and rescued him.

Less than three months earlier on March 26, 2023 at the Masters at Midwinters Race skippers meeting, Race Committee Chairman, John Farris responded to a question about radios:
I think the class says no. And I think that is something, if I may politic, the class needs to look at. Radios have gotten small enough and cheap enough, and there are safety factors to all of that. I am very fond of verbal communication…

In reading the quote below, what could be more important to the class than SAFETY to not allow radios? (sorry but I am a Safety First guy) I still carry a small radio in my PFD pocket, ask for the appropriate channel, but keep it off at class regattas. I urge the class to reconsider. They are standard in other classes and very common in others. At my second class regatta in Clearwater (Midwinters 2022) my upper boom endcap broke and it took me an hour (sailing alone) to make it back to the club. Just a few days earlier Andre's dad, Paul-John, assisted our friend Lynne, who had capsized multiple times in the Masters on the very long sail back from the Gulf to the sailing club.
(quote from the article at the link below) "...On his way in, he noticed a sailor who had capsized while also sailing to shore. Obviously in trouble, waving his arms, yelling, and becoming increasingly fatigued, Andre sailed towards the sailor and stopped to offer aid. Bob Findlay had been in the water for an undetermined amount of time with injuries to his chest area from struggling to right his boat, and was clinging to the stern at the rudder as the effects of cold-water immersion were setting in. He was unable to self-rescue. In addition, in his unsuccessful efforts to right his boat, he had damaged his life jacket and had concerns as to its continued floatation and usefulness...
Andre received the US Sunfish Class Association Peter J. Barnett Sportsmanship Award at the event for his actions. Mr. Findlay was quick to note, “Had it not been for Andre’s unhesitating and quick response, I may have certainly perished.”

Click this link to read full article ARTHUR B. HANSON RESCUE MEDAL AWARDED TO ANDRE PATIN
 
Section 3.1.9 prohibits the "use" of any "electronic equipment not specifically allowed in the rules". Feel free to keep your radio turned off and in your dry bag with you cell phone and electronic car keys.

If you use it during the race you could open yourself up to protest, but I'm guessing if you're turning it on and using it, it's for good reason.

A radio is on me every time I race (on my pfd). It's not just your life it could save, it could be someone's parent or child or sibling. If someone protested my race result based on my emergency use of a radio it would say more about them than it would about me.
 
Pippins said:
Section 3.1.9 prohibits the "use" of any "electronic equipment not specifically allowed in the rules". Feel free to keep your radio turned off and in your dry bag with you cell phone and electronic car keys.
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I think I was at a regatta where the class measurer said you could not have them on board but my cone is filled with so much junk I may be mis-remembering. It seems like he said that is a long-standing interpretation of the rules, but it would be good to ask him as I am just not sure. I think the major thing the class does not want sailors doing is listening in on the race committee or getting info from coaches or friends.
 
Race committees don't want chatter on the radio because if you have 50 boats out there you're going to get 15 or 20 of them on the radio all asking the same two questions "are we in sequence now?" and "what course are we running?".

If you ask the a measurer they are going to take a conservative side. If there is no radio there can be no protest.

I say carry the radio, keep it off, and use it in an emergency. If you end up in a protest and you lose I would appeal the decision. Worst outcome here would be getting disqualified from an amateur event for standing up for something you believe in.

Section 3.1.9 appears to be there to prevent performance enhancing technology from creeping into contest. I don't think a protest involving emergency use of a radio would be upheld.
 
Pippins said:
Race committees don't want chatter on the radio because if you have 50 boats out there you're going to get 15 or 20 of them on the radio all asking the same two questions "are we in sequence now?" and "what course are we running?".

If you ask the a measurer they are going to take a conservative side. If there is no radio there can be no protest.

I say carry the radio, keep it off, and use it in an emergency. If you end up in a protest and you lose I would appeal the decision. Worst outcome here would be getting disqualified from an amateur event for standing up for something you believe in.

Section 3.1.9 appears to be there to prevent performance enhancing technology from creeping into contest. I don't think a protest involving emergency use of a radio would be upheld.
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Where radios have been allowed I have not heard chatter except for the RC communicating with the boat setting up or moving marks. The only communication from competitors has been to let RC know they were retiring.
I will continue to carry a radio and keep it off for Sunfish class events unless there is a change. And I will keep it on like we do at our club where some on RC communicates things for all to hear.
 
Wavedancer said:
How many rescue boats were on the scene? They should be on the lookout for sailors that are in trouble...
Kudos to Andre!
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I was not at the 2023 Midwinters. But at the 2022 Midwinters it was a very long sail from the gulf through the Clearwater channel to the bay where the sailing club was located. In my opinion this is where the largest risk is because at Clearwater there were no support boats for the sail to and from the course except at the start and end of the race day. When anyone retired early due to various reasons (i.e. breakdowns, too much wind..) The other unknown is that the RC at regattas is different at every location. In Clearwater my wife and I only had one radio. She had been experiencing some health issues so she took the radio. She would be ok to sail, but if she felt bad she wanted to be able to communicate with RC that she was going in. She had to beg the RC to provide the channel to communicate with them. This was a new experience for us because our previous Sunfish class regatta include the channel in the sailing instructions and also noted that competitors could only communicate in an emergency. In my opinion a great step would be to include in the sailing instructions the channel and note the only communications allowed is for an emergency or if retiring.
 
IMHO the advantages of VHF radios far outweigh any disadvantages, especially now that long distance events are becoming popular. In an emergency time matters. The time that it takes for a situation to be noticed and then investigated might be too long. VHF radios ought to be encouraged and transmissions monitored by the racing committee, at least for events that take place on large bodies of water. On local lakes like the ones near me just yelling for help works just fine!
Just my opinion, FWIW. I personally carry a VHF radio whenever I go sailing or paddling in open waters.
 
Other options for radios are the iphone 14 that has emergency SOS via satellite. And newest ACR PLBs have SarSat signals, the fanciest one sends back a signal to confirm that the SAR signal was received, and it also alerts anyone nearby with AIS on their boat.

We have the iphone for spots where we can't get cell service, and will be adding the ACR PLB now that we live in a spot where other mariners may be around (Lower Chesapeake).
 
On the Maryland side of the lower bay there are a LOT of marshy areas without any cell signals. But the Crisfield (and Ocean City, if I am on the sounds) Coast Guard station has a really tall antennas that can reach out quite a ways. Since VHF is line of sight even a 5 watt HT light signal can easily go 20 or more miles, as long as nothing gets in the way. I am trying to figure out how to mount an antenna on the mast head for when I go a bit further afield. The additional height should give me a even more range.

I only use the VHF in special on cases. I use a combination of FRS and GMRS radios when I take groups out. A lot easier for casual conversations than dealing with the VHF protocols.
 
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