Cobnor Safety Boats to the Rescue
October 20th, 2011
Sailing isn’t always about tallyhos and cruising gentle waves with the sunshine on your back, it’s a watersport with its own risks and safety measures. One of Cobnor’s safety measures is the use of a powerboat fleet of Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) to act as safety boats.
We’re a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) accredited sailing school and we use safety boats when providing sailing lessons as standard. Obviously, our professional sailing instructors are there to advise you on technique and can steer the most novice of sailors away from calamity as much as possible. However, we must make provisions to ensure that you gain the best possible experience from your sailing lessons and your safety is always our first thought.
The size of safety boat that accompanies you when sailing depends very much on the size of your sailing fleet, with our 5 metre RIB used for smaller groups and our 7 metre RIB used as safety boat for larger fleets. Our safety boats are there just in case the wind should catch you unawares or if you should stray out of your designated sailing area. The Cobnor safety boat instructors patrols the waters while sailing lessons are in progress and at the first sign that a sailing dinghy and her crew need helps it will be there to provide assistance.
Just take this example, while sailing just off Bosham shoreline during last year’s Cobstock weekend one of our Bosun capsized. One of our safety boat instructors observed the capsize and was there in a matter of seconds to check that the passengers were unharmed. He helped them aboard the power boat and performed a nifty manoeuvre to get the dinghy back afloat so that he could tow her back to Cobnor base. This kind of scenario is part and parcel of sailing instruction and Cobnor Activities Centre is proud to have a team they can rely on.
We’re so confident in our safety boat crew that we provide RYA Powerboat Level 2 courses, instructor courses and safety boat courses. Our 5.5 metre RIBs provide excellent stable platforms for such tuition to take place and our 4 metre Commando is used as an example of a tiller-driven outboard (as opposed to a steering wheel and throttled lever).Our 7 metre craft, Jenny Boon, is used in powerboat courses to demonstrate wave handling. It’s crucial that those learning to use powerboats get the most experience possible in a range of crafts and weather conditions, preparing them for any eventuality.
You can find out more about our upcoming RYA Powerboat Instructor courses, RYA Powerboat Level 2 courses and RYA Safety Boat courses by checking out our schedule.