Safety - Strong winds lead to tragic deaths in USA

Heavy offshore winds lead to tragic deaths of 2 sup paddlers; 2 other sup paddlers presumed dead in 3 separate US incidents

In 3 separate incidents across America last weekend, 2 standup paddlers drowned and 2 are missing and presumed drowned.all apparently fell victim to strong offshore winds.

The 2 confirmed deaths were 2 men paddling together on the Connecticut side of Long Island Sound when strong offshore winds blew them toward Long Island: www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/nyregion/sunset-ride-turns-deadly-for-2-on-windy-long-island-sound.html

Also, last weekend, another sup paddler was missing and presumed lost, this time about 70 miles farther west, on the south side of Long Island, NY: www.liherald.com/stories/Paddleboarder-missing-off-Atlantic-Beach,80661

On the West Coast, in strong offshore winds on Lake Tahoe's western shore, a University of Nevada football player and a group of his fellow football player friends were swept out into the lake.one did not come back; a search continues: www.nevadaappeal.com/news/22437490-113/pack-football-player-missing-in-paddle-board-accident

This is a very sobering reminder of the power of offshore winds (blowing from land out to sea). When caught in offshores: lay down and paddle back to shore on your stomach to reduce windage. All of our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victims.

-Clay Feeter, Standup Journal

standupjournal.com/articles/single-worst-weekend-sup-history/

standupjournal.com/tips/one-of-the-most-important-sup-safety-tips-to-save-your-life/

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Imoutthere said..

As disturbing as all that is, most of us would not want to wear a life-jacket.

There are other safety options but calling for all paddlers to throw on a life-jacket is a tough one I think.

Rest In Peace

Down here in tassie it Is compulsory to wear a life jacket and legrope at all times, unless your in the surf zone, most guys don't have a problem and wear an inflatable bum bag type.

i see things like this a lot through surf lifesaving callout teams and lifeguarding etc

some of the main issues are
-people not checking the conditions and getting caught out which has happened in these cases
-lack of experience for the conditions eg leaving board and trying to swim

with sup being so easy for people with little or no experience to get on and go, people normally just go out where ever and a lot of the time without much instruction or idea instead of starting out in creeks or calmer waters people think they can just hop on and go in the ocean because more experienced people make it look easier and this can lead to being caught out, this thought is not unique to sup

but then again on the other had we have callouts because people on lookouts etc see groups of experienced downwinders in hi-vis a few km's out to sea and think they are in trouble

Jarryd

Are there regulations concerning what equipment a mountain climber has to carry? Would you get fined if you were found trekking in a remote area without eg. appropriate footwear? Do you get fined if you aren't eg. wearing a helmet when mountain biking?

I'm trying to get a sense of the degree to which safety regulations are enforced around the world in activities of similar potential risk to SUP.

In the UK, thankfully, you generally will not be fined for not wearing or carrying a pfd or using other safety equipment when SUPing. I guess this is largely because there is no-one to sue if a SUPer dies, since if you take part in an organised race then suddenly you often do have to take safety measures (including flares at a particular downwind race we have).

It is strange how little safety awareness there is in SUP though. I guess it comes from it's origins in surfing. And surfing is odd like that: clearly it would be most sensible etc to wear a helmet when surfing. But how many do? Yet kayakers manage to accept wearing helmets without considering it an affront to their masculinity, even where they won't be fined if they don't.

When I was growing up, no-one ever wore helmets when cycling. Now nearly everyone does, and the use of one marks out the serious cyclist from the cycle-shopping granny. I guess the change happened initially because the top athletes started to wear them, and then everyone wanted to copy them. So, maybe when we see Kai Lenny at the PPG wearing a full pfd, we will all feel comfortable enough in our masculinity to wear one too. And then the sight will eventually become so normalised that everyone who steps on a SUP will naturally expect to grab a pfd too. Maybe also a helmet.

The issue of leashes is a much trickier one because leashes can be dangerous in certain situations, and have actually caused deaths (although probably not as many as the lack of leashes has) whereas wearing a PFD very rarely would lead to death. I'm guessing this is one reason why there is more emphasis on PFDs than leashes when outside authorities discuss SUP safety regulations.

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husq2100 said...
Saying wearing a helmet in the surf should be the norm is arguable. I don't like the idea of extra mass and leverage on my neck.

People in surf kayaks manage just fine with helmets. So do kitesurfers, and they can have some pretty big impacts with the water. I've surfed both with helmets and without and as long as it fits well and is of appropriate design there's no appreciable extra strain on your neck. Bizarrely, although I rarely wear one (I only tend to do so if I'm surfing a spot that is a mile offshore on my own), one of the times I did was an occasion when the board hit me full on the bonce during a wipeout with such force that it surely would have killed me or left me brain damaged. That was a bit of a wake-up call. So I really can't see why I don't wear one all the time. I guess that, like nearly everyone else, I'm a sheep, who is afraid that people will think I look odd. It's not rational not to wear one, really. It's fashion...

Isn't that how fashion in clothing works? By convincing you to wear things that previously you (and everyone else) would have laughed at, but now everyone else laughs at you if you don't?

Area 10 Actually the reverse is true, it is usually amateurs who have the accidents and the professionals who are forced to where them,in the case of cycling, it was amateur cyclist and amateur races who had the really bad accidents and then the UCI world cycling body made the pros ware them. Initially it was actually quite a **** fight about them wearing helmets as they have to ride 8 hours with a helmet the don't really need, compared to riding with a hat and keeping their head cool. When they finally were forced into it many did not do the strap up. The UCI cracked down as it was a terrible example for kids and up and coming riders.
To all the families of the sup riders, my sincerest condolences.