Subj : Re: tragedy in Iowa. To : rec.sport.rowing From : carl Date : Thu Apr 01 2021 07:44 pm On 01/04/2021 17:44, Henry Law wrote: > On Thu, 01 Apr 2021 07:05:07 -0700, Robin Harries wrote: > >> This thread has just been posted on r/rowing. It's impossible to verify, > > A great deal of uninformed speculation about the cause of the Iowa > incident, which is unfortunate, but lots of first-time experience of > other incidents in similar conditions which (for those of us who've been > even near one) have the ring of truth about them. > > I hope to find that the assertion that two of the four were first-time > novices, afloat without a safety launch in wintery conditions, is false. > It had better be; otherwise there's a valid charge of gross negligence. > > Our club is having a drive on heel release cord length at the moment; the > emphasis should be there all the time, granted, but it's timely > nevertheless. > Henry - Thanks for your measured comments. I heard about this tragedy very soon after it had happened, and of course the reportage was awash with ill-informed comments. The stuff about heel restraints, which a reddit poster describes as "these peices of string (normally a shoelace) that keep your heels in the boat, and don't let the shoes lift up too far" is possibly misinformed (see later) but sadly typifies the despicable attitudes towards rower safety whereby a bootlace of indeterminate length is broadly considered a safety device. Would trust your life to a shoe-lace?? Most disturbing is the usual presumption of a capsize - "for how else do rowers end up swimming?" What a pity folk can't stop idly speculating. I deplore the knee-jerk resort to typical "blame culture" reaction, but I do favour a careful listing of the possibilities in order of probability. Let's explore just a little way, then await further & better information - what do we know so far? 1. It seems to have been a 4+ as 5 people were immersed & 2 died. 2. This was on a lake, measuring about 1000m x 1700m, set in open, flat country with very little natural shelter. 3. The wind was variously described as blowing at 20-25mph or 9-11m/sec 4. The lake is relatively shallow - a depression left by a former glacier. 5. The water temperature has been variously given as 37-40F or 3-4.5C, & there had until recently been freezing conditions. So the water would have been cold & rough. Crew shells are not fit for wave heights as little as 20cm/8". If you take a fetch of 1.5km & a wind speed of 10m/sec, expect a significant wave height of around 20cm. At 12m/sec wind speed it might be 24cm waves. But wind is rarely steady, & wave heights are never uniform but form a spectrum with occasional "rogue" waves rather larger than those around them (up to 30 - 50% higher). These will rapidly fill a shell by slopping over the sides. The next issue is that the shape of the lake, & depth variations, can create areas of increased wave height. The first question to ask is: did the boat actually capsize (possible but less usual) or was it swamped & sank below the water surface? In rough conditions an inexperienced crew could indeed capsize, but lay people love to jump to ignorant conclusions. However, there are no excuses for under-buoyant shells. We fought that battle in the UK for 10 years (against unprincipled UK officialdom) from 2000 until FISA mandated full shell buoyancy, but I know that very many shells in the USA have never been assessed for adequate buoyancy & still lack the fully-enclosed under-seat compartments which would a) provide up to 40kg of added buoyancy per seat (making eights and fours fully buoyant such that they remain safely rowable when swamped) & b) prevent water already in the boat from rushing to & depressing the least buoyant end. A further question concerns type of shell: we think it was a coxed four, but was it bow steers or stern? With bow steers you have rather more open volume for water to fill, & it is significantly harder for cox to extract themselves if the boat is swamped or inverted, especially if wearing bulky clothing. Other questions include: presence or otherwise of a capable launch, adequacy of clothing (multilayer, close-fitting kit is a life-saver in cold immersion as it keeps an insulating layer of non-flowing water close to the body), self-rescue instructions, supervision, skill levels & prior assessment of conditions. Finally, at those indicated water temperatures to have lost 2 out of 5 after sudden & prolonged immersion is an unsurprising result - the loss of limb strength through automatic restriction of blood circulation when chilled can be rapid, rendering a person unable to swim within minutes. One can understand that young people, after many months of Covid restrictions, might tend to throw caution to the winds, but this was a devastating & probably preventable outcome. One of my colleagues is a volunteer with the RNLI on the R Thames & is aghast at the inane behaviour of so many "de-mob happy" boaters following the end of the English Covid lock-down. Finally, while no one meant this to happen, the blame game (& with it the denial of blame) may well take precedence over the careful learning of lessons & proper support for the bereaved. If people messed up, then it will be far more useful to all if they can be allowed to admit this without having to go into denial mode in order to defend their doubtless inadvertent errors. Our thoughts go to all affected - Carl -- Carl Douglas Racing Shells - Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing Low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories Write: Harris Boatyard, Laleham Reach, Chertsey KT16 8RP, UK Find: tinyurl.com/2tqujf Email: carl@carldouglasrowing.com Tel: +44(0)1932-570946 Fax: -563682 URLs: carldouglasrowing.com & now on Facebook @ CarlDouglasRacingShells --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com * Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2) .