Re: Another America's Cup entry destroyed
Yea, the CG got nothin to do with it......
Safety ideas become rules for Americas Cup | SBS World News
The US Coast Guard has insisted all America's Cup safety ideas discussed following a training death become rules for the sailing contest.
Safety recommendations made by America's Cup regatta director Iain Murray in the wake of British yachtsman Andrew Simpson's death will be made rules of the event, officials said on Thursday.
Tom Ehman, vice commodore of the host Golden Gate Yacht Club, said the 37 ideas to make the powerful AC72 catamarans safer were part of an overall safety plan submitted to the US Coast Guard.
"At the end of the day, it's the Coast Guard's call to give us a regatta permit. If we don't get a permit we don't have a race," Ehman said.
And there was concern the regatta permit might be turned down by the Coast Guard in the wake of Simpson's death and a spectacular capsizing of an Oracle team AC72 on San Francisco Bay last year in which no one was hurt.
"Without some of these things that Iain recommends, yes, there was concern that we would not get the permit, and they told us so," Ehman said.
"It behooves us to be very cautious and the Coast Guard supports that."
Simpson, an Olympic gold medallist and crew member of Swedish team Artemis, died when Artemis' AC72 nose-dived while training on San Francisco Bay on May 9.
He was apparently trapped beneath a solid piece of the boat and could not be revived after being found. The exact cause of the accident is still under review by Artemis and by an America's Cup panel headed by Murray.
Buoyancy aids, body armour and helmet beacon locator devices were among the recommendations announced Wednesday by Murray -- all ideas discussed by teams made more urgent after the death of Simpson two weeks ago.
"A lot of these are things the teams have been discussing implementing on their own. The tragic loss of Andrew Simpson just sped up the process," Ehman said.
The Coast Guard permit is scheduled to be issued next month, a timetable that did not change because of the tragedy.
Among the changes in rules was a 10-knot lower wind limit, to 20 knots maximum during the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series in July and August and to 23 knots maximum during the America's Cup proper in September.
Brief gusts will not wipe out a race but sustained higher winds might, Ehman said.