Petition and Survey on the current Canadian Coast Guard Regulations
on Minimum Required Safety Equipment for Sailboards
in
the Safe Boating Guide (March, 1999)
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG, a division under
Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and Transport Canada are currently in the process
of reviewing and amending their regulations for small vessels based on recent
changes to the Canadian Shipping Act. Included
in these regulations are guidelines for the minimum required safety equipment
for sailboards/windsurfers. These
regulations are presented within the Safe Boating Guide (March, 1999).
The current
CCG regulations pertaining to sailboards can be seen on-line at the CCG
website.
As part of this review and amendment by the CCG, it
has been mentioned that input from the windsurfing community will be sought.
CCG admits that it does not have the required expertise to make
well-founded judgments pertaining to these regulations.
This gives the Canadian windsurfing community the ability to participate
in pending revisions. The degree to
which our input will be considered by the CCG cannot be anticipated but it is
likely that our influence will remain minimal.
However, a chance to demonstrate our position on the matter of safety
equipment to the CCG is at hand.
A survey and
petition
have been developed in an attempt to convince the Canadian Coast Guard and
Transport Canada that current regulations specifying the minimum required safety
equipment for sailboards/windsurfers are unreasonable and should be changed to
better reflect the needs of the Canadian windsurfing community.
It is possible that current regulations are too restrictive and do not
permit the user to use his/her judgment to best provide for his/her own safety.
In addition, some of the items specified in the regulations are believed
to be unrealistic and to create additional safety hazards if they were to be
affixed to the sailboard or "vessel".
The survey and petition
are currently available on-line through this website. Please take the time to
fully read and understand the CCG
regulations
for sailboards prior to filling in the survey and petition.
The survey is being designed to provide a
better understanding of the current opinions and safety needs of the
Canadian windsurfing community. The
survey will provide the opportunity to answer several questions regarding
your opinion on the current regulations.
Comments and suggestions may also be provided.
The petition is strictly based upon the PFD requirement. Please consider providing your on-line signature if you feel that PFD use should be made "Optional" or "Recommended" instead of "Mandatory", as implied by the current regulations. A list of supporting arguments for "pro-choice" is provided.
Your participation in this survey and petition is encouraged to ensure that current regulations promote the highest level of safety possible for Canadian boardsailors. At the completion of the survey and petition, a short report will be prepared for the Canadian Coast Guard and Transport Canada which will clearly outline the consensus position of the Canadian windsurf community. It should be emphasized that this is not an attempt to persuade those who wear PFDs to abandon them. This is simply an effort to encourage the CCG to alter its regulations such that overall safety for boardsailors on the water is increased by allowing the boardsailor the freedom to choose what safety equipment best suits the conditions at the time.
I believe that the key to this process is patience,
cooperation and participation. Please
make every effort to ensure that all your friends and colleagues who windsurf
for enjoyment or profession have the opportunity to voice their opinion through
this survey and petition. Therefore,
please forward the URL for this website to all of your windsurfing contacts,
including all distributors, retailers, associations and individuals who are
affected by the Canadian Coast Guard regulations and recommend that they
participate in the survey and consider signing the petition.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this
matter, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at kc-79@kos.net.
Sincerely,
Mike Fischer, KC-79
Web-Developer for the Kingston Boardsailing Association (KBA)
