QF3 MROCP
13-12-2008, 10:49 PM
I came across this article and thought it might be of interest to those first time boat buyers wondering what to look for when thinking of buying a boat. The quoted extract below is from the article-
http://www.nmsc.gov.au/documents/RecBoatGuidanceonSafety.pdf
"Guidance on safety related features for boat buyers, builders, designers and operators.
The National Marine Safety Committee supports safe boating in Australia by providing resources to assist the Australian Maritime Industries Federation (AMIF) in judging the Boat of the Year awards. Mori Flapan has participated in three years of judging as the NMSC’s representative. Over that time, he has had an opportunity to see both good and bad safety features of vessels. Rather than limit these observations to being recorded on judging sheets, the NMSC has decided that the interests of the industry would be best served by listing them anonymously in tabular form for reference of designers, builders and purchasers.
In looking at the list, it should be kept in mind that the design of a boat is a compromise between all the various relevant attributes: safety, performance, cost, comfort, utility, appearance, etc. Safety is not absolute, but is relative. A boat that does not have a particular safety feature listed as good below is not necessarily unsafe, but it is likely to be less safe than one that does have the feature. Whether the level of safety actually achieved is still acceptable depends upon other factors such as legislation, the arrangement of the boat, the competence of the operator, the area of operation, and so on. "
When you start scrolling through the report, there appears to be a lot of improvement needed to bring many a boat up to a respectable safe operational level.
http://www.nmsc.gov.au/documents/RecBoatGuidanceonSafety.pdf
"Guidance on safety related features for boat buyers, builders, designers and operators.
The National Marine Safety Committee supports safe boating in Australia by providing resources to assist the Australian Maritime Industries Federation (AMIF) in judging the Boat of the Year awards. Mori Flapan has participated in three years of judging as the NMSC’s representative. Over that time, he has had an opportunity to see both good and bad safety features of vessels. Rather than limit these observations to being recorded on judging sheets, the NMSC has decided that the interests of the industry would be best served by listing them anonymously in tabular form for reference of designers, builders and purchasers.
In looking at the list, it should be kept in mind that the design of a boat is a compromise between all the various relevant attributes: safety, performance, cost, comfort, utility, appearance, etc. Safety is not absolute, but is relative. A boat that does not have a particular safety feature listed as good below is not necessarily unsafe, but it is likely to be less safe than one that does have the feature. Whether the level of safety actually achieved is still acceptable depends upon other factors such as legislation, the arrangement of the boat, the competence of the operator, the area of operation, and so on. "
When you start scrolling through the report, there appears to be a lot of improvement needed to bring many a boat up to a respectable safe operational level.