Death traps

ISAF's attempts to make quick release systems mandatory, and a subsequent ISO Standard, have failed to solve the problem as Jordan Spencer reports.

The invention of the trapeze in 1938 changed to sport of dinghy sailing forever. There is some dispute as to who actually invented the trapeze, but we can say it was invented in the UK by sailor on either a Thames “A” Rater or an International 14. Certainly it was the use of trapeze by John Kift Winter and Sir Peter Scott on their International 14 at the 1938 Prince of Wales Cup race, where they led all comers home, that really brought it to notice of the sailing world. In fact its success was so impressive that the RYA banned it immediately. It wasn’t seen again for 15 years. Since then though, it has become a staple of most high performance dinghies.

Now although our sport is a relatively low risk affair, there has been some loss of life directly attributable to the use of the trapeze. In the last ten years, there have been four notable occurrences. The loss of a 49er sailor on Lake Garda, Italy, in early 2000, the loss of an Austrian Tornado sailor in Palma Spain in April 2002, the death of a young girl on a hire cat in Paleros, Greece in July 2003 and the death of a college sailor in Hawaii on an 18 in November 2008. In each of these accidents, it is believed the trapeze hook got caught and couldn’t be freed. In addition, there have been many near misses. Surprisingly, the accidents can’t be attributed to inexperience. When I look at the sailors involved, they range from beginner to Olympic dinghy sailor. Therefore, we are all equally susceptible.

In 2004, ISAF tried to address this by incorporating rule 40.2 into the blue book which stated, “A trapeze or hiking harness shall have a device capable of quickly releasing the competitor from the boat at all times while in use.” This rule was due to take effect upon the publication of the new rules, January 1, 2009. The timing allowed manufacturers and sailors alike to update their equipment.

For several years we saw a mad scurry as manufacturers rushed to develop systems that complied with 40.2. Unfortunately, given the vague parameters of the rule – by definition, a trapeze hook is a quick release device – after several years ISAF put out a notice advising that the implementation of 40.2 is postponed indefinitely. With the publication of the 2009-2013 rules, and no mention of quick release devices, it looked like it was all systems normal for manufacturers and sailors alike.

However, as of July 2009, the framework controlling sailor safety when trapezing changed. The announcement by the International Organization for Standardisation, the international body that sets standards for business, government and society, (what a great title) of their new standard ISO 10862:2009 – Small Craft Quick release System for Trapeze Harness, should have all sailors and manufacturers sit up and take notice. This could have a major impact on the future use of trapeze harnesses.

The purpose of the standard was to create a framework around which manufacturers could create a device that would allow a sailor to escape when they became trapped by their trapeze.

As with any standard, they provide the scope of the standard, the terms of reference, the requirements and the testing method. After wading through the standard, I can summarise the key requirements as follows:  

The goal is to reduce the number of people getting trapped underwater owing to an inability to release from the boat when the trapeze becomes hooked. The aim is to be able to release the user from the craft main attachment fitting within five seconds.

“The quick release device shall be simple to use and capable of operation with one gloved hand. Operation of the quick release device shall not present any significant risk to the user.”

The quick release device also needs to be marked with text or pictures denoting its purpose and use. For example, “Pull!” Even better, it has to be coloured orange/red. Fantastic, fast hook releases! The device also has to resist inadvertent release under normal sailing conditions and once released should be able to be re-armed within 30 seconds. It also must be resistant to debris (read sand), salt water and corrosion.

Wow! For the moment, I remain skeptical any manufacturer can produce a device that fits those requirements. Also, I note, it doesn’t refer to the makeup of the device. Like me, you are probably thinking that the standard refers to a hook release of some sort, but maybe it doesn’t have to?

I don’t know the legal obligation that this standard sets for us, whether we are obliged to follow it or not. Certainly it is not part of the ISAF rules and there is no legislation enforcing the standard. But perhaps in practice we will all soon be compelled to comply. How so?

Imagine you are a manufacturer and you produce a harness after the application of this standard and a user is harmed whilst using it. The first thing any litigation lawyer is going to do is point to the ISO standard in court.

Imagine you, or someone on your boat, is sailing with a non-compliant harness and there is an injury or harm suffered. The first thing any insurance company will try to do is deny any claim based on non-compliance with this standard. Therefore, I think it is safe to assume that manufacturers and consumers alike need to take this standard into consideration.

Unfortunately, I don’t feel the standard covers all types of entrapment accidents. There have been three basic causes to harness non-release accidents. Normally these occur in conjunction with a capsize.

The first is piercing. This is when the trapeze hook pierces a trampoline or the deck or hull and then becomes stuck. Obviously this is a high risk for catamarans or boats with mesh wings such as an 18ft skiff.

Another is snagging. This normally occurs when the person is flung as part of a capsize and catches a shroud. If you look at some classes, you will note they often have lowers, sidestays and caps all leading to the same chainplate fitting. If you catch a shroud then slide down to the junction of all the stays, your hook could quite easily become wedged in there and impossible to remove.

Alternatively, you can just get tangled in sheets or fittings as the boat inverts. Interestingly, in this situation it’s not always the hook that’s the culprit. It can be a buckle or the fitting catching the harness itself.

Currently there are a variety of systems for dealing with harness entrapments. Manufacturers like Gul, Magic Marine and RWO have systems which feature a quick release hook that ejects from the harness itself. Each uses a slightly different methodology, but the net result is that the harness and hook separate. If you fire the hook, it’s unlikely you will be able to recover it to be able to keep racing.

Wichard, on the other hand, have designed a clever release system which allows the hook to release, pivot and spin, so that it should be able to escape any entanglement, yet it stays attached to the spreader bar so you never lose the hook. But the hook is quite small.

Whether these existing hook release systems meet this new standard it is impossible to know. At the time of writing this article, the standard was too new for any manufacturer to be aware of it, let alone test against it. And when talking to Brian Conolly from Zhik about this article, he pointed out two other major problems. A testing house doesn’t even exist yet, and when it does, the corrosion test will take six months by itself. So we are at least a year away from compliant products.

There are other approaches which may, but I suspect don’t, meet the standard. Bethwaite Design have developed a concept that does away with the hook altogether. This came about because Julian Bethwaite noticed sailors taping up the pull tabs on release systems which use quick fire hooks – so they didn’t inadvertently fire. This of course made the safety system redundant.

So Bethwaite developed what they call the keyball system. Essentially the hook is replaced by a flat plate with a keyhole or slot cut into it and the trapeze loop is replaced by a short length of line with a ball at the end. Hook the ball into the plate on your harness and away you go, no hook to catch on anything.

This highlights a weakness in the standard. Although a brilliant example of lateral thinking, the Bethwaite Keyball system would, I suspect, fail the standard as there is no “quick release” built into the system. Even though, without a hook, it doesn’t need one.

Of course there is another method, the ability to escape the harness entirely! As an example, the Zhik harness with a shoulder buckle and a Velcro waist strap would allow quick egress from the harness should it get caught. But again I believe it may not meet the standard because there is no built-in quick release system.

It seems there is no simple solution and depending on the interpretation of the standard, the solution may have just got more complex. From a manufacturer’s perspective, particularly our local industry, I hope they can create a solution. As an assist, the standard can be found at www.iso.org.

Regardless, the launch of this standard has again brought to the fore the discussion about trapeze safety. Certainly the numbers of deaths are not high, but just one death is too many, particularly if you happen to be the family or a friend of the person who has passed away. Plus, the numbers of near misses are high. They are a regular occurrence around the sailing world and we personally can take some steps to make sure we survive. Every time I sail, I see potential problems. These are my suggestions;

To increase your chance of survival should an accident occur, you should have a plan that is known by each member of the crew. Uncool I know, but it can be as simple as explaining the release points on your harness and storing a knife in an accessible spot. It may also be worth discussing and planning for methods to deliver air to someone who is trapped.

But the most commonsense step you can take to enable you to escape if you do get trapped, is to wear your harness over the top of everything else. Place nothing over your trap belt. If you are anything like me, you will be able to have the belt off and undone in less than 10 seconds. Even if you can’t, it means your crew or the rescue boat have only one thing to cut off or remove if you get caught.

Regardless of whatever safety standard or rules that are applied in this sport, to me this is the most obvious and sensible thing any trapeze sailor can do to ensure their own safety. 

RYA article link: www.nsw.yachting.org.au/site/yachting/nsw/downloads/Safety/RYA%20Dinghy%20Entrapments.pdf

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

The Editor, Australian Sailing

I refer to the excellent article in the February/March 2010 issue of Australian Sailing whereby concerns were expressed about the safety of proposed regulations for trapeze release systems.

As an engineer with 30+ years experience with seat belts and car safety systems I offered some input on the original draft standard which, unfortunately, the author decided would take too long to investigate and develop adequate solutions for and that such would delay publication of the standard by ISO. Given the short (in ISO terms) period of passage of the draft through the ISO system it is probable that only editorial changes would have been made which leaves the sailors exposed to risk.

Anyone looking to purchase a trapeze attachment system incorporating some sort of release mechanism should be aware of four points with the potential to spoil their sailing, perhaps fatally.

1.       Test the mechanism to see if it can be released when there is sideways pressure on the hook. Once the boat inverts, a common case in catamarans, the natural buoyancy of the sailor will float them sideways up against the trampoline net just below waterline putting high sideways loads on the release mechanism and, if of rectangular section, the hook which engages with the release binds up and will not come out.

2.       Always wash the release mechanism with fresh water after sailing as salt can jamb the release mechanism. The draft ISO standard had a test that is totally inadequate.

3.       Don’t leave the trapeze harness in the car for extended periods in summer as the Australian temperatures (over 100°C in the car) may cause the plastic components to distort and not then release effectively. Again the draft ISO standard was deficient.

4.       Make sure you have a spare hook in the sailing kit as cold hands can easily drop the hook overboard in trying to refit it, if actuated, and a whole regatta could subsequently be lost.

Ideally, as suggested by the article in Australian Sailing, the solution is to use trapeze systems which don’t have hooks but the most likely scenario is that those existing systems will be outlawed by Yachting Australia in their slavish blind following of ISAF dictates where having someone else to shift the blame to is more important than checking to see if the sailors are properly protected.

It is a matter of regret that Yachting Australia was aware of the concerns with the draft standard but since the sacking of their National Safety Committee no input seems to have been made to either ISAF or ISO.

Rob Cook

Phil Jones, CEO of Yachting Australia replied: 

Yachting Australia is well aware of the safety issues regarding trapeze harnesses, and like any issue concerning the safety of sailors, it is of the highest priority.

Some history on this issue might be helpful to your readers in looking at the issue in context:

1. As is well known, trapeze harnesses have been used successfully by sailors for several decades.

2. Rule 40.2 was introduced by ISAF for the 2005-2008 Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) requiring that from a specified date trapeze harnesses would be required to have a device that could quickly release the competitor.

3. Rule 40.2 was then removed from the RRS 2009-2012.

4. During this time ISAF participated in an internationally established working group to create a standard for the performance of trapeze harnesses.

5. ISAF then introduced a reference to ISO DIS 10862 in the ISAF Offshore Special Regulations 2008-2009 requiring that for Category 6 races any trapeze harnesses carried must meet that standard. Referred to currently in ISAF Offshore Special Regulations 2010-2011 Appendix L.

The Yachting Australia National Safety Committee has not been slavish or blind in following an ISAF regulation. On the contrary the use of trapeze harnesses made to the ISO 10862 has not been required by Yachting Australia, notwithstanding the inclusion by ISAF in its Offshore Special Regulations. Yachting Australia has not yet adopted the ISAF Special Regulation in regard to the ISO standard as:

1. There are currently very few trapeze harnesses available that meet

the standard

2. There is a significant cost impost on the sailors involved in obtaining

new harnesses made to the standard

3. The advantages of trapeze harnesses built to the ISO standard are

not yet clear

Organising authorities in Australia use the Yachting Australia Racing Rules of Sailing and Special Regulations and there is no requirement to meet the ISAF adopted ISO standard when racing here. Internationally, the ISO standard is still not a mandatory requirement. It is up to any organising authority using the ISAF Offshore Special Regulations to invoke these regulations through their Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions. This is a discretionary decision on their part and not an ISAF dictate.

Yachting Australia continues to be actively represented in the development of the ISAF Special Regulations and other key equipment safety issues through David Lyons’ involvement in the ISAF Special Regulations Sub-Committee and Barry Johnson on the ISAF Equipment Committee. Yachting Australia will continue to actively address this issue and welcomes input from Rob Cook, a previous member of the National Safety Committee, and others.

– Phil Jones, CEO, Yachting Australia.

And more...

The stitching is only one issue here. What you have described as a “self closing safety clip” actually requires a very positive two step action to open the gate and release the tether. This double action is a requirement for safety tethers under all standards I am aware of. With the other “snapshackle” there is the risk of accidental release – a single action, something catching the pull ring, and your safety tether is no longer attached. This is bound to happen at the worst possible moment of course. These snapshackles are not designed or rated for this purpose.

– George Wilson