Sail Boat Accident Database?

[BlueBuddha]

Hi all, I've been looking, without much luck, for an online database of sail boat accidents that provide some background and analysis of the events that led to the accident.

Before I got the sailing bug, I was a rock climber/mountaineer for 20+ years. Climbers have developed great databases of climbing accidents, some with excellent analyses (e.g., the annual Accidents in North America Mountaineering by the American Alpine Club). These databases are great resources of information about the type of errors and mechanical problems that have resulted in major accidents.

I was hoping that something like that existed for sailing. I'm primarily interested in reading about accidents that resulted in boat loss/rescues. Google is not cooperating (all I get are links to stupid youtube videos or a couple of news articles). Does anyone know of a more organized database of accident information?

Thanks BB>

[Pelagic]

Good question.
Not totally representative, but I imagine we could find some kind of percentages via Marine Insurance claims

[BlueBuddha]

Thanks Pelagic. Some of the climbing forums have also created their own crowd-source database, although if not moderated well, they are not as useful as the databases by more structured organizations. Yet, that may be something that CF may consider doing in the future.

Here is an example of a popular forum.
Rock Climbing Forums: Climbing Information: Accident and Incident Analysis

[sy_gilana]

You will find some yacht related investigations at www.maib.gov.uk

[BlueBuddha]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

You will find some yacht related investigations at www.maib.gov.uk

Thank you so much!

[gamayun]

The US Coast Guard has a boating accident reporting database (BARD; Accident Statistics) that provides summary statistics on all recreational boating incidents. If you have a particular accident in mind, you might be able to search for it online, but my guess is that you'd have to make a FOIA request to CG. Here is a link to the 2013 report:
http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/...ortRevised.pdf

[Delancey]

Here's one that sticks in my head, ninety percent of all fatal boating related accidents involve alcohol and occur between 4PM and 6PM.

[CruisingKitty]

USCG publishes boating accident statistics but not just for sailing. Accident Statistics

I think BoatUS Foundation also collects accident statistics and correlates them with cause.

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by gamayun

my guess is that you'd have to make a FOIA request to CG.

Yes, you will definately need a FOIA. I even had to do one for my own accident!

Al, S/V Finlandia

[MichBill]

I thought that this book, "Seaworthy: Essential Lessons from BoatU.S.'s 20-Year Case File of Things Gone Wrong" was an excellent review. It is not exclusively sailing mishaps, but contains a lot of useful information.

Here's an Amazon link

http://www.amazon.com/Seaworthy-Esse...=1416933639696

[msponer]

Good idea!

The Drag Device Database is the only database I know with enough detail to be interesting. But it focuses on extreme weather that is not relevant to most people. If it does apply to you, then I particularly like reading these stories since there are so many different perspectives. People with widely different levels of experience or equipment.

US Sailing has done some very complete accident investigations. Their analysis of the 2012 Farallones Race accident is very comprehensive and is written by world class sailors.

I feel that Lin Pardey's Capable Cruiser is worth buying just to read the story of the Cabo San Lucas storm. It's a kind of database of dozens of boats experiences in the same bad situation, and touches on a lot of common cruising issues -- a herd mentality, complacency, and etc.

This forum is a kind of unstructured database. I have learned a lot from the first person accounts here of accidents. Of course this community has a lot of different people, and the discussions are peppered with dubious 'conclusions' by various folks, so I feel most of the value is in the first person account.

I can dig up the threads here, if you can't find them, but these stand out in my mind:
- Rebel Heart's story.
- the gentleman who almost drowned during a botched rescue by a container ship, and now feels the situation wasn't bad enough that he needed rescuing in the first place.
- folks who hit the eject button a daysail away from port because their ipad ran out of batteries.
- people who abandon ship because their yachts batteries are flat and it just freaks them out to be offshore without a phone or email.

And etc.

[BlueBuddha]

Thanks MSPONER! I'm looking forward to reading those.