Sail4beer
Usual suspect
Nope!
How can we minimize head injuries due to boom / jibe impacts?
- Thread starter Pete M
- Start date
some dude
Super Anarchist
- 4,176
- 169
DoRag looks sexy in a helmet. I'll say hi.
Alan Crawford
Super Anarchist
This video link was posted in the DA discussion about the Finn boom incident that occurred in Brisbane. The incident is shown in the final 20-30 seconds of the video. Have a look (and listen) and see if that influences any thoughts on helmets.
rqtv.com.au
Ronstan Finn International Championships Friday 13th 2023 video - RQTV
Ronstan Finn International Championships Friday 13th 2023 video
rqtv.com.au
Foredeck Shuffle
More of a Stoic Cynic, Anarchy Sounds Exhausting
On dinghies and skiffs I come out with a lot of safety gear depending upon the conditions.
A helmet is going to be interesting on a smallboat (dinghy/skiff) when things are happening quickly. It needs to conform to my neck, preferably like the way a river kayak skirt does so that it does not catch a line like the mainsheet. I'd wear helmets on dinghy/skiffs if a neck skirt was part of the helmet gear. Tough on warm days but I'd wear one if it had a skirt.
I just skimmed through the 2020 Olympic, 2022 Kiel Week, and 2022 Worlds races for the NACRA 17 (foiling), 49er, 49erFX, and Laser. Helmets present in the NACRA 17 teams, some wore them in 2020, all wore them in 2022 (class rule?). I did not see teams or individual sailors wearing them on the 49er or 49erFX. Only a few wore them on Lasers. I happened to see that a few of the 2022 foiling windboard sailors wore helmets, not many, but a few.
So that's what the pro's think of this. If there is a lot of speed they wear them, otherwise it is a rare choice. Would be interesting to hear what pro's and pro coaches have to say.
- drysuit
- neoprene boots/gloves, shorts or hikers
- pfd
- gloves
- vhf
- mobile in waterproof case (weather, tow company, coast guard, etc)
- a helmet makes sense, but...
A helmet is going to be interesting on a smallboat (dinghy/skiff) when things are happening quickly. It needs to conform to my neck, preferably like the way a river kayak skirt does so that it does not catch a line like the mainsheet. I'd wear helmets on dinghy/skiffs if a neck skirt was part of the helmet gear. Tough on warm days but I'd wear one if it had a skirt.
I just skimmed through the 2020 Olympic, 2022 Kiel Week, and 2022 Worlds races for the NACRA 17 (foiling), 49er, 49erFX, and Laser. Helmets present in the NACRA 17 teams, some wore them in 2020, all wore them in 2022 (class rule?). I did not see teams or individual sailors wearing them on the 49er or 49erFX. Only a few wore them on Lasers. I happened to see that a few of the 2022 foiling windboard sailors wore helmets, not many, but a few.
So that's what the pro's think of this. If there is a lot of speed they wear them, otherwise it is a rare choice. Would be interesting to hear what pro's and pro coaches have to say.
I had to wear a helmet through four years of college sailing, and can definitively say that they are useless in dinghies - raising one's head profile (encouraging smaller head hits that may add up to real damage) and, empirically, not reducing the number of concussions at all. Helmets make sense in reducing skull fractures (not really an issue with 3' diameter aluminum booms at the majority of dinghy speeds). I believe the foiling Nacras use them because of the danger of getting thrown into something while pitchpoling at >20knts. Lots of helmets are also single-impact which significantly raises costs.
Very similar issues with boom padding.
Sailing isn't skateboarding - if you understand your vehicle and the conditions, there should basically be no situation in which you get concussed barring freak accidents. Or just sail a snipe without a whisker pole.
Very similar issues with boom padding.
Sailing isn't skateboarding - if you understand your vehicle and the conditions, there should basically be no situation in which you get concussed barring freak accidents. Or just sail a snipe without a whisker pole.
pqbon
Member
I take it you've never been running deep in a dinghy or small boat when getting hit by >30º shift. Very easy to get taken out by the boom.
Mambo Kings
Super Anarchist
I've started wearing a mouth guard and helmet at RC Laser events. When the shouting starts, and the stools start flying, it makes ice hockey look like kids stuff.
Foredeck Shuffle
More of a Stoic Cynic, Anarchy Sounds Exhausting
It is. But if conditions are like that you shouldn't be close to ddw as an autogybe wil certainly turn into a broach earning you a hit to the head and being dumped into the water face first with loose lines in the water on top of you. A new sailor will not have that instinct so your point is taken.
I think the issue is that current helmet designs create their own issues. None seem to be designed for a sailor on a boat with a very low boom with a mainsheet hanging 2-4cm below it. A good helmet could be made though. I keep looking at new helmets at the beginning of each season as I would like to have one. But not if it will catch the mainsheet on tacks and gybes and pull my head around with however much force it is carrying in that moment. I have the experience and dexterity to have that choice, I understand that some may not and the helmet may be a better option than going without. As I get older I'm really going to want that helmet.
Honestly this is one of those instances where OD rules are worse than useless. A few soft fairleads along the boom to keep the main snug to the boom with a mylar or dacron sleeve along the boom where I'm usually sitting in medium to strong breeze to make it impossible for me to become caught in the sheet, makes sense and makes the boat no faster, it's just safety. But several classes specifically make that modification illegal which is stupid because then a helmet would be a no-brainer.
Sounds like a reaction time issue or a case of not looking behind at incoming squalls. I sailed at variable, unpredictable dinghy venues for 15 years and was never seriously hit
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The Q
Super Anarchist
I used to sail with someone who always wore a hard hat.. but then his skull was held together with metal work anyway.
Had a few jobs that required hard hats, trouble was you just hit your head more often.
We had a lady break her jaw when lowering a mast during a race.
And at the nearest another club to us a gentleman was killed when lowering a mast, iirc equipment failure.
Had a few jobs that required hard hats, trouble was you just hit your head more often.
We had a lady break her jaw when lowering a mast during a race.
And at the nearest another club to us a gentleman was killed when lowering a mast, iirc equipment failure.
pqbon
Member
Research show the "not serious hits" are often worse than people self evaluate.
ROADKILL666
Super Anarchist
I personally have had 4 concussions from dip pole jibes. You just have to look out or be tough and shake it off. What day is it?
maxstaylock
Anarchist
- 725
- 432
Bang! that's a horrible sound. The guy had a bit on getting round the mark, maybe caused the brain fade coming into the gybe, some nearby shouting may have distracted him at the crucial moment, but damn, that's a horrible thing, that's someones biological computer inside the skull that made that doof noise. We may all be competent at ducking when we're head in the game, but information overload can creep up on us all, every accident has a chain of events leading up to it, sometimes happenstance can blunt our carefully honed instincts. Plus, in a big fleet, there's no saying that the boom or mast that gets you is attached to your own boat.This video link was posted in the DA discussion about the Finn boom incident that occurred in Brisbane. The incident is shown in the final 20-30 seconds of the video. Have a look (and listen) and see if that influences any thoughts on helmets.
Ronstan Finn International Championships Friday 13th 2023 video - RQTV
Ronstan Finn International Championships Friday 13th 2023 video
Used to be on the local inshore life boat, we had to wear these horrible Gekko helmets, couldn't see or hear a thing. Time spent in a variety of badly fitting hard construction hats didn't help. However, am now thinking I've barely enough grey matter to see me out, time to take this shit more seriously:
So, kayaking helmets are the way to go, if you don't want to pay WIP money? Any other options to look at? What brands are good? Looking for lowest profile possible.
Foredeck Shuffle
More of a Stoic Cynic, Anarchy Sounds Exhausting
Last I looked I thought the Gath helmets were the best option that provided protection but minimized the risk of the helmet being so big it catches the boom when your bare head would not have done so, the sides taper a bit to reduce catching a mainsheet, and the straps are better thought out with clips and adjustments at the sides, not direclty under your chin like many brands. It is also one of the lightest.
But they are popular and thus can be difficult to find the size you want. And I just checked their online store and for the first time since I started looking in 2020, they appear to have a supply of everything. I'm putting in an order, nice to have one around for when I'm out in ill-advised conditions.
Edit: Haha, the Gath SFC, the one I have wanted, except for matte black (hot and sunny where I live) is out of stock until later 2023. This is normal...
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Steam Flyer
Sophisticated Yet Humble
Yeah, you do not want a black helmet. 
sailronin
Anarchist
Duck
The Q
Super Anarchist
Quack,
Lots of em at my sailing club,
Lots of em at my sailing club,
Not that I’m a big fan of lawsuits, but any class that doesn’t allow a way to secure the main sheet along the boom deserves to be sued. If it’s an international class, sue world sailing too. Neither can afford to defend monetarily or from a social perception.
