WHY PFDs AREN'T THE ANSWER TO WINDSURFING SAFETY
Content Inside: Document from the United States Windsurfing Association USWA PO Box 978 Hood River, OR 97031 WHY PFDs ARENT THE ANSWER TO WINDSURFING SAFETY A. INTRODUCTION This is a January 1991 update of a paper originally written in 1987 by Charles Granger while serving as a member of the USWAs Safety and Access Committee. The committee is charged with formulating safety policies and promoting safe windsurfing practices. Previously he played a major role in persuading Connecticut officials to exempt windsurfers from mandatory use of PFDs (personal flotation devices). The purpose of this paper is to provide background information on the PFD issue for windsurfing organizations that seek to convince regulatory authorities in their state that windsurfers should be granted the right to decide whether and under what circumstances they should use PFDs in their sport. As of January 1998, the following 7 states require windsurfers to wear or attach PFDs to their boards: New Mexico*, New York, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Alabama from most recent polling, 1998 * New Mexico requires a FAD, floatation assistance device: min. shorty wetsuit or PFD. B. HISTORY OF PFD REGULATION The U.S. Coast Guard is the official regulatory authority in federal waters for such matters under the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971. This act pre-empted state safety standards not identical with those issued by the Federal Government. The Coast Guard on February 18, 1973 granted to Windsurfer an exemption from PFD carriage requirements. In 1979 and 1980, this exemption was proposed to be renewed by the Coast Guard, which was also about to extend this exemption from PFD carriage requirements to all sailboards, based on the USCG notice in the Federal Register Volume 45, page 47876. The Federal Register (available in or through public libraries) of August 20, 1981, Vol. 46, Pages 42288 and 42289, gives more detail on this history. However, in 1981, under the Reagan Administrations efforts to ...
Source: www.uswindsurfing.org
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