Animal Windfest event organiser condemns planned law changes.

One of the UK’s leading figures in the world of watersports has expressed concerns over plans to make changes in the law, which could potentially see windsurfers and kayakers fined and jailed if involved in an on water accident.

Gary Willingham, whose watersports event, the Animal Windfest, has brought some of the biggest names in wind-surfing and kite-boarding to Poole, Dorset for the last 11 years, fears that the proposed amendments to the Merchant Shipping Act, 1995 will discourage people from taking up watersports in general.

The proposals, in a consultation paper, are intended to close a legal loophole identified in the Court of Appeal four years ago. Judges overturned the conviction of Mark Goodwin, of Weymouth, Dorset, who nearly killed a man when riding a jet-ski. They ruled a jet-ski was not a seagoing ship, so not subject to the merchant shipping legislation. The new rules would bring Britain into line with a Convention on International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea.

The changes would see unpowered craft, which include canoes, kayaks, sailboards and surfboards, reclassified as “ships” and would bring operators under the same regulations as merchant vessels. As a consequence, users face prison and fines of up to £50,000 if they are held liable for any accidents. Windsurfers, families in dinghies or a beginner oarsman could be prosecuted if they collided with a swimmer and anyone out on the water would be liable to a random breath test.

Gary said: “This proposal is a strange one. It’s practically impossible to police, it’s aimed at the wrong people and, most of all, it confuses a fairly straightforward situation.

There’s a clear difference between powered and unpowered craft and there are rules already in place on beaches governing their use. This particular piece of legislation should definitely be changed to include jet-skis because they are powered craft but if you include kayaks and surfboards, where will you draw the line? Do you prosecute people who have accidents on lilos or bodyboards?

“It’s the equivalent of applying the same rules used for cars to cyclists, skateboarders or even little kids with ‘heelys’ shoes. You wouldn’t treat a child on heelys who collides with another person in the same way as you would a driver who runs over a pedestrian.

Perhaps the most worrying part of this is that it will put people off taking up great sports like wind-surfing and kite-boarding, and that would be a huge shame.”

The Animal Windfest will be held in Sandbanks, Poole between 11-13 September this year. Windfest is the south’s only free, three day watersports event. Go to the event website shown below for more information.

Tags: Animal Windfest, Gary Willingham

Category: Sporting Events