Government launches drink sailing consultation
The government has launched a consultation into alcohol and drugs legislation for recreational boating.
The yachting fraternity is divided over the legislation, which covers sailors on both land and sea. The government is considering including weekend sailors in the strict proposals governing alcohol consumption while skippering a boat.
Part four of the Railways and Transport Safety Act, which achieved Royal Assent on the July 10th 2003, introduced alcohol and drug legislation in respect of shipping. In particular it establishes alcohol limits and a testing regime for alcohol and drugs that will apply to mariners who are either professionals or non-professionals.
The new law could potentially introduce the same alcohol limit (80mg/ 100ml of blood) as UK roads for all mariners and offenders could receive up to two years in jail. If approved, the new legislation could lead to spot checks and breath tests on UK waterways.
Part of the Act allows for further amendments to the legislation by the transport secretary, particularly to the types of recreational craft it will cover and the circumstances in which the craft is being used.
The Department for Transport is inviting the views of leisure boaters as part of a consultation exercise on these areas of the legislation as an online form on their website.
The Royal Yachting Association is urging members to have their say. The association states that, while it does not condone the excessive consumption of alcohol by the skipper of a boat whilst a vessel is underway, it does not believe that alcohol consumption has led to a significant number of incidents.
“Like most activities there are a small minority who behave irresponsibly on the water and further legislation will not stop them. However, no evidence has been collated to support the claim that being under the influence of alcohol whilst skippering a recreational boat is a widespread problem,” the RYA says on its website.
The organisation points out that the legislation could affect cruising boaters who like to have a glass of wine in the cockpit at the close of evening.
Some sailors agree with the government’s plans, claiming it will curb drunken yobs in speedboats, but many are opposed to the proposals, which they see as excessive.
John Brown, 74, of Lymington Town Sailing Club, told the Guardian newspaper that he believes the government is wrong to interfere. “I have been sailing since 1960 and I have never comes across a drunk sailor at the tiller or the wheel,” he said. “I am not saying they have never taken a drink. But you just don’t think about drink during the day.”
Many blame dredger skipper Captain Steve Bartlett for the government interference. He was jailed for eight months in March after he crashed his 680 tonne vessel into Hythe pier, near Southampton, having drunk six pints of lager.
In February Roy Goodman, the principal guest conductor for the English Chamber Orchestra, was fined for being drunk in charge of his yacht near Southampton, the Guardian reports, and last August a businessman’s attempt to sail round the world was scuppered by a drunken Icelandic fisherman who crashed into his yacht.
