Safetytelling the big risks from the small ones
Cause, effect, likelihood and impact
This is a fairly theoretical way of looking at something you do for pleasure. But safety on a longer passage cannot be taken for granted, and a structured approach helps you tell the big risks from the small ones.
Our aim is that you give most attention to the most important risks. It starts with the observation that an effect is often a new cause:
Cause: a little wind. Effect: relaxed sailing.
Cause: a bit more wind. Effect: spectacular progress.
Cause: just a bit too much wind. Effect: seasickness setting in, no appetite for anything.
Cause: no appetite for anything. Effect: reefing just a little too late…
Causes
- busy waters, tied to your route;
- cold water, tied to route and time of year;
- rough weather — it is summer, but there are no guarantees;
- loss of mast or keel, tied to quality, inspection and experience;
- becoming incapable through hypothermia;
- seasickness or other illness;
- fatigue.
Effects
- losing your enjoyment of the trip;
- minor damage to the boat or personal belongings;
- major damage: loss of keel, mast or boat;
- moderate injury, treatable on board or in hospital;
- serious injury with lasting consequences;
- death of a participant.
Likelihood and impact
Risk is likelihood times impact. Likelihood rises with longer exposure — and several days at sea is exactly that. It also rises in an unfavourable season, and falls as experience grows, as emergency solutions are carried on board, and as you train with them.
Impact rises with distance from a safe harbour and in heavier conditions. It falls when you can call for help efficiently — so it depends on the communication equipment you carry.
Both can therefore be influenced. Once you have a clear picture of the risks, you can decide which likelihoods or impacts you can reduce, and how.
The Swiss cheese model: an accident only happens when all barriers fail at once.
Rarely a single cause
An accident at sea is almost never the result of a single mistake. There are usually several barriers that should have stopped it: sound gear, a rested crew, clear agreements, an emergency plan. Only when every one of those barriers has a hole, and those holes line up at that moment, does it go wrong.
That is good news: you do not have to make any single barrier perfect. You only need enough of them.
Receive, transmit, be found
GMDSS, the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, has three main rules. You must always be able to:
- receive maritime safety information;
- transmit a distress call;
- be found.
Dutch-flagged boats register all equipment with the Rijksinspectie Digitale Infrastructuur (RDI). Maritime means registration; non-maritime means a licence. And an operator's certificate exists for a reason: when it matters, you need to be able to use the set without thinking.
The AMRD rules
Since 1 January 2025 new rules apply to Autonomous Maritime Radio Devices. Under them, AIS MOB beacons must use a different channel from DSC channels 1 and 2, which means a separate receiver is needed.
The Netherlands applies a grandfathering arrangement: existing DSC-based AIS MOB beacons such as the Ocean Signal MOB1 keep working and may still be fitted with new batteries. The PLB3, a Personal Locating Beacon, falls outside the AMRD rules: it transmits to satellites on 406 MHz and uses AIS only as a secondary homing signal.
The safety plan
A safety plan is required: a simple diagram showing where everything relevant is stowed. For guest crew it is essential. For skipper and regular crew it may matter even more, because it says where things are supposed to be. At Alle Hens there is a workshop in which you draw up the plan for your own boat.
Category: open sea
To take part, your boat must meet the current Kustzeilers safety list, category 'open sea'. For multihulls we work from World Sailing's Offshore Special Regulations, category 1 — on which the Dutch list is also based.
We do not debate the list, but we are happy to explain it. Alternative solutions are possible, provided they are well argued and the safety committee accepts them. Nobody is obliged to meet the list — but it is a condition for taking part.
The cockpit talk
During the inspection we also talk with the skipper and, as far as possible, the whole crew. The aim is to establish that the crew, as well as the boat, is sufficiently seaworthy. It is not an oral exam and not an assessment. It gives the organisation a better picture of the participants, and gives you the chance to ask any remaining questions.
Example of a safety plan: what is stowed where on board?