Victorian Government Enquiry 2014

Marine Rescue Services

Advice & Recommendations By

Victorian Jet Sports Boating Association

Prepared By- Shan Newman

Vice President

Table of Contents

1 - Introduction & Background

2 - Identifying Problems on the Water

2a- Education

2b - Licensing

2c- Safety & Marine Rescue

2d- Attitude & Behavior

3. Solving Problems on the water

3a - Training & Education

3b -A Review of current Licensing Requirements

3c- Reviving the Club Environment

3d -Engaging paftjj;ipants

1. Introduction & Background The Victorian Jet Sports Boating Association is a long established Non For Profit Sporting Association involved in the sport of Watercraft Racing and recreational riding. Until recently the club operated as a race and social club for watercraft owners to participate in watercraft activities in a safe and controlled environment. Outside competitive racing, the club also facilitated social and training days for watercraft owners, which provided a learning environment for new riders. The club also organized social and recreational rides on Victorian waters, this provided riders with an opportunity to explore Victorian coastlines in a safe and controlled club environment.

The club has always prided itself on having very experienced and capable people as members and committee staff, the club has produced many Australian and world champions. The club committee is made up of some very experienced watersports enthusiasts including boaters, sailors, surfers and marine rescue personnel. Some of the clubs committee members including myself have worked with Marine Safety Victoria on the PWC Courtesy Rider Program in 2008 and 2009.

With changes in policy by governing marine departments in 2010- 2011, all efforts to work together with the watercraft community to evolve best practice and safety on the water ceased. We have also ceased to operate effectively as a club, as all permissions to hold events on Victorian waterways has been revoked by Transport Safety Victoria despite submitting revised safety management plans. This has taken away our revenue and ability to operate effectively.

1. Identifying Problems On The Water

2.a Education

Despite much negative press and false public perceptions, the watercraft community is not made up of a majority of young and reckless hoons,. The majority of watercraft riders are middle-aged professionals who can afford $25,000 for a modern watercraft, which is only used on average 30hrs a year. As with many forms of motorsport, it only takes a small handful of reckless individuals to tarnish the reputation of a sport or recreation. But none more so than Personal Water Craft operation, this is compounded because when a watercraft is used in a reckless manner, it is usually witnessed by hundreds of people at a crowded beach. Unlike the motorbike doing a wheelie or burnout in the beach car park, which is only witnessed by a handful of people.

A 300HP Watercraft is a deadly weapon in the wrong hands, just as a 200HP motorbike is a deadly weapon in the wrong hands, there is no difference. The only real differences are one requires extensive practical hands on training and education, a reasonable minimum age to obtain a license, is the target of big budget government education and advertising programs, and is never portrayed negatively by the media. The other is so easy to get a license a 12 year old can get one after an easy multiple choice test, then go out and ride a 300HP watercraft on open waters, has outdated legislation and regulation, is ignored by government programs and initiatives, and is constantly hounded and portrayed negatively by the press.

Personal Water Craft are a form of transport, and with recent technology advancements they have become a very powerful and fast method of transport. With manufacturers now producing affordable entry-level craft, and older watercraft becoming much cheaper, the number of watercraft owners is about to grow dramatically. Without appropriate education both from a rider and public perception prospective, the instance of serious incident and negative public opinion will grow exponentially.

Most of the problems and incidents encountered by PWC operators and recreational boaters can be attributed to a lack of education and understanding of the marine environment. The marine environment is ever changing and can be a very dangerous place for inexperienced operators. Given the nature of this environment one would expect there would be more attention given to education, awareness and training for recreation boating in general, yet there appears to be a see no evil hear no evil policy currently in place. Without closer attention and policy change, the issues with PWC operation and recreational boating will become more complex and dangerous as time goes on.

2.b Licensing

Imagine your child of 12 years old could obtain a license to drive the family car, imagine further that the family car was a Ferrari capable of if incredible acceleration. You send them on their way unsupervised and tell them that their only restrictions are they can't pick up passengers and they must not do more than 20 km/h. I don't think anyone could imagine doing such a thing in reality, yet this is this case with Personal Water Craft, and please keep in mind that most modern watercraft are faster from 0-100 than just about any Ferrari on the road.

While patrolling Victorian Waterways with Marine Safety Victoria, we would often intercept very powerful watercraft or speedboats with small children at the helm. One particular interception comes to mind at Lake Nagambie in Victoria's north. We were on a routine patrol in the river system at the rear of the lake, when a high-powered speedboat sped by at high speed in a Sknt zone. We gave chase and finally pulled the vessel over, when we approached the driver we found a 12 year old boy at the helm that could barley see over the dash board, at the rear of the boat were 4 teenagers who were all drinking beer. The boat itself was a ski boat with a supercharged V8 motor with at least 450HP, and it was being driven at high speed in a very dangerous section of the river with overhanging branches and debris in the water. To this day I think of what could have happened to these boys if we had not intercepted this boat.

It may have been appropriate to allow such young children to control vessels autonomously many years ago when vessels were fairly low powered, but times have changed and boats and watercraft are extremely powerful in the modern era.

The below comments are taken from the TSV Ride Safe Facebook Page

TSV - PWC (or jet- ski) riding is one of the fasted growing water sports in Victoria. Operating a PWC safely requires good technical, mental and physical skill, plus knowledge of the relevant rules and your obligations.

2.c Safety & Marine Rescue

Safety on the water can be directly related to education, licensing requirements and public awareness. The better educated and prepared the recreational boater is, the lower the instance of incident will be. Given the vast area of Victorian coastlines and waterways, and the limited number of marine rescue services available, at least half of all marine rescues are carried out by the general public, and many of these rescues are carried out by Personal Water Craft.

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Rescue carried out by PWC operator, as posted on TSV Ride Safe Facebook page

Personal Water Craft are a very efficient rescue vehicle, they can cover great distances and search large areas much faster than most boats. In the modern era they are used by many rescue services including Surf Life Saving, The Water Police, Transport Safety Victoria and the SES. To the surprise of many they also have good towing capability given the power to weight ratio. Personal Water Craft often come to the assistance of inexperienced recreational boaters who have broken down or run out of fuel.

For many years they have been used by tow in surfers because of their ability to traverse dangerous surf, and rescue surfers in danger in a quick and efficient manner. K38 Rescue is one such operator that utilizes the PWC for on water rescue, K38 services are often utilized for various watersports events around the world. K38 was founded in California and now has divisions worldwide including Australia. In the America the U.S Coast Guard employed the services of K38 to train it's members in PWC rescue.

Currently operating out of Queensland, K38 Rescue is utilized by the Queensland and NSW watercraft clubs to run the rescue services at most watercraft races and events. Before permissions to use the National Watersports Centre at Carrum were revoked, the VJSBA had organized to run on water safety and rescue courses for club members and the wider watercraft community at a discounted rate. This initiative had much interest and would have been great success. The training would hav,e educated riders not only in rescue services but also rider technique and proficiency, and would have resulted in having many more safe operators on the water. Unfortunately due to the lack of an appropriate venue and support from Transport Safety Victoria, the program was cancelled.

Z.d Attitude & Behavior

Apart from occasional training days run by the TSV Ride Safe Team, there is no education or dub events happening in Victoria. The TSV Ride Safe Team has been converted into more of an enforcement unit than an educational unit, as was the Courtesy Rider Program. There are no new initiatives or advertising campaigns that connect with recreational boaters and watercraft operators.

When the Courtesy Rider Program was in place and the VJSBA was running effectively, riders were connecting with both the dub and the authorities. We believe this resulted in a reduction of reckless behavior and attitudes on the water. The riders who were interested in high speed riding had the appropriate place to test their metal in a controlled environment, and were guided and educated to be safe operators on public waterways.

A great deal of watercraft riders in Victoria were involved in the watercraft dub in one way or another, from competitors and safety marshals to social riders and their families. This had a flow on effect and provided a community environment for watercraft operators, which in tern promoted safety and appropriate behavior on the water. With the lack of any such environment we believe the attitude and behavior of operators has regressed, and the instance of dangerous incidents has increased.

2. Solving Problems on the Water

3.a Training & Education

Training and education is the key to solving just about any problems we face in our community, especially when we are talking about a sport and recreation that can have deadly consequences for the uneducated. We believe that practical hands on training for all new boating and watercraft license applicants, to be an essential step forward in creating a safer environment for both operators and the general public. This would also reduce the instance of serious incidents and the need for marine rescue. This combined with the appropriate government initiatives and advertising could help reverse the current trend of increasing incidents and negative public perception.

3b -A Review of Current Licensing Requirements

We firmly believe that the age limit to obtain a boat and PWC license should be raised to reflect the current marine environment and the power of modern boats and watercraft. A possible solution could be similar to power restrictions for Learner and Provisional drivers on Victorian roads.

3c- Reviving the Club Environment

Club environments promote a community spirit and help educate new members in their chosen activities. Sporting clubs not only promote safety and awareness, they facilitate ongoing education and training in their field of expertise. We highly recommend that governing bodies review their stance on Watercraft clubs and work together with the watercraft community to solve current issues.

3d - Engaging Participants

We believe that engaging operators and participants can only serve to better educate and improve the attitudes and behavior of watercraft operators. The current situation on the water will only continue to get worse without a hand's on approach, and a combination of better education, better training and license requirements, and a connection to a wider community. This will also help bridge the gap between operators and the general public.