Thursday, January 10, 2013

we need a bigger boat

Here it is. Ireland's most anticipated piece of Lifeguard Rescue equipment. A custom SUP or stand up padddleboard.

For two decades we have challenged our trainees to stand on the various ski we use.... now the challenge is gone, this board is a staggering twelve feet long - to give context the silhouette beside them is the same height as trainer Michael .... so they are more than twice his height

and they (yes "they") are getting wet in January on Claremont

Sthoee, sthoee crew, alumni and guests stay tuned  - a European first to mark Ireland's presidency, your invite is coming soon

The science bit....... why SUP?

Primarily our rescue gear is for patrolling, monitoring and commumication with water users. The vast  majority of wet rescues for our ski are in training and during assessments. The standing position will give the lifeguard visibility and line of sight equavalent to rescue boats. this will be far above any of our traditional rescue ski

We will publish our trial results here through 2013 but here are our expectations;
Strengths: Visibility, sight lines, patrolling, monitoring of swimmers
Weaknesses: speed,

Stay tuned