I paddle in an area of Tampa where the college and high school crews train, and also a lot of private rowers. Why is it that they, and racing kayaks (by regulation), do not require a PFD? They are rowing backwards, are near the surface of the water, and do not have the same situational awareness that a SUPer does. Their excuse would be that it would interfere with their paddling, which it wouldn't because every other paddler in the water is in the same boat. If I ever get stopped, I'm going to ask this question. Then I'll insist that I'm training for a race. If racing is the only prerequisite for not wearing one as per crews and racing kayaks, then why would racing SUPs be excluded? Surely these other craft are certainly as much vessels as a SUP would be. Sounds to me like there is a double standard. But the University of Tampa probably has more clout than I do. This reeks of "who you know....."
And on another note, inside the surf zone, where surfers tread, both crawlers and sweepers, seems like a much more hazardous place where PFD's actually might do some good.
Operators and passengers of pleasure boats, are only required to have them available, not actually wearing them. What good with this do if they were run into by another vessel? The only thing that the occupants of a boat could do under ordinary circumstances, would be to don them when their boat was in danger of sinking. SUPs don't sink! If this would be the case for SUPers, then the pfd would only have to be on the deck. Now, if I needed a pfd at a moments notice, I would much rather use my board than a flimsy piece of nylon or ripstop or whatever they're made of. This whole thing makes no logical sense to me. But, hey, then again we're dealing with a government agency. Doh!
And, oh yeah, why was the helmet law for motorcycles repealed? Because of the outcry of biker groups. Seems you can't legislate safey. You can try. Where do lawmakers take their logic course?
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