Page 39 - Osprey Binder

The Flag/Radio/First Aid person must also have experience of concise, clear and
accurate radio technique and as a back-up for the front men if required.

The front men are qualified divers and also trained in first aid to a level necessary to
enable immediate emergency aid to an injured pilot. They must also be experienced
at recovering a pilot from inside an upturned boat amongst other accident scenarios.
Training for such incidents takes place in both swimming pools and benign waters. It
is usual for the Osprey team to invite members of other powerboat rescue teams to
join with them, owing to the fact that they are already experienced to some degree in
the rescue scene. They will spend a year or more as probationary members until it is
deemed that they are sufficiently skilled to become full members.

Overall the experiences of the Osprey team have given rise to a wealth of
information on powerboat racing hazards and accidents, where each one is usually
different from the previous ones. A dynamic Risk Assessment is carried out even as
the rescue boats are travelling towards an accident. The adaptability of the team
comes from the plethora of incidents also from many different types of boats, from
open cockpits with one or two people to enclosed cockpits where the pilot has a
harness as in racing cars. It is in these type of craft that the most complex difficulties
arise.

The Cell boats of various groups have an enclosed safety cell that is made to be
virtually indestructible when in collision with other boats or objects thus providing a
safe haven where the pilots are strapped in with a safety harness as seen in racing
cars. This safe haven however turns dangerous when the boat has had an accident
and is upside down in the water. Usually the pilots effect their own escape, however
if they are rendered unconscious or the cockpit canopy is jammed then assistance to
escape is required. Osprey is the answer as described above. Each raceboat is
manufactured with a "lifting eye" near the front of the boat, which is the point that the
Osprey boat's stabilising "A" Frame can be attached to in order to elevate the cockpit
above the water, if the self-lifting capability of the raceboat is compromised. Previous
incidents show that this does happen occasionally and the "A" Frame system
employed has helped to save lives.

It is beyond the scope of this report to describe the design and build process of these
boats, that is in the sister document (Ref 1) already mentioned.

HMS/02/050615/Issue 2 Page 6