off altogether. A Motorboat & Yachting magazine reader survey confirmed that 83% of those polled admitted that they had forgotten at some point to wear their kill cord. Although RYA powerboat training courses and commercial training briefs cover the importance of wearing kill cords and additionally there are numerous articles from other sources detailing the reasons why this is such an essential safety feature, evidence suggests that it is still the case that the kill cord isn’t always being connected to the helmsman despite this education and acceptance of its importance. The current ‘passive’ kill cord offers nothing to ensure the pilot clips on. The training by these organisations is clearly of fundamental importance, however as the RYA’s chief instructor Rachael Andrews explains in one of her instructional videos, “if you see someone not wearing their kill cord, do remind them as it is an easy thing to forget, we hope it’s second nature, but we don’t always remember”.


Firstly, the team involved in this project needed to understand the weaknesses in the current kill cord and look at the circumstances behind kill cord related accidents. The reality is that the current kill cord is virtually bomb proof, as long as it’s worn and that is where the problem lies. Should the pilot and occupants of a power boat be thrown from a vessel without the pilot wearing a kill cord the


potentially devastating results caused by the boat circling out of control are well publicised. One particular tragedy occurred in the UK in 2013 where a family fell from their RIB in the Camel estuary. Both parents had taken RYA Powerboat level 2 courses, were responsible boaters and both understood the necessity and had the will to wear their kill cord. However, during a pilot change the family’s mother inadvertently forgot to re-connect the kill cord with devastating consequences when the boat hooked in a tight turn and threw the entire family overboard. It was clear to us that this was an inadvertent and forgivably easy mistake to make. There was nothing to warn them that the kill cord wasn’t connected. This shocking tragedy initiated the development of a new type of kill cord featuring an intelligent alarm designed to ensure that both the pilot and crew are alerted should the kill cord not be worn, much like a seatbelt warning in a car.


There are wireless alternatives however they haven’t been widely adopted. Cost aside, this may be because of uncertainty in cut off range, reliability concerns and the retrospective additional electronics required to be fitted to the boat itself which adds to the list of potential problems for the end user to diagnose should their boat engine fail to start, wireless by its very nature being invisible. Ultimately these systems still


rely on the boat user remembering to ensure that the wireless / proximity device isn’t left inadvertently at the helm. The team’s research indicated that engine manufacturers, insurance companies and training establishments alike agree that the certainty of a tethered connection between helm and pilot is the most effective and quickest way of cutting the engine should the pilot be thrown from the helm. Lifecord’s designers were briefed by specialist marine experts, amongst others, to include product and service supplier to commercial and Ministry of Defence, Landau UK’s CEO Ben Metcalfe, also Tony Birr of Century Maritime, ex head of Hampshire Constabulary’s Marine Unit and Motorboat & Yachting editor Hugo Andreae. Their diverse wealth of experience between them in areas such as risk mitigation, product expectations and the habits of boaters assisted in ensuring the designers adhered to the most stringent product requirement matrix.


The result of this investment is the release in the Spring of 2018 of a new kill cord named Lifecord by Cordsafe Ltd, manufactured to the highest possible specification in the UK under quality procedures complying with BS EN ISO 9001 and to IP67 waterproofing and dust/particle inhibition intended to meet the exacting standards sought by any official testing house. At the time of writing this article Lifecord is undergoing that accreditation process and is anticipated to become the only accredited kill cord available today worldwide. Lifecord has a GB patent granted, also a US patent pending that has recently received a notice of allowance and various other patents pending in other parts of the world.


Lifecord detects when it’s connected to the vessel’s kill switch. It acknowledges that connection with a series of beeps. Should the pilot not then connect the other end round their leg, 10 seconds later it alarms, relatively quietly at first just to ensure the pilot and crew are aware that it’s yet to be connected to the pilot and


The Report • June 2018 • Issue 84 | 51


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