Developments in sport often comes on the back of horrible tragedy and I'm afraid kayaking is no different. I know a good few people have lost friends kayaking. I think that this conversation by its very nature is so heavy that its a hard one to have, but necessary.
The first paddler magazine I read had an obituaries section in it. There is no question safety has improved since, but how much? Are we at the start, middle or end? When you start counting all the close calls, the ones people don't hear about, have we come that far, where are we on this evolution of safety?
My questions are:
- What were some of the turning points in the evolution of kayaking safety, and what has changed since?
Where is kayaking in its process of evolution?