INTERNATIONAL BOATING AND WATER SAFETY SUMMIT (IBWSS)
By Margot Brown

The International Boating and Water Safety Summit (IBWSS) met in Newport Beach, California March 14-16.

IBWSS is a joint effort by the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) and the National Water Safety Congress (NWSC). A number of Boating Law Administrators attended the sessions, as well as representatives of a variety of federal and regional agencies, as well as delegates from the United Kingdom and Canada.

The Opening Session was addressed by Bobby Pharr, President, NWSC and Ed Carter, President, NSBC. Raynor Tsuneyoshi, Director of the California Dept. of Boating & Waterways gave what might be considered the keynote address. RADM. Underwood, Director of Operations Policy, and Mark Rosenker, Vice Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board also addressed the meeting.

While there were a number of breakout sessions addressing matters of Education, Outreach and Communication, Waterway/risk management and Law enforcement, it became clear that the focus of most sessions centered on PFD wear and paddlesports.

Of major interest was the Open Forum on the direction of Boating Safety, with electronic responses by the audience to a variety of multiple choice questions, guaranteeing anonymity of response.

This session was followed by the Paddlesport Safety meeting, which presented its own questionnaire, but responses were written. The most important aspect of this session was the fact that, while much concern is expressed regarding safety of paddle sport participants (estimated at 9.6 Million kayakers per year), at no time was there any mention of the Rules of the Road, or any potential interaction with other recreational or commercial vessels.

It was also noteworthy that, while very few states license kayaks or canoes, the principal source of funding for publications and outreach seem to be Wallop/Breaux funds.

The questionnaire and the audience's responses created the most discussion among the participants, which lasted well after the conclusion of the session.

Other break out sessions covered "Creative Partnering", which found that, on the whole, those present felt that local contacts and public service efforts brought better results than national, "one size fits all" advertising and PR.

The next IWBSS Congress will be held April 30-May 3 at the Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort in Tampa Bay, FL.

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