I help a few dozen people out of the water back into their canoes a year as noted previously.
I've been involved in a handful of more difficult events. All involved crowding of boats.. sea kayaks in wind.. Once was in seas pretty high and I was still a novice with more experienced paddlers. Those few paddlers doing the rescue.. (two paddlers) yelled at the rest of us to STAY AWAY! It was good advice.. They needed room to maneuver their kayaks to get the swimmer on the back deck of one..
Other capsizes involved people stuck in their kayak (prothesis) and people finding themselves swimming and getting whacked in the head by boats skippered with good people who had no room to maneuver.
I don't base my feelings on statistics but rather experience and each of my experiences I think was presented to me as an opportunity to learn.. not win..
I've been involved in a handful of more difficult events. All involved crowding of boats.. sea kayaks in wind.. Once was in seas pretty high and I was still a novice with more experienced paddlers. Those few paddlers doing the rescue.. (two paddlers) yelled at the rest of us to STAY AWAY! It was good advice.. They needed room to maneuver their kayaks to get the swimmer on the back deck of one..
Other capsizes involved people stuck in their kayak (prothesis) and people finding themselves swimming and getting whacked in the head by boats skippered with good people who had no room to maneuver.
I don't base my feelings on statistics but rather experience and each of my experiences I think was presented to me as an opportunity to learn.. not win..