StinkBug, it's pretty obvious to me that the variety of responses is a pretty good indication that nobody really knows how to answer your question! I think most people simply decide that safe capacity is the number of people that comfortably fit on our boats when sailing. But even that description can be very confusing. Take a look at photographs of the racing crew on a small keelboat (say less than 28'). There are often up to 6 or 8 crew members! All with various jobs that place them around the boat and on the rail for rail meat. I don't like to day-sail my 27' boat with 4 people sitting in the cockpit ... it just can't be done well. But if I was racing my boat on a windy day, with spinnaker sets and all, then a crew of 6 could be considered essential.
But I think that smaller sailboats in the 18 to 26 foot range that don't have fixed keels can be very difficult to judge. I think your original question had a lot of validity. It's obvious that nobody knows how to answer it because there isn't anything solid to base our decisions on! Personally, I think if you have your keel down and locked, you probably can't comfortably fit more people than would be safe (probably 8 at an upper limit). Water-ballasted boats are a whole nother issue in my mind ... I think the safe capacity of a water-ballasted boat is very deceptive.
Also deceptive are those large powerboats with the upper deck flybridges and command centers. Interestingly, the "rule of thumb" formula was originally intended for boats up to about 26' (except that boats under 20' require plates). So that formula seems to be for a very limited range. The safe boating manuals actually have said that "seating capacity" can be used to judge the capacity for boats larger than 26'. I think that this is a dangerous notion as well, because we know how boat manufacturers like to advertise and portray their boats as luxurious and spacious. I think people are easily duped into believing their boats have a safe capacity that is far greater than reality, based on the top-heavy design of many boats.
That's why I believe manufacturers should be forced to take responsibility for describing a capacity for the boats they make. Without capacity plates, how can authorities take any enforcement action when tragedies occur? As far as I know, there has been no action taken against the operator of the Silverton that capsized last year in LIS, killing several passengers. There were many in this forum who called for the head of the operator, yet resist any type of enforceable standard. It seems that many would simply prosecute based on a lack of common "seamanship" sense. We know that will never fly, so the whole episode just gets swept under the rug until the next episode which will outrage us for a few minutes.
But I think that smaller sailboats in the 18 to 26 foot range that don't have fixed keels can be very difficult to judge. I think your original question had a lot of validity. It's obvious that nobody knows how to answer it because there isn't anything solid to base our decisions on! Personally, I think if you have your keel down and locked, you probably can't comfortably fit more people than would be safe (probably 8 at an upper limit). Water-ballasted boats are a whole nother issue in my mind ... I think the safe capacity of a water-ballasted boat is very deceptive.
Also deceptive are those large powerboats with the upper deck flybridges and command centers. Interestingly, the "rule of thumb" formula was originally intended for boats up to about 26' (except that boats under 20' require plates). So that formula seems to be for a very limited range. The safe boating manuals actually have said that "seating capacity" can be used to judge the capacity for boats larger than 26'. I think that this is a dangerous notion as well, because we know how boat manufacturers like to advertise and portray their boats as luxurious and spacious. I think people are easily duped into believing their boats have a safe capacity that is far greater than reality, based on the top-heavy design of many boats.
That's why I believe manufacturers should be forced to take responsibility for describing a capacity for the boats they make. Without capacity plates, how can authorities take any enforcement action when tragedies occur? As far as I know, there has been no action taken against the operator of the Silverton that capsized last year in LIS, killing several passengers. There were many in this forum who called for the head of the operator, yet resist any type of enforceable standard. It seems that many would simply prosecute based on a lack of common "seamanship" sense. We know that will never fly, so the whole episode just gets swept under the rug until the next episode which will outrage us for a few minutes.
