There are sometimes reports in the press of yachtsmen who have contravened these byelaws including recently the Two Gentlemen of Padstow who put their catamaran aground while under the influence and who were heavily fined .
It is often said that most accidents involving yachtsmen and drink take place during the trip back from the pub in the tender .
If these limits are deemed suitable for the professionals it would seem a very good idea for us yachtsmen to voluntarily comply as well .
The new limits are 50 mg per 100 ml of blood compared with 80 mg per 100 ml of blood for car drivers . Urine and breath limits have been reduced similarly .
Even though these limits are not applied to yachtsmen , current legislation means that boaters can be prosecuted under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 if they are seen to be endangering other vessels , structures or individuals and are under the influence of alcohol .
Most local harbour authorities also have byelaws which allow the prosecution of boaters under the influence of alcohol when in charge of a vessel .
For example Chichester Harbour byelaw 21 states “ A person shall not navigate any vessel within the harbour whilst under the influence of drink or drugs to such an extent as to be incapable of taking proper control of the vessel .”
Your correspondent experienced such an event on a night many years ago when he was designated as rower on the grounds he was the most sober ( no , really ) and steadily ferried the crew back to the mooring one by one in the tiny dinghy , similar to that in the picture .
The last in the queue had decided the wait was too long and nipped back into the pub for a nightcap .
When his ride finally turned up he quite literally jumped off the quayside ladder into the back of the dinghy which , finding its buoyancy overwhelmed , promptly sank into Whitby Harbour , along with its rower .
Although this caused great amusement to the other drunks on the quayside , your correspondent was less than amused , and having sorted everything out , subjected his now cold , wet and sheepish passenger to a tirade of abuse all the way across the harbour and back to the boat .
The lesson learned from this incident was never to get in a small boat with this chap again .
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