Best Practice Tips

Always attach the kill cord to the driver

The RYA echoes the MAIB’s safety bulletin message and reminds all owners and operators of such vessels fitted with a kill cord to:

• Test them regularly to ensure that the engine stops when the kill cord mechanism is operated
• Make sure that the cord is in good condition
• Always attach the cord to the driver, ideally before the engine is started, but certainly before the engine is put in gear
• When changing drivers it is strongly recommended that you should turn the engine off before transferring the kill cord from one driver to the other. The engine should only be restarted when the kill cord has been securely attached to the new driver.

Best Practice Tips

• Never extend the kill cord past the manufactures length
• Protect the kill cord from the elements, UV rays can cause the cord to break in the middle
• Always keep a spare kill cord on-board and ensure that all crew are training on how to use it
• Ensure your new kill cord has a strengthening cord running though it
• Replace any fabric kill cords that have lost their spiral tension as the inner cord may have been damaged.