ASH, N.C., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The deaths of two women while parasailing in North Carolina indicate a need for regulation of the recreational activity, parasail association executives said.
Regulations would give the U.S. Coast Guard or other enforcement agencies the power to order owners to cease operations or to penalize those who don't follow the rules, the executives told The (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) Sun News.
Formal regulations might also make parasail boat captains and operators think twice before engaging in questionable parasailing activities, Parasail Safety Council Chairman Mark McCulloh said.
The council, the world's largest parasailing association, created the National Foundation for Parasail Regulations in 2007 "to promote parasailing safety awareness and to develop, sponsor and implement a uniform code of parasailing operations for the commercial parasailing industry."
Cynthia Woodcock of Kernersville, N.C., and Lorrie Shoup of Granby, Colo., were killed off Ocean Isle Beach near Wilmington, N.C., when a tow rope attaching the parasail to a boat snapped and the sail was caught in an apparent downburst of wind.
A witness said the women struck the ocean several times while being dragged by a parasail that had detached from its tow boat.
The National Weather Service, tracking a low-pressure system moving north from the Gulf of Mexico, issued three small-craft warnings that day, including one about two hours before the fatal incident.
