Funcats Watersports — Attraction in South Perth

I would definitely not recommend Funcats. My friend and I hired stand up paddle boards from them and as we were about to hire them we observed one of their catamaran that was not being used sailing away into the river. The lady behind the counter almost joked about it saying "oh one of our boats is running away" and my friend and I replied somewhat concerned but she said it was fine and their staff would go and get it. It was quite windy this day and it was my first time paddle boarding so I was a little worried with how quickly I had gone out into the deeper part of the river so I was turning myself around and coming into shore when I was struck by another one of Funcats catamaran that was not properly secured to the shore. It all happened so quickly as the wind made the catamaran turn quickly and come for me that I did not have time to think what to do. The front point of the catamaran hit my upper thigh with a lot of force. It pushed me under the catamaran and I was scared that my head was going to be hit as the catamaran sailed over the top of me. Luckily I wasn't hit on the head but when I got to shore my leg was already starting to swell and very painful and I was visibly shaken up. Thankfully kind onlookers who witnessed the incident came to see if I was okay and offered me water and ice. Before a member of the public gave me ice from their esky, someone asked a Funcats staff member if they had any ice and they replied that they didn't. I just think it was really poor the way they handled the incident. For starters it never should have happened, as they should be keeping more of an eye on the boats and pulling them in straight away after customers return them. This obviously isn't a one off situation since we witnessed two separate boats sailing off unattended within the space of half an hour. Secondly, they should have ice and a first aid kit and should have been properly checking that I was okay. I only had a half-hearted sorry from two of the junior members of staff. The lady behind the counter never came out to see if I was okay and my friend eventually had to go and see her to ask for a refund. Several of the witnesses were shocked at Funcats lack of concern and told me to report them. I contacted them via email afterwards to try and resolve this situation but they were amendment that they did nothing wrong and it was the fault of the customers that hired the catamarans for not pulling them into shore properly... It is now 10 days since the incident and I still have a huge purple bruise on my leg. I was in so much pain the day after that I couldn't even sit down or go to work. While I was paddleboarding there was a man with his young child on the front of another paddleboard and it is scary to think what could have happened if the catamaran had hit a child or even if it hit me in the head, I am just grateful that it hit me on a fleshy part of the leg as I can't image the pain I would be in if it had hit me elsewhere. Clearly customer and public safety is not at the forefront of Funcats concerns which is a worry given they are operating a business on open water, and their customer service...

After sailing here for 35 years under Jack and Andrew/Jane's ownership the new owners have seen fit to cancel us and another group who have sailed here for a similar time. To say that the people are very unfriendly is an understatement. The boats are now in a poor condition and the management have no idea how to run this business. I suggest you find something better to do with your time and don't waste it here.

Edit: I understood that the issue was about staffing and costs not a clash with schools which I doubt will be there at 5.00 pm which was our usual time to sail (for the past 30 years) so TBH I'm not sure that you're being truthful with that answer. We also gave a few options to help your staffing for our events and have no problem with whatever you chose to charge, which of course you rejected/

As for the comment about bullying and respect, I hope you're not insinuating that our group did that, you dont have a 30 year relationship with two previous owners and behave like that and for sure we didnt with the staff that you employed after taking over the business. So I think you're trying to throw shade on my feedback (and telling a few untruths for public consumption) to put a semi-positive slant on what has happened.

We love sailing and hope the cats stay on Perth Waters but you need to look in the mirror Los.

PS as we have never met you I dont understand the comment about enjoying us sailing with you, that is...

Came on Australia day as absolute beginners. Got a fair way out before it was obvious that my teenage daughter was panicking and didn't like it and due to the wind and being beginners, we couldn't get her straight back in. Staff realised from the shore that there was an issue and came out in a boat to help. They took her straight back in and we stayed out for a little bit to try and get the cat in by ourselves ( well my husband while I leapt about being ballast). Got back to shore fine in the end. Daughter had calmed by then. One of the staff offered her a kayak to have a go instead but she was too wobbly by then. Thanks so much to the staff for a friendly service and for the rescue. Once she is over the trauma that I put her through (as her mother and the booker of the experience) we will be back to have a play but just on kayaks this time....