Yachting World, on inflatable life rafts
Answers.com, on inflatable life rafts versus
lifeboats:
The [Fastnet] inquiry board noted that “life
rafts clearly failed to provide the safe refuge which many crews
expected.”...Your chances of survival on a raft on the open ocean are
greater if you can sail or at least steer it in the right direction. Waiting
passively to be rescued in a helplessly drifting life raft is a prime cause
of despair and hopelessness. According to Michael Stadler, a German
professor of psychology and a small-boat sailor, even the most desperate
situation is bear-able—even for someone on their own—provided they have some
sense of controlling their position and environment."
USCG Boating Safety site,
on inflatable life rafts
Latitude 38, on inflatable life rafts
Navis.gr
Wikipedia (shipboard lifeboats)