Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Matt Claridge has called for better education to ensure boaties choose the most appropriate personal flotation device (PFD) for their water activities, after the release of a report associated with a coroner's investigation into the death of experienced Wanaka yachtsman Trevor Hawke.
Buoyancy aid standards are under examination, after a recent surge in drownings and boating accident deaths where New Zealanders have been caught unprepared.
His body was recovered by searchers 10 days later.
Mr Lilley's report has found Mr Hawke was wearing his PFD back to front and the carbon dioxide canister, which inflates the garment, was not properly connected to the life jacket.
Mr Claridge said the report highlighted how boaties needed to make sure they were equipped with the best life jacket to cope with any eventuality.
"You need to match life jackets to whatever you will be doing in the water, whether that be kayaking, white-water rafting, sailing, or fishing on the open sea, and think of the worst case scenarios.
"There is no 'one-size-fits-all' approach ... different life jackets are designed for different uses," he said.
New Zealand's buoyancy aid safety standards did not need changing. Rather, boaties needed to ensure they made the right choice about what personal flotation device was most appropriate for their specific needs on the water, Mr Claridge said.
He insisted there needed to be "some degree of freedom of choice" when it came to people buying life jackets.
"What we need to get away from is thinking about them as life jackets. A more realistic label is to call them personal flotation devices. Wearing one does not mean your life is going to be saved," Mr Claridge said.
Life jackets were equipped with different functions and accessories designed for various water-based activities, he said.
Wanaka Coastguard member and former Taieri River rafting operator Alan McKay said during his 40 years of experience in the marine tourism industry he had found about 10% of commercial life jackets were not suitable for their wearers.
Mr McKay also used to run inflatable rescue boat trips from the Dunedin coast out to White and Green Islands for tourists.
Commercially made life jackets did not fit everyone and he had tried to encourage specific designs to enable a better match for his tourism adventure clients and the water-based activities he took them on.
He backed calls for life jackets to be correctly fitted and for people to ensure they chose the most appropriate type of jacket.
"There are just too many things which can go wrong with them," he said, of the manual self-inflated PFD variety.
"They are like wearing a seat belt which is not clipped in because you think you will have enough time to put one on before you crash," Mr McKay said.
Self-inflatable jackets did not protect any wearer if they were knocked unconscious, or fell into the water as a result of a medical event, he said.
Dunedin Read Marine retail operator Latham Wardhaugh said there were not many "standard-type" ocean-going life jackets fitted with carry pockets for emergency locator equipment.
"They can be hard to find and can cost more. Usually those types of jackets are for specialist activities," he said.
Maritime New Zealand spokesman Ross Henderson advised it was best for all boaties to carry at least two forms of reliable emergency communication and be familiar with their operation.
"Attaching a beacon or VHF radio to your life jacket, or having a waterproof grab bag on your boat containing emergency communications and other survival items is another practical safety tip," he said.
Southland men Shaun Bethune (23) and Lindsay Cullen (59) died in Foveaux Strait on Tuesday night, after their boat Extreme Limits was flipped by a rogue wave and the pair were unable to make landfall alongside three of their companions.
The five companions were all wearing life jackets, but after the wave capsized their boat they were left in the water and unable to access an emergency locator beacon which was left in their sinking boat.
Mr Henderson said the vast majority of boaties were responsible and followed safety precautions. However, accidents happened suddenly on the water, so it was important to be prepared.
