carl, re point 1, I think Matt is making a distinction between higly skilled/experienced paddlers like Freya and the miriad of new paddlers out there with no skills/experience or knowledge of the sea where probably the chance of misshap is greater than for the skilled/experienced paddler set even taking account of the more 'benign' conditions the beginner set is in.
re point 3, under 30s dont have a fully developed brain to be able to know the consequences of their actions - thats his point. Also you keep saying things like kayaks are tippy cockleshells and such like - the kayak is one of the most seaworthy craft on the water - have you ever been in a smallish motorcruiser or even cruising yacht in bad conditions? I'd rather be in my kayak for sure!