A low drift rate is essential for a good reason.

A low drift rate aids rescuers. Search and Rescue teams will be directed to the last known location of the vessel, and if a Givens raft was known to be used, the response team will know the drift will be minimal. If it takes several hours to reach the disaster area, lightly ballasted rafts with high-drift rates could by then be miles from the original location.

The heavy ballasting of the Givens Raft helps to keep it in place. The hundreds of gallons of water in the ballast chamber act as a sea anchor - wind pushing on the canopy of the raft cannot move the thousands of pounds of water below.