Lifejackets and harnesses

[david_e]

Following on from the critique of the YM youngsters without lifejackets; have looked at the RORC safety rules for wearing a harness and lifejacket;

a) between the hours of sunset and sunrise
b) when alone on deck
c) when reefed
d) when true wind speed is 25 knots or more
e) when the visibilty is less than one nautical mile

We wear ours nearly all the time under sail but these seem a reasonable marker and take account of the inherent safety aspect of a boat in the first instance. The caveat would be that to qualify to enter race 30% of the crew require an element of certified training.

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[qsiv]

I may well have missed it but I wasnt aware of the training requirement in general.

Certain races (such as Fatnet) have specific criteria
50% have to have raced 400+ mles on the boat
2 First Aid ticket holders
50% have to have completed Liferaft/Sea Survival

but I wasnt aware of a general overriding 'qualification' requirement, which might in any event be difficult given the multinational entries that the RORC gets.

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[qsiv]

I think what David may have picked up on is the ORC (not RORC) requirement for entrants in M0 and mu0 & mu1 category races to have a 30% training quota.

Broadly speaking M0 is monohull transoceanic and mu0 and mu1 are Multihull transoceanic and deep water out of range of rescue services (say further than 200nm offshore).

These dont affect the vast majority of races (even the Fastnet is only a Cat 2 race, although it has special regulations of it's own).

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[david_e]

Have only scan read them so you are most probably right. I am in the process of checking what safety equipment I need and noticed it then.

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[snowleopard]

didn\'t i read....

somewhere that RORC requires lifejackets to be worn whenever foul weather gear is worn, or is that another urban myth?

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[Twister_Ken]

You did

"Safety Harness & Lifejacket
in an offshore race
A harness and lifejacket shall be worn:
a) Between the hours of sunset and sunrise
b) When alone on deck
c) When reefed
d) When the true wind speed is 25 knots or above
e) When the visibility is less than one nautical mile
STAY ABOARD - CLIP ON - See S.Regs 5.01.3 & 5.02.5 "

More at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.rorc.org/programme/safety.php>http://www.rorc.org/programme/safety.php</A>

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[zefender]

To help in your hunt for safety stuff, there's not a bad safety equipment list on the YM Rally Portugal site too.

http://www.worldcruising.com/portugal/docs/RP03_conditions.pdf

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[david_e]

Thanks.

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