The MHC is getting ready to submit a set of gear requirements to the Safety at Sea Committee of US Sailing. This would set a standard for Yacht Clubs to reference when giving beach cats a start.

The other half the equation is the PRO and the OA. when should they pull the plug.

Rick White recounts this event.


I have been on both sides of this issue....as a competitor and as the OA.....

Personally, I think you have to rethink the problem each and every time.... After things have inverted... you don't want to have half assed this one.

When and Who should pull the plug?

The RC should pull the plug when they do not feel it is safe for them, their mark boats, chase boast, etc to be on the water. The decision to sail/not sail falls squarely on the shoulders of the competitors!

To date, is anyone aware of a case where a club/OA has been successfully sued by a competitor due to damage/injury/death that had occurred during a race in "sporty" conditions.

That will occur immediately upon USS, the federally mandated sailing monopoly, establishing a protocol.

Once that protocol is established the Coasties will charge you a ****-ton of money to rescue you. And rightly so.

Bingo, Karl and Pete nailed it!

Mark what did Rick do to piss you off so bad!

My point is that politics has an interest in sailors whether sailors are interested or not.

If you want input into the "federally mandated sailing monopoloy" and the protocols they will be establishing to govern you, join USS and demand open popular elections.

Good standard answer.... But insurance and legal liability are not the cutting issue here.

We don't and can't sweep the beachcat fleet in a distance race. Often, the OA often has no one on the water and so the issue for the OA jumps to a more difficult level of decision.

So... we have two kinds of races... Steeplechase and Great Texas where the OA and sailors can make a decision each day of the race and the impact is just on cat sailors.
VS
In something like the MKL or the Chesapeake Race to Oxford with many monohull boats which meet PHRF safety regulations for the type of racing ....a monohull competitor would have had to drop out to rescue the Hobie 16 had they discovered the situation. There is no question for the monohull, they will render assistance... But

The OA does not have to accept entries from Beach Cats....so IMO... we need to think about how WE manage the issue when the safety standards are so different between beachcats and the rest of the fleet.

When I set up the big races with monohulls... I delivered the message that the big monoslugs are NOT our safety backup plan!
This was to both the OA and the Beach cat racers.

Beachcats are included in these big PHRF races because I leveraged a request from the J22 fleet to participate in the race. J22's do not meet the PHRF safety standard and so they also needed a waiver.... In the end... the J22 fleet decided against racing but we have had a great run of races.

So far, it has been working.... just a few requests for redress for the monohulls bailing out a cat sailor or two.

It would be nearly impossible to create a standard that could be applied to cancel a race. Wind speed, wave height, air temperature, water tempurature, current, etc. all play a factor. How do you create a universal standard? 20 knots in Boca Ciega Bay (protected flat water bay in Florida) in june is probably far different conditions than 20 knots in Hyannis (open ocean in the north east) in November!

https://www.google.com/search?q=pic...mp;ved=0CF8QsAQ&biw=1024&bih=653

Help yourselves.

I agree. It is a difficult issue.
The time to form your current position is now... not after the FUBAR.

I think guidelines are appropriate here... Standards are too much.

The standards are for GEAR... The idea is that the OA can just require at a minimum the Safety at Sea gear list. It solves the problem... of who made the YC the safety guru of beach cat racing.
US Sailing > Class rules > YC rules > your idiocyncratic opinion on "safe"

If you want to know what happens when you DON"T think about this stuff...

See the fall out from the SSA junior disaster.
See the fallout from the Chi to Mac disaster.
Wait for the fallout from the Farloones disaster.
Wait for the fallout from the N2E disaster.

Oh... and it matters because the stand alone insurance hit for the OA running distance races is now up ~1000 bucks or so.... see impact on Islander Reef run/ex Hogsbreath

I think that ultimately it is the sailor's responsibility to go out, unless it is really extreme (35+ kts).
Some insurance companies have a clause with a maximum wind limit as well, worth checking before racing.

My position: The decision to pull the plug is at the discretion of the OA.

You've been given an opinion by several people and you clearly don't agree with it. Do what you're going to do Mark.

I think Mark is the messenger here not the decision maker.

No... more then messenger.

I made the initial proposal on gear standards to move this issue. Bert Rice and Randy Smyth have a draft that is being worked on by the MHC's other member who is on the Safety at Sea Committee.

Gear is just part of the debate.

So.. if the Miami to Key Largo guys at Miami Yacht club decide to pull the plug on the beachcat start but allow the rest of the fleet to race... you are OK with that?? ....

Or do you think there should be some consensus on guidelines, standards, rules, etc.

Did I hear my name mentioned? Add Bob Hodges and Jon Farrar as members of the US Sailing Multihull Council Safety Committee.

http://www.gya.org/MultiHull/Multihull.htm takes one to the Gulf Yachting Association Multihull Council web site.

Forgive the old news - I'll get to it...just finished updating my SOARS for the year.

The Safety Recommendations Mark referred to were originaly developed by the GYA MHC. They are available to sailors for review. Your input to the MHC Safety Committee is welcomed. We always pay attention to forehanded measures we might include.

Contact me off forum,

Bert Rice, MHC Safety Committee Chair

There is a placeholder on the May 30 MHC meeting agenda for a discussion on the safety committee report. However, despite numerous requests, I have not received the final draft so I can post it for folks to review prior to the meeting. If that does not happen, don't expect a vote to approve.

Also, we should be acting proactively here, not reactively. We don't need to wait for a bad event and the Coast Guard or US Sailing to require action (see recent activity in California).

The MHC should have a nimble, active safety committee that looks at stuff like the "cool video" and finds ways to communicate useful recommendations to the cat sailors. Note, I said useful recommendations, not onerous requirements.

This is simply the right thing to do, and I'd love to have volunteers come forward to help.

Mike

I volunteer!

You were provided the recommendations for the AGM in October, but I'll re-send them.