It’s winter which means most of us are anxiously awaiting warmer weather and getting boats back in the water. It also means it’s a great time to prepare for the upcoming season by selecting races, updating your training and certifications, and checking your personal safety equipment.
An easy place to start is by looking at the various club race calendars and determining which races you plan to participate in and what the crew requirements are for those races. The larger ocean racing clubs post their annual calendars early in the year allowing plenty of time for planning and logistics. A summary of the bigger clubs and links to their calendars can be found below.
Race Schedules
The ORC Race Calendar 2024 has a very busy year planned with 2 World Championships, 3 Continental Championships, 4 National Championships, 17 International Events, and 4 Super Yacht events.
The CCA and RBYC are hosting the 53rd Newport to Bermuda Race in June.
The RORC 2024 Race Schedule has already commenced with the Transatlantic Race underway. There are 21 races remaining on the RORC calendar this year including the hugely popular Caribbean 600, North Sea Race, and Round Ireland Race.
US Sailing overseas national races and most club racing. Most of these schedules are available on local club websites.
The Storm Trysail Race Calendar includes 11 regattas hosted by various stations around the country, and the famous Block Island Race Week.
Training and Certifications
Once you determine your racing schedule and what the crew requirements are the next step is to check that your certifications are up to date.
There are three (3) primary certifications that are prudent for sailors.
World Sailing Categorization
Most races have requirements related to how many professional sailors you can have on board. The organization that determines Corinthian vs. professional status is World Sailing. Your categorization (formerly classification) is good for two years. Recently, World Sailing changed their login process and now requires an email and password. There are separate processes for those renewing their categorization and those applying for the first time.
The link for first time applicants takes you to the Sign Up Dashboard. Sailors who are renewing a prior categorization can go to the Log in page and follow the instructions, which differ for those who haven’t renewed since 2015.
It should be noted that you cannot renew your categorization prior to the current expiration date.
First Aid
First Aid is essential training for offshore racing or cruising. The maximum rescue distance for a helicopter is approximately 200 nautical miles. If an emergency were to arise on board having properly trained crew can be the difference between life or death.
The Red Cross offers a combined First Aid/CPR/AED course that includes on-line and in-person training. The certification lasts for two years. I arranged to have the in-person portion of the course offered at my yacht club which allowed us to spread the cost over about a dozen attendees. It’s more fun to take with friends, and nice to know the entire crew has the appropriate training.
More information about the Red Cross training is available here.
Another option is the Wilderness First Aid course which includes training for diagnostics, injury assessment and treatment, weather and survival skills.
The most inclusive course I’m aware of is the Offshore Emergency Medicine course offered by WildMed. This 36-hour maritime first aid course “prepares voyaging sailors and professional mariners to prevent and treat injuries and illnesses in the largest and most remote wilderness on earth.” At a cost of $995, it is the most expensive of the options; however, it is the most complete and only course geared specifically for ocean going sailors. More information can be found here.
Safety-at-Sea
In this sailor’s opinion, all sailors should have Safety-at-Sea training. Most races require at least 30% of the crew, but no less than 2 members of the crew, to be certified. Any experienced offshore sailor recommends that everyone going offshore should have current Safety-at-Sea training. In the States it’s fairly easy to get certified and your certification lasts 5 years.
It should be noted that there is a difference between Coastal and International Offshore Safety-at-Sea. The Coastal Course provides basic information that all sailors should know and is based on the ability to be reached by rescue services. The International Offshore Courses comply with the World Sailing Special Regulations. Certificates for both Coastal and Offshore Safety-at-Sea are issued by US Sailing.
Offshore Safety-at-Sea courses are a combination of on-line coursework offered by US Sailing and in-person training that was developed by the Cruising Club of America, the New York Yacht Club, The Sailing Foundation, and Storm Trysail Foundation.
A list of in-person courses that meet the requirements for the International Offshore Safety-at-Sea certification can be found on the US Sailing website by clicking here.
Storm Trysail offers one of the only on-the-water Safety-at-Sea courses. The course is offered in May each year. Registration is currently open and can be found here.
The Cruising Club of America offers International Offshore in-person training courses through several stations. More information and registration can be found here.
That should be enough for you to work on for now. See you in a few weeks with additional pre-season tips and other helpful sailing info!