NORTH EAST SAILING SAFETY (NESS) UPDATE
(Revised 21st February 2006)

The Committee of NESS convened a meeting on 2nd February 2006 at Sunderland YC to revive NESS and the Sailing Safety Initiative that commenced in 2002.

Safety Officers from the member clubs voted to adopt: -

1) ORC Special Regulation CAT 3
The use of liferafts Strongly Recommended for all NECRA and Club Offshore and Overnight racing

2) ORC Special Regulations CAT 4 for all NECRA and Club inshore racing.

3) All Sports Boats will comply with ORC Special Regulation CAT 5 and the wearing of lifejackets will be mandatory.

In addition the wearing of lifejackets will be mandatory under the following conditions: -
Fog, hours of darkness, short handed racing,(two crew or less), wind strength Force 5 and above or when instructed by the Race Officer

Club Safety Officers will commence a programme of inspection of boats.

Yachts that meet ORC CAT 3/4 and Sports Boats that meet ORC CAT 5 will be issued with a valid Safety Certificate. The certificate will be valid for the current season and accepted by all other member clubs.

In the event that a boat does not meet the required standard a re-inspection will be convened at a mutually agreed time, (no later than 2 weeks). In the event that a boat does not meet the required standard at this time, the boat may forfeit the points achieved from the date of the first inspection and thereafter until compliance with the relevant category.

For information regarding ORC Special Regulations CAT 4 and 5, a link is in place from the NECRA website for owners to work from.

A list of boats that have been issued with a valid Safety Certificate will be recorded on the NECRA website.

Please note that these decisions have been further re-visited by the NESS Committee. The up to date regulations are now posted on the NESS page under their own heading.