Equipment Required

[Rick D]

Just got a note from SoCal PHRF to the effect they were abandoning their own equipment lists and deferring to US Sailing's. (However, clubs and events may have their own equipment lists for regattas.) Anyhow, I'll post a link below. It's interesting to those who race but also may be of interest for those who cruise. For me for example, if I had to conform to US Sailing's list for "US Coastal" , I would have to change lifelines, replace one VHF radio with a DSC equipped one and my handheld with the same, replace my radar reflector with a different type, obtain SOLAS parachute, handheld and smoke flares, get a Lifesling, replace the life vests with ones with leg straps, replace my EPIRB with one having an internal GPS, and a few other things that I've forgotten. Could get pricey! I doubt most SoCal races including distance will be sailed under US Sailing's equipment list, however. Here's the link. Makes for some interesting browsing:
http://offshore.ussailing.org/Assets/Offshore/SAS/US+SER+Categories+2014+2.pdf

 

[shemandr]

Uhm. I don't think I can blame the So Cal PHRF for punting to the US Sailing's safety list. It's a sign of the times. Why not conform to the larger more vetted rules? To go outside those is like asking for liability.
Club level races would probably operate under the "Near Shore" category, which is basically the USCG minimum with MOB drills.
Near Coastal, as Rich has pointed out, is a bit more onerous. But other than the Safety at Sea Seminar, which is good but maybe overkill, it's mostly what other organizations are asking for. For instance the flashlights, buckets, manual pumps, flares, etc.
In our season finale Whitebread Regatta we've had MOB situations, and even on Wed. PM racing so … * happens. One one wants a tragedy.

 

[PaulK]

If people would just stop running into islands and drowning, maybe the race organizers wouldn't feel like the old rules were insufficient. If organizers don't require things to be safer than they were, the USCG may simply stop all racing in an area - as they did for a short while already - by not issuing permits.

 

[Kings Gambit]

If they can't find you; they cannot rescue you!

I've noticed for more than 25 yr of recreational boating that quite a number of people who call for assistance can not tell the coasties, or Vessel Assist, where they are. How many times have I heard in response to that question: "I can see the dome." Or, "I can see the Don Caesar [hotel]?" May as well say "I can see Pt. Loma" or "... the Pt. Vicente light." If you're carrying a DSC VHF with GPS data and push the big RED DISTRESS button; maybe you can be found. If that fails b/c you're not transmitting, then a big red parachute flare and a hand-held version of the VHF will help even if you cannot give the position. With a crotch strap, maybe you won't slip out of your life vest when you hit the water at dusk at the very first time the thing has been deployed with you in it. All it takes to be a "skipper" is enough money to buy a boat that can get underway. If you take an on-line "certification" test, you might prove you know which side of a channel marker to pass traveling on the ICW, etc. That's about it. If racing sailboats in organized programs, somebody has to make high enough standards of equipment and skill so the rest of us aren't shut down for the sailing anarchists who don't want rules, but still want to be rescued, etc.