US Sailing Releases 2022 Safety Equipment Requirements for Nearshore, Coastal, and Ocean Racing
March 5, 2022
UNITED STATES— US Sailing released the 2022 Safety Equipment Requirements (SER) for nearshore, coastal, and ocean racing; the new requirements became effective on Jan. 1.
The requirements are a set of equipment requirements for larger boats taking part in nearshore, coastal, and ocean racing to provide racing authorities with clear safety equipment requirements.
The requirements were considered by the SER committee, a group of sailors from across the US who make a set of proposed changes for final approval by the Safety at Sea Committee, the Offshore Committee, and the US Sailing Board of Directors.
The latest updates have changes in monohull and multihull categories. Monohulls in the ocean category will need to stow a fire blanket adjacent to each stove. The multihull category underwent several changes to make it consistent with the monohull category; changes include instructions for boat owners to cooperate with investigations at events under the SER. The SER committee has the objective of meeting the needs of the US Offshore Community while maintaining compatibility with the World Sailing OSRs. There are four key ways the SERs and the OSRs differ.
- The SERs are easier for yacht owners and pre-race inspectors to understand.
- The SERs are self-contained and do not refer to external documents.
- The number of race categories has been reduced from seven to three: Nearshore, Coastal, and Ocean. Race organizers can then add or delete gear requirements based on the nature of their individual races.
- The SERs are more compact and can easily be included in their entirety in a Notice of Race or on a yacht club website.
US Sailing has uploaded the SERs in two formats: individual PDF files of the requirements for each category and an excel spreadsheet of the requirements, including instructions, an appendix, and a history of revisions. For a complete list of safety requirements, see the US Sailing website at https://bit.ly/3s8edPN.
