The electronic equipment required by the Special Regulations has been updated correcting the requirements for alternative communications and emergency antenna.

From 1 July 2021 category 1 and 2 races offer the carriage of a sat phone or HF radio. The Special Regulations have been corrected to address an error in 3.25.5 that required a second antenna for certain races.

Boats may instead carry either a second antenna or another means of maintaining that form of communication. This is particularly relevant to satellite phone setups that use a dome antenna and carrying a spare antenna may not be a practical or cost effective solution.

Handheld GPS requirements under Special Regulation 4.11 have also been corrected to allow for either spare batteries or alternative means of recharging the device.

The Special Regulations can be found at https://www.sailingresources.org.au/safety/specialregs/

By Glen Stanaway https://www.sailing.org.au/about/ourstaff/