At present rule 46 has a prescription that after three races any crew shall also be a club member; and that Australian Sailing was reviewing the requirement.

From 1 January 2021 the Australian Sailing prescription to the rule will require that all crew of any race are members of an affiliated club and registered with Australian Sailing.

Competitors’ membership of clubs and registration with Australian Sailing has for a long time been a major strategic priority for the sport of sailing. The need for competitors to be members of clubs and registered with Australian Sailing is connected to helping clubs maintain their strength and sustainability, manage their liability risk, and provide personal insurance protection.

These strategic priorities are completely compatible and in line with the priorities of any given club. Clubs want competitors to respect membership and if not be a member with them, support the network of clubs and become a member elsewhere.

When publishing the RRS in 2016, Australian Sailing informed clubs (in the rule itself) to note that it was reviewing these requirements and to expect changes to be made requiring that all crew of any race to be members of an affiliated club and registered with Australian Sailing.

Since that time revSport has been successfully adopted as a database solution, and SailPass has been rolled out nationally and enthusiastically taken up by many clubs. The latter provides flexibility for clubs to make competitors members for any suitably appropriate terms. Introductory membership under SailPass is membership of a club and provides for registration of the crew with Australian Sailing.

This is to say:
a) Advance notice of the change (now approved) has been published for the past four years, and
b) The systems used for club membership and registration with Australian Sailing are ready for the change.

We know that compliance with the rule requiring club membership is rarely a problem in off the beach racing or top-level keelboat events. The challenges with enforcement of the rule in other segments has always been there and unfortunately remains unchanged unless clubs actively promote membership.

The impact on race officials will be negligible. The only change is that rather than crew having the three ‘free races’, they now have to be members for all races.

To answer any further questions you may have on the changes to Rule 46, we have created a list of FAQ’s which will give you information on what SailPass is, how it integrates with clubs and how it can benefit casual racing. You’ll find it here https://www.sailing.org.au/news/faq-changes-to-rule-46/ 

For further information please contact glen.stanaway@sailing.org.au