The Offshore Clubs Safety Conference was held at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron on the 22/23 November 2019. The conference created the opportunity for clubs to share their experiences and to ask questions and advice of each other in an open forum, as well as the ever-important network and support opportunities conferences like these create.

After a brainstorming session at the opening of the conference where the participants were asked what they felt was their main concerns were with safety in yacht racing, the occurring theme was the culture. What can we do to increase the culture of safety in yacht racing? Other themes arose; clipping on – does the behaviour of when to clip on need to change? Increased confidence to use the safety equipment as it is being updated as technology plays a greater part in what is available; communication between competitors during Cat 1 & 2 races; hull integrity and stability.
The conference was attended by clubs across Australian who host Category 1,2 and 3 races. Presenters were invited to speak on a range of topics with the focus being on Managing Risks/ Managing Incidents and Incident Reporting.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority very kindly came from Canberra to share their knowledge on Search and Rescue, AIS, EPIRBs MOBs, PLBs and the registering of these devices.

It was well received by all who attended with a view to reproduce the conference in a similar format at State level for the clubs who run Category 4 -7 races.