Sports boats preparing safety equipment for regattas can use some terrific resources freely available on the Australian Sailing website and get help from accredited Equipment Auditors.

Depending on the event, sports boats will invariably be racing under Special Regulations category 5, 6 or 7. In any case, the Special Regulations do apply to some degree and safety equipment is required to be carried on board. To help prepare the sports boat, owners could use:

1. The Special Regulations.
   Whilst a little old fashioned, reading the rules is a great place to start. The Special Regulations are here.
2. The Equipment Audit forms.
   Whilst these are not the actual rule, they are a essentially a check list that will walk you through the list of safety equipment to have on board. Find the Equipment Audit forms here.
3. An accredited Equipment Auditor.
   Australian Sailing's Equipment Auditors are trained and can assist you by checking your safety gear required by the Special Regulations and spot anything that needs changing, adding or improvement. Search for an Equipment Auditor here.
4. Online Learning.
   There is a you beaut, freely available, online course about Equipment Auditing for the Special Regulations and these race categories. By doing the course you not only learn how to check your sports boat's safety gear under the Special Regulations, but you can help others in your fleet and club. It only takes a couple of hours. Do the Equipment Auditor - Club Level Online Course here.

Having the right safety gear on board is an important part of sailing. Do the right thing.

The Safety Hub is here.
CBH rating information for Sports boats is here.

By Glen Stanaway