The appointment of a Technical Committee at the Australian Yachting Championships, in Newcastle, was very well received by the competitors. The Technical committee was made up of 3 volunteers each with IRC/ORC measuring qualifications while one member was also a National Equipment Auditor.

The technical committee created a check list prior to the event with the intention of checking each yacht. Unfortunately, the adverse weather conditions prevented this, however they did manage to check most of the competing yachts. The check list was designed to enable minimal disruption for the yachts preparing for the event. The check list included checking that ‘black bands’ were correctly in place on both mast and boom.  The committee were surprised to find several boats missing the outer band on their boom, they had tape on hand so were able to measure and mark where the bands should be.

The committee checked the sails that yachts intended to race with, matched their rating certificate.  The measurement stickers on each of the sails were checked to confirm they were legal.  Once again there were a few sails that were found not to be carrying their stickers. With a sail measurer at the event this was soon remedied.

Whilst carrying out these rating measurement checks the National Equipment Auditor carried out some basic safety checks too. Was the correct first aid kit on board? Was the boat carrying both an anchor and its spare? These physical checks were carried out prior to the event so boats had time to make the corrections required prior to racing without any penalty, and to ensure fair racing for all.

During the event the committee would do a walk along the dock to ensure all sails that were meant to be on board were.  Boats were also required to submit to the committee any crew or gear changes that needed to be undertaken during the event.  This is a practice that is widely known about and done well in dinghy events but seems to be missed with yachts.

The overall response to the committee’s presence and actions was positive with competitors feeling that it evened the playing field, ensuring boats were sailing correctly against their rating, with both crew numbers and sail suite.

RRS 92 talks about appointing a Technical Committee.
The ORC has produced a technical Q&A document, which can be read here.

By Melanie Peasey