1. Guidance for RBYC Cadets Safety Boat Drivers and Crew
Royal Burnham Yacht Club CADETS
Saturday 13th May 2017

2. The aims of today … What is it … What it is not …
Provide guidance for drivers and crew of a safety boat operating in familiar waters at the Royal Burnham Yacht Club
To cover all aspects of safety boat operation or to teach you how to drive and crew a safety boat.
If you want to learn more, you should read RYA publication G16, ‘Safety Boat Handbook’, which comes with a DVD, and covers everything from mark laying to the rescue of different types of craft.
If you haven’t already done so, RYA Powerboat Level 2, THEN use it, gain experience – and do RYA Safety Boat

3. THANK YOU … Your role is essential, as without safety boat cover,
no Cadet racing or training can take place.
Giving up your time to man a safety or support boat is greatly appreciated by the club and those who are then able to participate.

4. We are providing you with a lethal weapon
Just one thing to remember throughout this session and every time you step in a powerboat …
We are providing you with a lethal weapon
Treat it with the respect it deserves
Learn your skills
If you are unhappy with a situation,
PULL THE KILL CORD

5. Key information for club boats
The two RBYC ribs – bought through RB Cadet Fundraising and maintained through proceeds from RBYC Sea School and the RBYC, are for use by the following, in order of priority:
RBYC Cadet events/training
RBYC Sea School
Informal use for RBYC Cadets support
Use by other RBYC classes or associated groups for events
Use by individual members of the RBYC (by arrangement)
Requests for use of RIBs through Lizzie Brown

6. Where it is all kept?
When not ‘in use’, the RIBs will be kept in Yardleys Shed (code 1615) and launched following liaising with Lizzie Brown.
If RIBs are ‘in use’, they will either be kept on the pontoon or on a mooring; keys should be kept in their canister/bag in the Sailing Office. When the RIBs are not in use, the keys will be kept in secure cabinet. Likewise for VHF radios.
Fuel is stored in the secure Fuel Store (code 1812). The combinations for the gates to the dinghy park are 1171 (car park) and 1072 (sea wall).
There is a maintenance programme for the ribs – please see Lizzie Brown or Dawn Smith
WE ALSO RELY ON MEMBERS FOR THE USE OF THEIR BOATS FOR FURTHER SUPPORT OF OUR EVENTS – WITHOUT THESE, WE COULDN’T RUN THE RBYC CADET SECTION …

7. The Essentials Two persons on board One adult, other at least 16
Driver min RYA PB2 (or under supervision), full member of club
VHF qualified
Suitable clothing and buoyancy aid (if you need to enter water)
Work together, think position in boat, keeping proper look out, not blocking view

8. Arriving for duty Launching rib (check what needs doing)
Arrive one hour before
Take a briefing from Race Officer, coach or safety officer for Cadet Week
See Safety Management Plan
Special marks
Be afloat and on station prior to any dinghies being launch

9. Boat Preparation Which boat?
Collect keys, yellow first aid bag, white canister in lead boat
Carry your own knife
Check paddles, anchor and lines on board
Check fuel
Lower and start engine – and test kill cord
If you break down whilst on station, call the Race Officer (or Safety Officer during Cadet Week) on M1 or 37A. If possible tie up to a mooring buoy, or drop the anchor.

10. Safety Boat Equipment Check List
Fire extinguisher
Paddle
Distress flares (2 orange smoke, 2 pinpoint red, or 2 day/night flares) – lead boat only
Sharp knife, preferably serrated (the expectation is you carry your own knife)
Tow rope
Waterproof first aid kit containing (minimum) 2 large wound dressings, 2 medium wound dressings and triangular bandages
Spare killcord
Abandoned Boat Marker tape

11. Getting Under Way
The driver should ALWAYS wear the kill-cord whenever the engine is running.
Please remember that this is the easiest way to stop your engine, and if you are in any doubt – use it to stop the engine.
Switch on the VHF –generally M1 or 37A.
HAVE YOUR RADIO WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY HEAR AND USE IT!
Radio check and say you are on station
Please do not exceed 3 knots or create wash
The speed limit in the moorings is 8 knots.

12. When on Station Keep a good lookout at all times.
Lay marks but be prepared to abandon mark laying if assistance is required
Keep a look out for large commercial vessels
Keep a look out for other river users that may cause a hazard to the sailors
Stay well clear of the start line
Stay ‘outside’ the course area
Stay upwind in your zone – it is always easier to attend a situation quickly going downwind rather than upwind

13. During the Race Keep a good look out over the whole fleet
You will have been given an area to supervise – front of fleet, back, or zone around a mark of the course
Please keep to your area, and if you come ‘off station’ for any reason, communicate.
If asked to be lead boat, stay well ahead of the lead boats and proceed no faster than the dinghies are sailing. As you go through the start /finish line at the end of the first lap peel away and leave the dinghies to race.
The Race Officer may ask you to notify the race fleet of a change of course.
If there is more than one race, the Race Officer may change the course between races, so be prepared to reposition special marks.

14. At the back of the fleet!
You may be asked to offer some coaching to the back of the fleet (streamers on sails)
Do not coach those you have not been asked to coach. If you feel there is a sailor who needs assistance, but this would not give them an unfair advantage, ask for permission.
The Race Officer may also ask you to finish a very slow boat that is trailing a long way behind the rest of the fleet.
You are not part of the race management. This means that you cannot tell competitors that they have infringed rules or act as an on water judge, unless specifically asked to do so by the Race Officer.

15. Bringing boats into the pontoon
If you are the person on the pontoon, please take the painter of the rib, not the boats being towed
ALWAYS TAKE A TURN around a cleat
At the end of sailing
When all dinghies ashore
Pick up any buoys
Ask if tallied and then permission to stand down

16. Packing-up The Boat Secure to pontoon or mooring.
bow and stern lines plus springs if mooring alongside the pontoon.
If using a mooring, please use two bow lines, preferable ‘one high, one low’.
Switch off the engine and put the keys and kill-cord back into the cylindrical box or bag.
Raise the outboard (however, if leaving alongside for short amount of time – leave engine down)
Buoys in shed
REPORT any issues
The RIBs should not be left in the water for more than one week
Once a RIB is retrieved, the boat and trailer to be washed down thoroughly, engine flushed through and returned to Yardleys shed.
Where possible, hatches and seat should be left open.
The expectation is that if you use the rib, you will help to retrieve them from the water and put them away … it’s all part of the volunteering role!

17. Emergency Action Plans
Safety Management Plan/Risk Assessment with Crouch Harbour Authority.
Circulated to other club
Make yourself familiar with it
Request a copy

20. Safeguarding – we have a policy – it is on the website and the board, but here is a Good Practice Guide
Avoid spending any significant time working with children in isolation
Do not take children alone in a car, however short the journey
Do not take children to your home as part of your organisation’s activity
Where any of these are unavoidable, ensure that they only occur with the full knowledge and consent of someone in charge of the organisation or the child’s parents
Design training programmes that are within the ability of the individual child
If a child is having difficulty with a wetsuit or buoyancy aid, ask them to ask a friend to help if at all possible
If you do have to help a child, make sure you are in full view of others, preferably another adult
Restrict communications with young people via mobile phone, or social media to group communications about organisational matters. If it’s essential to send an individual message, copy it to the child’s parent or carer.
You should never:
engage in rough, physical or sexually provocative games
allow or engage in inappropriate touching of any form 
allow children to use inappropriate language unchallenged, or use such language yourself when with children
make sexually suggestive comments to a child, even in fun
fail to respond to an allegation made by a child; always act
do things of a personal nature that children can do for themselves.

21. Bringing Someone On Board
Approach (crew calls you in) and switch off the engine
Check for loose lines
Best method for bringing a person on board? You decide
Once in boat, keep them warm (think windchill) and get them ashore
You can abandon the dinghy (red/white tape), but let the team know

22. First aid – cold and others
Injuries are generally best treated ashore. Carry out only immediate first aid on the water, for example to stem bleeding while quickly bringing the casualty ashore.
Do not try to right the boat. Notify the Race Officer or Coach (or Safety Officer) if you are taking a casualty ashore. They will assess and either notify shore themselves, or ask you to do so when you are closer, depending on the seriousness of the situation. In a major emergency, follow the Safety Management Plan flow chart, whereby other emergency services will be notified.

23. Coming alongside a dinghy whilst it is sailing
Communication with the sailor is key – let them know to hold their course
Crew to ‘call in’ driver
Approach from windward, do not let the dinghy ‘cross your bow’
Crew to hold dinghy alongside (engine behind the dinghy)
Maintain upwind or close hauled direction
Daggerboard up

24. Approaching a Capsize
ALWAYS, your first priority is the safety of the person(s) in the water.
When approaching a capsized dinghy ensure that you can see the sailor(s) who were on board. ‘Count heads’.
Entrapment is the biggest risk
Once you are satisfied that the dinghy crew are safe, remain standing-off while they right the boat.
They need to have their sheets uncleated, kickers off and spinnaker stowed, and check they are back in their boat
If they are struggling, make a judgement call but remember, your assistance is the end of their race
Safety boat driver is between himself/herself between any people in the water and the outboard motor. Work with propeller away from people
If you need to assist, “walk” your way down the mast (forestay)
If inverted, lift bow
Watch out for sail catching the wind as it rights

25. Righting a capsized boat
Sometimes the dinghy sailor just cannot get the boat to right and the sail lies on the water surface or just below.
If just capsizes, lift the mast to beak the surface tension
If inverted, or concerned about entrapment, lift the bow – THIS SHOULD BE DONE WITH THE ENGINE STOPPED
You can manoeuvre the dinghy so that its sail is broadside on to the tide. The tide will then assist lifting the mast and sail towards the surface.

26. Mast impaled into seabed
Always pull the dinghy mast out of the river bed the same way it went in. Pulling in the wrong direction can only make matters worse and you risk badly damaging the boat!
If there is room to manoeuvre continue to pull the dinghy in the same direction until you are in deeper water. Always take care when working close to a lee shore. Do not allow yourself to be drifted on to a lee shore.

27. Towing
You may be called upon to tow one or more dinghies to and from a training area or you may have to tow one or more a dinghies back to the shore that cannot make their way under their own power. How you do this will depend on weather conditions, the size of boat being towed, the number of boats to be towed, etc.
Most dinghies should have a suitable painter, but be prepared to use your lines
Lasers will use their mainsheets
TAKE A TURN
Only tie off a line if you really have to

28. Towing line astern
A good way to tow a number of boats some distance or to and from the training area but manoeuvrability and control can be difficult in anything other than a straight line unless the towed boat is steered - especially in heavier seas (only the last boat in a line of boats should be steered).
It is preferable for them to take your tow line (if you have one) so that they can let go quickly and easily.
If towing using the boats’ painters, you can tie around the base of each boat’s mast, however, you are always loading the boat next to the safety boat
You need to be careful when slowing down so that the towed boat does not run into the stern of the safety boat.

29. Towing Optimists
An Oppie does not have any attachment points for towing. The painter must be used. Only ever tow an optimist by the painter.
If sailors are not left in their craft, remove the dagger boards and replace with the rudder to provide directional stability. Mast and sail should be removed and loosely rolled in the boat. Use the main sheet to ensure they don't come out.
If sailors stay in the boats then masts can be left up, and sailors should maintain sufficient pressure in the sail to prevent flogging.
For towing a line of optimists where painters should be 8 metres long, use a bowline in the end of each painter. The weight is then distributed through the line. Alternatively, use a loop just forward of the bow.

30. Towing a dinghy on its side
This method works very well with Toppers when the safety boat is a RIB. Simply pull the mast down and lay it over the tube and seat, keeping the hull close to the tube. Quick and easy to set up, it provides good directional control and it is quick to release once your destination is reached. It is possible to put one boat either side of the safety boat but not recommended.
This is also the same method used for “towing” windsurfers
IF YOU CAN, always turn into the wind

31. Carrying an Optimist
As an Optimist is a small square boat that can be de-rigged fairly quickly, you can lift it aboard the safety boat and rest it across the safety boat on the tubes. It is possible to stack a second Oppie on the first (but not recommended unless in an emergency) but two should be the limit to avoid damage.

32. Towing alongside
Towing alongside gives the greatest manoeuvrability in tight spaces and for a quick fix pickup
Get the sailors to help – take the painter around the bollard on the front of the rib. Springs and other lines can be used later
Outboard must be astern of the boat being towed.
This method can also be used to tow two boats - one each side of the safety boat.
IF YOU CAN, always turn into the wind

33. Safety Boat Notes for Optimists
Although a relatively simple boat, there are some things that safety crew need to be aware of - particularly if they are not used to Optimists.
It is recommended that you look at a race-rigged and club boat before you launch on safety duty.
When an Optimist capsizes it will ALWAYS invert. And very quickly! A small sailor may require assistance to get back on the hull and to right the boat.
The bailing system on an Optimist in manual (the sailor has to do it!). Sometimes if a boat has nosedived or after a capsize a small/tired sailor may not be able to bail quickly enough to get the boat moving again. Hold them alongside the safety boat and help them to bail and regain confidence.

34. Some Key Facts
The mainsheet is attached to the boom by a quick release shackle (race oppies – GBR sail number) On club oppys (coloured sail) this is a standard shackle.
The sprit is held up by an uphaul on the front of the mast. It is held by a jamming cleat. There should be a handle on the end of the line for ease of use. Release the uphaul, remove the sprit. This depowers the sail quickly.
The kicker is a wire strop attached around the boom, with approx 2 feet of 6mm cord, which passes through a jamming cleat on the aft side of the mast. It should just pass through the jam cleat (on the mast) passing bottom to top. Some sailors have extended kickers that allow the cord to pass over the boom.

35. The mast is always attached to the boat
The mast is always attached to the boat. This is a) so that it doesn't get lost when it capsizes; b) so that it doesn't break the thwart because the foot has come out of the mast cup. There is a small deck cleat on the thwart immediately forward of the mast: this is used to attach a line around the mast above the kicker cleat.
Most racing Oppies will also have a mast clamp. This fits under the thwart, as high as possible to minimize lift. It will normally be attached to the deck cleat by a thin line. The clamp end is attached to the release lever of the clamp. Pull it to release the clamp, which can then be undone and removed. The mast is then free to be lifted clear of the boat. Do NOT attempt to lift a mast with the sail full of wind. It WILL overpower you and break the thwart!
If there is time, please remove the sail from the mast, and roll it around the boom before towing in - they cost around £400 each, and a fast tow ruins the sail if it is left to flog.

36. Let’s go afloat - Objectives
To have practiced coming alongside a dinghy whilst sailing, and put in alongside tow
To practise bow to bow situation
To recover a person from the water
To assist in righting an inverted boat

37. Debrief