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Important Safety Update for competitors

Author: Jo Bowden   Date: 14:41 Thursday 13 Jun 2024

In light of the anticipated strong winds for Saturday's race, we wanted to provide some clarification around the potential cancellation of fleets and highlight the responsibility of skippers in ALL fleets for the safety of their boat and crew.

As Race Organisers, we continue to work closely with our Race Meteorologists, Coastguard, RNLI and other support services on the planning for the Race, and any updates will be shown on the event website.

Race Safety Officer, Mark Southwell said: “We will only cancel fleets where there is a significant chance that the majority of the fleet could get into difficulties and risk injury to the crew, a situation that could quickly overwhelm the support services. For other fleets, with a wide range of crew experience and boat types, it is each skipper's sole responsibility to evaluate the capability of their crew and the suitability of their boat to handle the expected conditions (including wind and sea state) and make the decision as to whether their boat should take part."

Competitors are reminded of the Risk Statement (Section 16) included in the Notice of Race which says:

Tracking System Registration

Please remember that to comply with the Sailing Instructions, your boat needs to have at least one device onboard capable of tracking its position. It is essential that we can monitor the position of all boats throughout the race, so please follow the instructions on the event website here if you have not registered yet.

Race Briefing including weather briefing

Will take place at 18:00 on Friday 14 June in the Official Hospitality Venue on Cowes Parade (either on the stage or Crew Bar Marquee). It will be streamed live and recorded. See the event website.

Withdrawal and Retirements

It is very important that you let us know if you decide to withdraw from the Race or retire after starting.

  • In advance, please contact the Island Sailing Club: rir@islandsc.org.uk or 01983 296 621 (this phone will be manned until 20:00 on Friday 14 June and from 03:30 on Saturday 15 June)
  • On Race Day, simply use the automated declaration text system by sending "DNC" (Did not compete) or "RET" (Retired) to 02380 001 802.

Incident Telephone Line - 01983 249439

This is for enquiries about specific incidents (not for a competitor to report an incident on the racetrack). Available from 06:00 to 21:00 on Saturday 15 June.