Safety Boat Driver and Crew: Guidance and Information
It is mandatory that you complete the actions on the powerboat checklist before and after use. The checklist is attached to the steering wheel of each powerboat and is also displayed on all garage doors and immediately above the powerboat helm position when stored in the garage.
An electronic copy is available on the website via this link Safety boat checklist.
Additionally, when you are finished with the fuel store please read the notices inside the fuel store and if more than half of the fuel containers are empty then report as per the notices in the fuel store, or use the website contact page
Safety Boat Notes
- Bad Weather is a more challenging environment for Safety Boat skills and physical fitness - if you are not confident in the face of the weather conditions at the Club then alert the Race Officer.
- The Safety Boat can be cold and wet - Dress appropriately for your duty.
- The Safety Boat may need to respond very quickly to an emergency:
- Keep the boats in sight at all times.
- Don't stray from the Safety Boat.
- People before boats: if in doubt, leave the dinghy and attend another person in trouble elsewhere on the lake.
- Maintain your spatial awareness when recovering a person or boat: someone else may be in trouble elsewhere.
- Moor-up to save petrol if conditions permit.
- NO PROPELLERS near swimmers and boats. Hands-of the throttle. Person in the water nearby = engine off.
When moving marker buoys, please pull the rope and weight right up to the RIB hull. This is because:
- Dragging the weight drags up weed from the bottom of the lake which impedes racing.
- Dragging the weight can cut or tangle anglers lines, which means any fish on a hook when the body rope cuts the line are left with the hook and line attached, leading to a slow death.
Please try to locate buoys away from anglers casting area.
Please move buoys to the middle of the lake, or back to their normal position at the end of racing
Our Club's Safety Boat Policy document is here: SCSC Safety Boat Policy_Final.pdf
Safety Boat Skills & Drills
Here are some relevant videos on Safety Boat Skills
- Swanage Sailing Club Safety Training Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuMJ2ExA79k
- RYA Video for single-person safety boats which has some relevance to South Cerney's two-person Safety Boats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xny40ijRMnI
- Coming alongside, common method. https://jonmendez.co.uk/2022/11/03/how-to-dock-a-boat-coming-alongside-in-a-single-engined-rib/
Last updated 17:37 on 8 September 2024