There is a change to the Safety training requirements in San Francisco that I have been trying to encourage since 2008. Indeed I attempted to organise my own ISAF Sea Survival course in 2008 but couldn’t get it together due to lack of seed money.

The current one day US Sailing Safety at Sea seminars do not fulfill the ISAF training regulations as they are one day with no practical requirements. There are very few offered in the US by US Sailing that do comply with ISAF rules. They are two day courses with the hands on training which is documented in Appendix G see http://www.sailing.org/documents/special-regs.php and have been offered by US sailing since 2007 with the top up hands on aspect.

Having taken both courses (multiple times) the two day ISAF one is not only a lot of fun but incredibly instructive. Until you have jumped in the water with your lifejacket on and your foulies you will not know how hard it is to move with boots on and it will encourage you to stay on the boat if at all possible! Until you have looked at flares and set them off you will not know that they all set off in a different way and that there is a large recoil. Until you pull someone twice your weight into a liferaft you won’t know that it is possible with the correct technique. Have I persuaded you yet?

Under the auspice of San Francisco Yacht Club we will be offering a two say ISAF Sea Survival course one on 2-3rd June and one on 4-5th June. If you are interested please email me at amperrin@racingyachtmanagement.com