20 replies to this topic

[amperrin]

I am currently organising under the SFYC auspice an ISAF Sea Survival course which will be held June 2 and 3 and a second one June 4 and 5. It will be held at the San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere. The maximum class size is set by ISAF at 20 people. This is a two day class taught by an ISAF instructor who we are bringing from the UK and will be taught as per Appendix G of the ISAF Offshore Special Regs (scroll down).

I am considering having him stay for another day to do a top up course mentioned on the ISAF website so people who are doing the US Sailing seminar next weekend will be able to 'top up' their training. In the next week we will get the cost nailed down but currently it is looking like $230 to include the required books etc. Please email me at amperrin@racingyachtmanagement.com with your interest as I am hoping the course will fill up quickly.

BTW this certificate is valid for 5 years and is what you will need if you wish to compete in offshore races outside the US i.e. Fastnet, Sydney Hobart etc. as they will not recognize the US Sailing Safety at Sea Seminar certificate unless an ISAF top up course has been taken.

[rgscpat]

I would think in the light of recent events that the course should be well attended.

[amperrin]

I would think in the light of recent events that the course should be well attended.

Already 50% booked and we announced it on Saturday. First come first serve so get your reservations in please so you aren't disappointed.

[CaptStarboard]

Question on this course... do ya'll do the pool practical like here in Australia? Jump in the pool in full boots, PDF, and foulies? put on PFD in the pool (damned near drowned myself the first time I did that one!), flip a liferaft, teabag people into said liferaft (alway put the two littlest to pull in the biggest!)... I assume so, as I read it certifies for the Hobart (which requires 50% of crew to have it)... but just curious as you have two different courses, and the "top up" course? Is the top up mainly the pool practical?

I required 100% of my crew to have SS Course, as I don't ever want their first time getting into a liferaft to be during a real emergency!

Cheers,
jT

[amperrin]

Question on this course... do ya'll do the pool practical like here in Australia? Jump in the pool in full boots, PDF, and foulies? put on PFD in the pool (damned near drowned myself the first time I did that one!), flip a liferaft, teabag people into said liferaft (alway put the two littlest to pull in the biggest!)... I assume so, as I read it certifies for the Hobart (which requires 50% of crew to have it)... but just curious as you have two different courses, and the "top up" course? Is the top up mainly the pool practical?

I required 100% of my crew to have SS Course, as I don't ever want their first time getting into a liferaft to be during a real emergency!

Cheers,
jT

This is the ISAF course complying with Appendix G so yes we are doing all of the above but instead of a pool it looks like we will be jumping in the local lagoon (a little chillier)!
Yes the top up is to take it from the US Sailing one day seminar to the ISAF Appendix regs which is the wet drill portion.

[amperrin]

Question on this course... do ya'll do the pool practical like here in Australia? Jump in the pool in full boots, PDF, and foulies? put on PFD in the pool (damned near drowned myself the first time I did that one!), flip a liferaft, teabag people into said liferaft (alway put the two littlest to pull in the biggest!)... I assume so, as I read it certifies for the Hobart (which requires 50% of crew to have it)... but just curious as you have two different courses, and the "top up" course? Is the top up mainly the pool practical?

I required 100% of my crew to have SS Course, as I don't ever want their first time getting into a liferaft to be during a real emergency!

Cheers,
jT

This is the ISAF course complying with Appendix G so yes we are doing all of the above but instead of a pool it looks like we will be jumping in the local lagoon (a little chillier)!
Yes the top up is to take it from the US Sailing one day seminar to the ISAF Appendix regs which is the wet drill portion.

Just to dissuade any fears if you take this course you will get a US Sailing Certificate and a ISAF certificate and will be on both US Sailing and ISAF databases as having completed the appropriate training as per appendix G.

[amperrin]

Per US Sailing's request we will not be offering a top up course only the two day courses. So email me at amperrin@racigyachtmanagement.com if you would like to do one of the two day courses at San Francisco YC that complies with Appendix G and gives you an ISAF cert valid for 5 years as well as a US sailing one valid for 5 years.

[Greyhawk (pka Catamount)]

Per US Sailing's request we will not be offering a top up course ...

Just curious, what reasoning did they give for this request?

[amperrin]

Per US Sailing's request we will not be offering a top up course ...

Just curious, what reasoning did they give for this request?

They were not comfortable with it being offered outside the normal US Sailing Safety at Sea seminar set up...

[amperrin]

We are full on 2-3 June course but have room on 4-5 June and have opened up another course on 6-7 June. So please email me at amperrin@racingyachtmanagement.com if you want to join the course.

[amperrin]

Bump
Still a few spaces on 4-5 June and 6-7 June courses.
We have a physical oceanoraphy professor from UCSF coming to give an hour long talk at each of the courses on Wave creation and dynamics concentrating on their interaction with continental shelves, shallow water and currents.

[Christian]

Ash - to bad about the timing or I would have been there.


Good initiative - hope others follow suit around the country.



It is a damn shame that USS does their own thing and not the ISAF version

[amperrin]

Ash - to bad about the timing or I would have been there.

Good initiative - hope others follow suit around the country.

It is a damn shame that USS does their own thing and not the ISAF version

We put 42 people through 3 courses and the instructor and I am exhausted! It went well with lots of great feedback. Even the pro sailors enjoyed it and learnt a bunch. I believe Dixie will be writing an article for SA about it. I am rushing to get things sorted to go out to Newport to race with the hubbards to bermuda.

[Christian]

Ash - to bad about the timing or I would have been there.

Good initiative - hope others follow suit around the country.

It is a damn shame that USS does their own thing and not the ISAF version

We put 42 people through 3 courses and the instructor and I am exhausted! It went well with lots of great feedback. Even the pro sailors enjoyed it and learnt a bunch. I believe Dixie will be writing an article for SA about it. I am rushing to get things sorted to go out to Newport to race with the hubbards to bermuda.

Great - I would strongly encourage you to share the feedback with USS - maybe could get them thinking about doing likewise instead of their lame SAS courses they do now.


Have fun with Bill and Will

[MR.CLEAN]

In SAS in Newport right now. Complete and total waste of time for anyone that stays current. This should be an online seminar with a certificate for medium races, and a full day practical should be required for major offshores.

The Multi-lecturer format encourages redundancy and inefficiency.

There is no air so it's about 95 degrees inside. Snoooozzzz

[titanuranus]

I would think in the light of recent events that the course should be well attended.

nah, they needed a navigation course

[pogen]

In SAS in Newport right now. Complete and total waste of time for anyone that stays current. This should be an online seminar with a certificate for medium races, and a full day practical should be required for major offshores.

The Multi-lecturer format encourages redundancy and inefficiency.

There is no air so it's about 95 degrees inside. Snoooozzzz

I don't know why USSailing just gives the "lite" version of the class -- why not offer the whole thing so that anyone taking the time off can also be qualified for non-US events like Fastnet, S2H, etc.

Also it seem that USSailing will not in future allow anyone to organize a full ISAF course outside of their monopoly?

Another lack is the medical classes that qualify as "Senior First Aid" in their eyes. See http://offshore.ussa...rtification.htm

I took a class from the Red Cross that qualified, and I guess it is good to know a bit of CPR, but the main emphasis was on use of the defibrillator and very short-term stabilization while waiting for the 911 responders to arrive.

Fortunately, the Pacific Cup waived this requirement this year -- as it was, it was an almost meaningless hoop to jump through.

[NautiGirl]

Out of curiosity, is there a reason USS's standards are so different (and lower) than ISAFs?

The ISAF course I took sounds far more comprehensive than the USS requirements. My Basic First Aid also doesn't meet the requirements, so I'm registered for a marine first aid course that's twice as long as a basic first aid course.

Is the issue that USS doesn't recognize the more advanced training for USS sanctioned races, that USS prevents folks from running the more in depth courses, or both.

Just asking because I really don't know (and my battery is almost dead so don't have time to research while I'm thinking of the question)

[Christian]

Out of curiosity, is there a reason USS's standards are so different (and lower) than ISAFs?

The ISAF course I took sounds far more comprehensive than the USS requirements. My Basic First Aid also doesn't meet the requirements, so I'm registered for a marine first aid course that's twice as long as a basic first aid course.

Is the issue that USS doesn't recognize the more advanced training for USS sanctioned races, that USS prevents folks from running the more in depth courses, or both.

Just asking because I really don't know (and my battery is almost dead so don't have time to research while I'm thinking of the question)

It is because 99.9% of US sailors never venture further than 25Nm from shore. It is, however, really shortsighted of USS to cater to the lowest common denominator

[NautiGirl]

Out of curiosity, is there a reason USS's standards are so different (and lower) than ISAFs?

The ISAF course I took sounds far more comprehensive than the USS requirements. My Basic First Aid also doesn't meet the requirements, so I'm registered for a marine first aid course that's twice as long as a basic first aid course.

Is the issue that USS doesn't recognize the more advanced training for USS sanctioned races, that USS prevents folks from running the more in depth courses, or both.

Just asking because I really don't know (and my battery is almost dead so don't have time to research while I'm thinking of the question)

It is because 99.9% of US sailors never venture further than 25Nm from shore. It is, however, really shortsighted of USS to cater to the lowest common denominator

But better to have too much knowledge than not enough, no?

If you're sailing in the US, do you have to take the USS course if you havd the ISAF one?

[Christian]

Out of curiosity, is there a reason USS's standards are so different (and lower) than ISAFs?

The ISAF course I took sounds far more comprehensive than the USS requirements. My Basic First Aid also doesn't meet the requirements, so I'm registered for a marine first aid course that's twice as long as a basic first aid course.

Is the issue that USS doesn't recognize the more advanced training for USS sanctioned races, that USS prevents folks from running the more in depth courses, or both.

Just asking because I really don't know (and my battery is almost dead so don't have time to research while I'm thinking of the question)

It is because 99.9% of US sailors never venture further than 25Nm from shore. It is, however, really shortsighted of USS to cater to the lowest common denominator

But better to have too much knowledge than not enough, no?

If you're sailing in the US, do you have to take the USS course if you havd the ISAF one?

Off course not