From: Inspection Committee
The sailing instructions for the 1995 Tahiti Cup require compliance with the 1995 "Offshore Racing Council Special Regulations Governing Minimum Equipment and Accommodations Standards" for "Category 1" races. The Offshore Racing Council is an international body closely associated with the IYRU (International Yacht Racing Union), and these standards have been accepted by USS (United States Sailing) with only a few modifications. These are the standards that are applied for most major ocean races throughout the world.
Compliance with ORC category 1, as adopted by USS and amended by the race instructions, along with passage of the pre-race inspection, does not necessarily insure that the yacht is fully equipped or adequately prepared. However it does help to prevent any one competitor from gaining an unfair advantage by omitting certain equipment or procedures that are considered important for safety at sea.
Some of the ORC requirements may seem like overkill, but keep in mind that these standards evolved after many years of hard-won and at times tragic experience. The ORC is very much cognizant of the expense and inconvenience involved in compliance with some items, and goes to considerable effort to keep the standards as reasonable as possible and relevant to modern design and sailing practice. Even so, you will probably find several items that you consider redundant, ineffective, unnecessary, or too epensive to justify. Please do not take these standards lightly. Nearly every item has proven crucial to the survival of at least one yacht at some time in the past, and is likely to be important again. Compliance with all items is not optional, but is a required condition for participation in this event.
Also keep in mind that this is far from a complete list. Many additional items not required by ORC or the Race Instructions may still be necessary for a safe and pleasant ocean crossing, and this list cannot replace the skill and experience of the skipper and crew in preparing the vessel for sea.
The attached checklist summarizes the ORC requirements for a category 1 event, as modified by the Tahiti Cup race instructions. It also gives instructions for preparing the boat for a quick and efficient inspection.
The boat should be prepared for inspection as follows: _____Lockers, removable joiner work, and cushions that obstruct visual access to through-hulls and tanks open or removed. _____Small portable equipment required to be onboard should be out on display, not stowed in lockers. _____Liferaft, overboard gear, and lifesling set up and installed as for the race. _____Manual bilge pump handles in place, ready to operate the pumps. Sufficient water in the bilge to demonstrate both manual bilge pumps for several minutes of operation. _____The trysail and the storm jib bent on and set. _____The emergency steering rudder in place and ready to demonstrate. Be prepared to leave the dock under power to demonstrate the effectiveness of the emergency steering arrangements in smooth water. _____If possible, a crew or assistant should be present (in addition to owner/skipper or owner/skipper's representative) to help with the inspection. _____Fill out your own inspection form in advance to help identify deficiencies before the date of the official inspection. The inspection will go a lot smoother and quicker if the boat is properly prepared. Remember that the inspector is a volunteer. This can be a time- consuming process, and if a re-inspection is required, it will be scheduled for a time and location at the inspector's convenience. So please make every effort to have all major items taken care of at the time of the initial inspection.
Boat Name ________________________ Boat Type _________________________
Owner/Skipper _________________________ Number of Crew __________
Inspected at _________________ by _________________ date _______________
General features, rigging and on deck:
_____Two halyards per mast
_____Two hatches, watertight, hatches fwd of max. beam open outward
_____Companionway blockable to shear line without restricting access
_____Hatch board securing arrangement operable from both sides
_____Hatch boards secured by lanyards
_____Cockpit volume within limits (6.23)
_____Cockpit self-draining: 4 - 3/4" D. drains or equiv. (6.25)
_____Lifelines (6.61-62):
24" above deck, lower wire 9" above deck
5/32" (under 43' LOA) or 3/16" (over 43')
Less than 2" deflection under 11 lb. load.
_____1" toe rail around foredeck
_____Jack-lines (must be clipable from companonway)
_____Padeyes for harness tethers
_____Topping lift or supporting vang
_____Steering compass
Heavy Weather Sails:
_____Storm trysail
_____Storm jib (65% hoist, 30% area, as per 10.21.2)
_____Heavy weather jib (80% area, as per 10.21.3)
_____Means of attaching jib to stay, other than headfoil
_____Sail number on main _______________
Emergency Steering Equipment
_____Emergency tiller
_____Emergency rudder or other means of steering
_____Demonstrated effectiveness Date of demo_______________
Overboard Gear:
_____Overboard pole, drogue, light, whistle (11.52)
_____Lifesling with attached light, installed
_____Heaving line (50 ft. 1/4" floating line)
_____Annual person-overboard practice Date of practice_______________
Liferaft:
_____Liferaft (11.4) Manufacturer____________________ capacity_________
_____LIferaft inventory Model_______________ serial no._________________
_____Liferaft certificate Serviced by__________________ date_________
_____Name on liferaft or attached to painter
General Features, Interior:
_____Head
_____Stove
_____Galley
_____Mast step secured to structure (if keel stepped mast)
_____Hand holds
"Ship systems" and tankage:
_____Starting battery
_____Shutoff valves on all fuel tanks
_____Valves on all through-hulls (with exceptions, 6.51)
_____Wood plugs (preferably attached to through-hulls)
_____Water tanks, two independent tanks with pumps
_____Two fire extinguishers
_____Manual bilge pump, operable from inside
_____Inside pump operation test
_____Manual bilge pump, operable from outside
_____Outside pump operation test
_____Lanyards on bilge pump handles
_____Two anchors
_____Navigation lights (9.8)
_____Emergency navigation lights, separate power source (10.1)
Signal Flares:
_____12 SOLAS red parachute flares Exp. date__________
_____4 SOLAS red hand flares Exp. date__________
_____4 white hand flares Exp. date__________
_____2 SOLAS orange smoke flares Exp. date__________
Water on Board:
_____Water, 30 gallons per crew for _____ crew = _________ gallons required
Tank #1 __________ gallons
Tank #2 __________ gallons
_____ containers of _____ gallons each = __________ gallons
_____ containers of _____ gallons each = __________ gallons
_____ containers of _____ gallons each = __________ gallons
total = __________ gallons
_____Sealed emergency water:
2 gallons per crew for _____ crew = __________ gallons
Electronics:
_____VHF with channels 6, 16, 68, 71, 72
_____VHF emergency antenna
_____Waterproof hand-held VHF (or portable with purpose-built bag)
_____SSB radio
_____Req'd freqs: 2182, 4146(4A), 8294(8A), 8297(8B), ITU 816(8240/8764)
_____Emergency SSB antenna
_____EPIRB (in add. to EPIRP packed with raft, if any) Exp. date__________
EPIRB registration (if 406 EPIRP) Reg. No.__________
_____Weather radio
_____RDF or other automatic position-finding device
_____Depth sounder (or lead line)
_____Speedometer or distance measuring equipment
Misc. Equipment:
_____Two buckets
_____Flashlights, including waterproof and signaling flashlights
_____First aid kit and manual
_____Foghorn
_____Radar reflector (12" diameter)
_____Spare compass
_____Charts, Light list, plotting equipment
_____Sextant, tables, timepiece
_____Name on misc. buoyant equipment
_____Lifejackets, one per crew, type I or inspected inflatable
_____Whistle attached to lifejackets
_____Reflective material on lifejackets
_____Harness, one per crew, shackle at harness end (11.2)
_____Tools and spare parts, including method of disconnecting rigging
_____Banding Tool