Send email to Paul Kamen, Tahiti Cup inspection coordinator.

Tahiti Cup Inspections

To: Tahiti Cup Racers

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.

TAHITI CUP 1995
INSPECTION PREPARATION CHECKLIST

 
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.

TAHITI CUP 1995
INSPECTION CHECKLIST

 
 
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