Royal Yachting Association News

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has highlighted that, on average, crew have under 11 minutes to recover someone who has fallen overboard into cold water before they become unresponsive.An analysis of 20 accidents that occurred between 2017 and 2021 shows that the time decreases as the water becomes colder or the sea state rougher. In some cases, crew had just four or five minutes to coordinate a complex recovery.When examining the rate of successful recoveries…

New powerboats have been delivered to the UK Royal Navy’s Tyneside headquarters to improve seafaring training for reservists.HMS Calliope in Gateshead has taken delivery of two Gemini RIBs to take the unit’s volunteers out on to the water – part of an initiative to provide numerous Royal Naval Reserve bases around the UK with fast boats again, an idea first mooted three years ago.Following hundreds of hours of hard work, dedication and commitment, that vision is now reality.Given the increasing use of reservists in seagoing billets – such as the Gibraltar Squadron or fishery protection ships –

Theyr Ltd, a premium weather-forecasting provider, specializing in the maritime and wind energy sectors, announced today the launch of its Digital Precision Weather and Ocean Forecasting app for the professional mariner, GRIBview mobile. The revolutionary App delivers a level of weather and ocean forecasting accuracy previously unseen in the mobile market. GRIBview mobile provides free and unlimited GRIB downloads for GFS (Global Forecasting System) data at 1-degree resolution, as well as unlimited High-resolution data down to 1km resolution for exceptional accuracy. In addition, subscriptions to high-resolution premium weather data packages include wind speed, barometric pressure, precipitation, air temperature, sea surface temperature, significant wave height, period and direction.

In the continuing quest to harvest efficient, renewable energy from the power of the world’s tides, an organization called Sustainable Marine Energy’s announced that its PLAT-O tidal energy platform has successfully completed its first field trials. Despite the tremendous power and predictability of the world’s waves and tides, efforts to successfully build and bring to market a device to harness, store and transmit power in an efficient manner have been largely unsuccessful in the commercial sense.

Major revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (The STCW Convention) came into force in 2012. The “Manila Amendments - 2010” were adopted at a diplomatic conference at Manila, in the Philippines in 2010. These aim to establish a Global standard for Training and Certification of seafarers to ensure operation of technically advanced ships of the future. The Manila 2010 amendments include the introduction of modern training methodology such as Distance Learning and Web based training.

If there was ever a good reason to heed naval forces’ warnings about the continuing threat from Somali piracy, then an attack on a super tanker is surely one of them. A fully laden super tanker was attacked by eight armed pirates recently, 230 miles off the Somali coast, with the attack only being thwarted by the armed security team on board. Because of their vulnerability, it is highly recommended that all sailing yachts, under their own passage, should remain out of the High Risk Area (Southern Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean).

The EU Hybrid Marine (HyMar) Project - a collaborative research project led by the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) funded under the EU's Seventh Framework Research Program - will receive an award at the Royal Thames Yacht Club’s Mansura Trophy Awards Ceremony on March 21, 2013 at the Royal Thames Yacht Club. The primary aim of the HyMar project was to provide reliable and practical information about the effectiveness of marine hybrid propulsion in small craft. Extensive, practical testing of many different design concepts over the last three years has led to the development of a range of innovative technologies.

A Singapore welcome greeted the international fleet of 10 in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race as they sailed into Marina at Keppel Bay over the weekend to rousing cheers from Singaporeans, families and residents of Keppel Bay. Dr Lee Boon Yang, Chairman of Keppel Corporation, ignited the ‘Torch of Passion', starting the welcome celebrations for the fleet which had just completed Race 7, a 4,600-mile race from Gold Coast, Australia, to Singapore. At the ceremony, Guest-of-Honor Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, presented the Keppel-sponsored Singapore Cup to the winning team from Gold Coast Australia…

Dubai World Security (DWS), the security solutions arm of Dubai World, signed a memorandum of understanding with Bluesail, the Middle East’s leading maritime training company based in , to provide training to the DWS Marine Division. Under the agreement, Bluesail will develop and deliver a bespoke maritime training programme that will enhance and sharpen the skills and expertise of DWS’s marine security personnel and senior officers. Dubai World Security’s maritime activities are currently focused on ensuring the safety and security of the Nakheel waterfront and island developments such as The Palms and The World projects. The advanced…

At a hearing at Salisbury Crown Court, Mark Goodwin, a 25 year old Weymouth man pleaded guilty to riding his Yamaha Wave Runner in contravention of Section 58 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Prior to this the judge had been asked to rule on whether the Personal Watercraft was a ship in terms of the Merchant Shipping Act. In his ruling Mr Recorder A Davies QC concluded that it was indeed a ship and that the legislation applied. This prosecution followed a joint investigation by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Dorset Police Marine Section into a collision on Saturday 15 May 2004 off of Bowleaze Cove in Weymouth during which the rider of another Personal Watercraft, Paul Facer, also from Weymouth sustained serious head injuries.

For many years the M.C.A. approved Professional Yachtmaster Certification with STCW basic safety training is¬sued by IYT has been confused with the recreational Yachtmaster certification issued by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) in the U.K. As a result, the M.C.A. approved IYT to change the name of its “Professional Yachtmaster Certificates” on June 26. Changes include: the IYT Yachtmaster Coastal, will be known as “Master of Yachts 200 Tons” (Coastal); the IYT Yachtmaster Offshore will be known as “Master of Yachts 200 Tons” (Offshore); and the IYT Yachtmaster Ocean will be known as “Master of Yachts 200 Tons” (Ocean). The Master of Yachts courses will continue to require STCW Basic Training. There will be no changes with regard to sea time, standards or content.