General Information

Mersea Sailing Challenge

Entry Open

The all new Mersea sailing challenge website is now open and ready to take entries at http://www.mersearegatta.com/booking

Please complete your entry and there is no fee.

Competitors must be fully paid up members of one of the following organisations Dabchicks Sailing club, Smack Association, Mersea Fishermans Open Boat Association, West Mersea Yacht Club

At this stage please enter your preferred class. We will be combining starts based upon the entry we have and these will be announced through the sailing instructions. Fundamentally there will be two committee boats one will run Keelboat classes and the other Dinghy and MFOB classes

For parents of younger children Please note that; If the helm is aged under 12 he or she must have competed in the outside or Optimist Gold fleet of Cadet Week 2019.

The schedule currently looks like this, but there remain a few things to finalise

The courses we are likely to use are;

• Keelboats from the 2020 combined sailing course card
• Dinghies, laid courses probably Triangle/Sausage (old Olympic)
• MFOBs Around the cans

The Mersea Sailing Challenge will make use of SailRacer's electronic tally and GPS tracking systems. Using the SailRacer App, everyone involved with event including sailors and volunteers, will electronically tally on when they arrive on-site and tally-off when they leave. Whilst afloat, all boats including those racing and those supporting the event will be tracked. This extensive use of technology will help the Organisers meet Covid19 guidelines for keeping records of who is on-site, with timestamps, to support any NHS Test and Trace requirements. The technology will help automate and support many of the tasks needed to run a large scale event, including safety, race management and results processing, reducing the number of people needed and helping with self distancing, particularly through remote operations where appropriate.

It is a requirement of entry that at least one member of the crew has a smartphone on board at all times when on the water, it is switched on, and they have sufficient battery life for the duration of the race plus 2 hours. This rule will be for all classes

Further Information

Government and Clubs Guidance

All competitors are expected to comply with Government guidance regarding health, social distancing and hygiene of them, their boat and their crew. That means competitors and others should follow social distancing guidelines. That good hygiene practices are in place, for their equipment and it is cleaned regularly It is clear that anyone who is symptomatic or suspects they have been exposed to the virus does not take part and remains at home.

Keelboats should comply fully with the combined club's safety notice. This includes a marine radio.

Large gatherings

Competitors and volunteers should continue to socially distance from those they do not live with wherever possible. Social interactions should be limited to a group of no more than two households (indoors and out) or up to six people from different households (if outdoors).

It is against the law for gatherings of more than 30 people to take place in private homes (including gardens and other outdoor spaces). Competitors using the dinghy parks and car parks should not gather and should maintain social distancing

As a consequence there will be no evening prizegivings and the bars and restaurants if open will not give any priority to competitors or volunteers in the event, sorry about that.

Even so we are sure we will find some innovative new ways both on and off the water to enjoy the racing, socialise with our fellow competitors without compromising the safety of both ourselves or others. Next milestone is to open the entries.

Thanks

Mersea Sailing Challenge committee

Last updated 15:42 on 11 August 2020