Joining RIB Safety Squad

With our expanded race calendar there’s plenty of opportunity to help support the club and Plymouth Sailing.

We routinely need three RIBs on the water, each with 2 crew onboard.

Captain’s beards are optional

Role of the safety boat:

• Escort boats from their launch point out to the start area.
• Lay marks as needed – including windward and start line buoys.
• Provide safety cover to boats needing assistance.
• Manage racing boats versus general traffic. This includes everything from feisty fishing boats to nucleur submarines.

We’re looking for regular RIB crew and also active sailors who can be on the safety boat rosta from time to time. You will get average points for any races you miss.

RIB Pilot – What does it take:

Even if you’re not Maverick or Ice Man you should be able to drive a RIB. There’s a wheel just like on a car or expensive lawnmower and a lever for fast or slow, just like on a jet fighter but with a (slightly) lower top speed.

A spell at Corinthian RIB school will give you the skills, practice and qualifications you’ll need to become a Safety RIB pilot or crew.

A hard day working on the tan.

If you’ve spent any time driving a boat under power or sail you should find it pretty straight forward. If you’re a sailor you’ll certainly know how to assist another sailor needing your help.

If you have no boating experence at all, being RIB safety crew is a great way to get started on the water.

Certification

RIB Crew need a RYA Powerboat Level 2 – this is a standard boat handling certficate. The RIB helm may exit the boat to assist a sailor and the crew will need to be able to take command of the RIB.

RIB Helm will need an RYA Safety Boat ticket – This course covers the specific safety techniques for assisting sailing boats in trouble. Powerboat Level 2 is a pre-requisite for this course but if you have RIB driving experience can be bundled with the Safety Boat training.

Chatterboxes get two radios.

RPCYC RIB School

If you’d like to sign up for RIB squad but need to get certified, we’re looking at 2 weekends between now and Christmas.

If you can commit to regular RIB duty RPCYC will cover the costs of training and certification.

If you’d like to get certified and just help out when you can, then the costs won’t be high and Jon will confirm the package once we have numbers.

Signing up for RIB Squad

If you’re already qualified for RIB duty or need to go through RIB school please complete the form below:

[form 4 "Rib Squad"]

We’ll be publishing training dates as soon as we have enough applicants. We’ll also send a confirmation email to everyone who applies.

Any questions please leave a comment or email sail@rpcyc.com