Marine Safety Equipment

Jimmy Green Marine offers a wide range of safety equipment from well-respected, world-renowned brands such as Seago, Crewsaver, Spinlock, Jonbuoy, Felco, Hammar, Baltic, OS, ACR, ICOM, and Fireblitz.

Drawing up a suitable safety inventory for your motor or sailing yacht may seem daunting, but excellent sources of reference are available depending on the sailing you envisage.

Pleasure craft under 13.7 metres in length overall are not subject to any statutory safety requirements other than SOLAS V. SOLAS stands for the International Convention for Safety of Lives at Sea.

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) publish a helpful guide with a table showing both the SOLAS V mandatory items and the RYA recommendations where no regulations apply: Equipment for UK Pleasure Vessels

Pleasure craft over 13.7 metres in length overall must adhere to Statutory Regulations published by The Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA). Pleasure is defined by the MCA as recreational or sport and not for any commercial gain. However, any craft that carries 12 or more passengers is deemed commercial and subject to the Merchant Shipping Regulations.

Yachts that wish to participate in Offshore Racing or Organised Rallies will almost certainly need to comply with the World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations.

Independent sailing yachts do not need to comply, but the regulations set a standard that may be appropriate for their cruising plans.

World Sailing was founded as the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) in 1904. The IYRU became the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) in 1996, and ISAF became World Sailing in 2015. World Sailing adopt the ISO standard wherever appropriate in their World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations, notably concerning Liferafts. ISO is an acronym for the International Organisation for Standardisation https://www.iso.org/standards.html

Both the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and the World Cruising Club (WCC) generally adopt the World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations in their rules and recommendations. The RORC is probably the best-known hosting authority for offshore and ocean yacht racing in the UK, but there are many other Offshore Racing Organisations, e.g. Cornwall Offshore Group Sailing (COGS,) who also take their lead from World Sailing with regards to their rules of entry. The World Cruising Club is well known for organising a series of Offshore and Ocean rallies, most prominently the ARC (Atlantic Cruising Rally) World Cruising Club Safety Equipment Regulations

Jimmy Green Marine manufactures a range of Man Overboard Prevention and Recovery Equipment in-house on our premises in Beer, East Devon, e.g. Webbing Jackstays, Danbuoys, and the Oscar Man Overboard Recovery Sling.

Safety Equipment Advisory

All safety equipment should generally be suitable and adequate according to yacht length and displacement and your sailing plans. Regular scrutiny and maintenance are required to ensure your safety equipment will perform effectively in an emergency. Upkeep should routinely include washing, servicing, repairing, renovating, and replacing. Inspections should always include checking expiry dates where applicable.

Sheltering 

Sheltering is the sensible use of protected/interior storage. Preserving the working life of any equipment can be achieved by reducing the time it is exposed to the damaging effects of the weather. This could be achieved by stowing items below when a yacht is in safe harbour or furbishing them with sacrificial covers.

There is more information on Safety Equipment in our Knowledge Centre: Marine Safety Equipment Library Resource