Articles are of general interest to the entire CCA membership, and are not particular to any specific station. Categories include Feature Articles, Safety Moments, White Papers and For Ocean Racers.
With tens of thousands of miles sailed (and working) in the cold-water latitudes, CCA Member Mark Roye has learned a thing or two about staying safe and surviving where the water is cold, sometimes almost freezing. From maintaining safety-oriented attitudes to carrying -- and practicing with -- properly-selected equipment, the steps one must take in harsher environments are more exacting and more critical than warmer cruising grounds
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It's 2021. When someone goes overboard, you want the benefit of the latest experience and thinking. Our panel discusses MOB techniques including recovery under spinnaker and the new "mid-line" hoist. Led by Cruising Club of America, the New York Yacht Club, and Storm Trysail Club.
Read moreThings happen on boats. Many times, repairs underway are necessary if you want to complete your voyage safely and swiftly.
This video presentation addresses many related issues.
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The Jordan Series Drogue, a string of relatively small fabric cones (100 or so), provides an adjustable tool to slow a boat. It's an invaluable tool for managing heavy weather on a sailboat.
Steve Brown conducted a survey of highly acclaimed sailors on their experience with the drogue. He's written up the results in the attached document.
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The CCA Safety & Seamanship Committee says the time for lifejackets is now and makes the case for their use as a key element of its Culture of Safety Recommendations.
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The movie “Albatross” shows the impact of plastics on the albatrosses of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The movie was made between 2009 and 2012. Midway Atoll NWR is located more than a thousand miles northwest of Honolulu and shelters the world’s largest colonies of Laysan and Black-footed albatross, along with a single pair of Short Tailed albatross.
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Not just for safety anymore, DSC can be used to contact another boat for purely non-emergency reasons, such as find other boats positions and automatically plot them on your chart-plotter Not only that, you can set your radio to be part of a “group” to send and receive alerts intended for a fleet of vessels. This capability may serve any fleet, be it yacht club, regatta, race or just a group of friends. Read more
The CCA recommends that, at the skipper’s discretion, all crew should WEAR A LIFE JACKET when on deck of a recreational boat. There are various types of life jackets with advantages and disadvantages, and that are appropriate for different conditions. But the best one is the one you are WEARING. The boat's skipper should establish a culture of safety and protocols, the goal of which is: don't fall overboard. Read more
CCA member Richard du Moulin contributes to our “Creating a Culture of Safety” series, reflecting on the essence of great leadership at sea in this article adapted from his work as a long-time leader of safety-at-sea seminars for the Storm Trysail Club.
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Weather is a chaotic, turbulent, system. It's of critical interest to ocean voyagers, of course, and our understanding of it has advanced rapidly in recent years, thanks, in part, to dramatic advances in measurement, analysis, and communications technology. These advances have resulted in much better information available to the mariner in planning and executing a voyage.
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