Check the front page of the Tybee site. It's been addressed.
http://www.tybee500.com/

Thanks. No CE jackets are allowed.

Can't believe no one came up with this yet, but we just solved the problem. Wear whatever you want, jump in the pool and demonstrate that you will float overnight.

BTW, I would fully consider the Tybee to be one of those "important" events where technical protests can and may happen...

Mike

I personally love my ZHIK harness and Life Jacket. But I would never wear the jacket at a points race because of the feer of bieng protested. Yes I have a throwable and a paddle. Alone with flares a whistle and signal mirror. In the bays or ocean I carry VHF and GPS for safety.

The RRS should be ammended to allow CE jackets but will that ever happen?

But aren't you allowed to wear one, as long as you have a USCG one within reach?

No the RRS for U.S. Sailing and Hobie say all competetors need to be wearing approved life saving devices.

Mike
I don't get this notion of " a serious or important regatta" requiring more attention to the technical rules.

I think you need one set of rules and standards .... period. Otherwise, this is a slippery slope which can only lead to to somebody feeling screwed. "Hey... I am not an insider... how was I to know that in THIS regatta that the blah blah rule would be enforced to the letter but not in that regatta.

The Hobie world has a comp tip requirement... they don't have tiers of regattas... Rather, they have the discretion to issue a waiver for up to two events to a sailor with an all metal stick (my area). The rules are clear. If the hobie sailors did not like the rule... they can change it... for the prescription problem where they can't change it.. ... class culture should control. Do you know of any hobie rules which have two tiers?

In the Tybee case, The Tybee class has moved the gear requirement down into the SI's... While there may be no rules difference, the practical effect is to make the requirement explicit for the race. More importantly, they make it clear that modifications to the PFD did not compromise the PFD prescription rule. Good for them.

As Tony observed...Sailors could have just stuffed one CG jacket into a hull and worn what they wanted. But it looks like they made a CG jacket part of the race.

I thought about the SI rule change some more.
I would not be thrilled with adding the no protest rule to the SI's. I think that this shifts responsibility (no matter how small) away from the sailors to the PRO's and regatta organizers. I never think this is a good idea. Therefore, in this catch 22 circumstance... an unwritten class standard of no protests demonstrates the proper judgment rather then the rules addition to the SI's.

My view is that if a class determined that a PRESCRIPTION rule of sailing should be nullfied with a no protest standard... you do not need a guide dog to see the class standard... Moreover, the class practice simply restricted your ability to protest on this equipment rule. ... if you want to comply with the prescription you could or easily adjust and turf the class IV before the first race.

Calm down and go back to my prior post (#209716). I'm just saying you're more likely to be protested at a major regatta, because you're not as "protected" by your "cultural" disobedience, since you may not know all the players, and may not be able to know whether they will protest if you choose to ignore a rule.

In all cases, the rules are the same, and you theoretically stand an equal chance of being protested. Breaking a rule (especially the PFD rule after being part of this thread) is clearly a conscious choice.

In reality, some times certain rules are ignored by entire groups of people (as you've pointed out plenty of times in this thread), regardless of RRS, Rx, class rules, SIs, or anything else; and you may not get protested.

Mike

Got it.

What do you think about the shifting of responsibility concern, Granted it's probably a small shift.
Do you think the addition to he SIs is really warranted?

Well, as I've said, generally speaking, I don't personally like SIs to change existing rules (and that comes from IROs).

Either way, I don't see this as a shift, because every time I've seen this SI used, it's not done to shift the responsibility, but rather, to avoid lots of "frivilous" protests. If there are real safety issues (such as, NO PFD being worn, kids not checking in ashore at the end of each day), the RC will protest and make sure the message gets across. I've really not witnessed "safety inspections" other than for distance races (NE 100).

Most of the high-end PROs that I know don't really worry about this stuff too much, because they feel that personal safety is handled by RRS 4.

The last thing any PRO wants to do is to affect the outcome of an event. If the sailors don't want to follow certain rules, and/or don't want to protest over certain rules, smart PROs ignore it. If they have a personal issue with the rules that are being broken, they decline the event in the future.

We're there to serve, not to dictate.

Mike

I am not trying to be cute, but, if you were wearing a PFD and they picked you up alive, I would guess that the PFD was effective regardless of who approved its use.

Interesting thread this. I've caught parts of it but not all. Here in europe there is a CE design requirement for boats. There is an exemption for boats designed for racing. Could a similar exemption not be negotiated through US sailing? If the general requirement is to have one USCG PFD per person but crews don't like to wear them, wouldn't it be safer option in having more crews wearing PFD's because they were more suited to the racing environment?

Would it be desirable? and if so who would be prepared to lobby for it?

Cheshirecatman (comfy CE PFD wearer)

Here's yet another option...
I don't believe this one is certified by either regulatory agency. But it would be less likely to get you protested.
High Flotation Life Jacket