TSF - Safety at Sea Seminars

Safety At Sea Seminars

Timed to coincide with the biannual Vic Maui and Pacific Cup sailboat races, the Sailing Foundation conducts a two-day seminar on safe boating practices and safety equipment.

The next seminar will be held on February 25 & 26, 2012, from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm both days, at the YMCA in downtown Seattle (909 4th Ave, Seatte 98104). The seminar, designed and conducted by sailors, all experts in their fields, will provide novice and experienced mariners with information and skills required to prepare for sailing offshore, boat preparation, handling heavy weather, recommended safety equipment, and emergencies at sea. Click here for a copy of the 2012 Safety at Sea poster. Click here for the seminar agenda.

In addition to the two days of the seminar, The Sailing Foundation is hosting Extreme Sailing - America's Cup 2013 Saturday evening at the Microsoft Auditorium in the Seattle Public Library. We have a great evening planned. Stan Honey and John Craig, key players in America's Cup 2013, will talk about the 2013 America's Cup and how new technologies continue to make the racing more exciting. A special pre-event reception with the speakers will be at Tulio's Ristorante. Click here for more information. Purchase tickets.

The two-day, US Sailing-sanctioned event is open to all cruising and racing skippers, crews and their families, recreational power boaters, as well as commercial fishermen. The program, endorsed by CRUISING WORLD and SAILING WORLD Magazines and sponsored by West Marine and Landfall Navigation, has evolved from the highly successful program developed by the Sailing Foundation and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. It incorporates the latest techniques and information available.

Saturday's lecture topics will include: first aid, rescue at sea, heavy weather seamanship, weather forecasting, damage control and repair, communications equipment, navigation, and personal safety equipment. Noted author John Rousmaniere will moderate the weekend's events, assisted by West Marine's Chuck Hawley. We're still finalizing this year's program - speakers at our 2010 event included USNA's naval architect Paul Miller, Jim Corenman, Doug Fryer, Brian Toss, Carol Hasse and more.

Sunday's session will provide hands-on training with in-the-water demonstrations, key survival tactics, man-overboard recoveries and more. This session will be accompanied by in-depth discussions. As such, it will be a logical preparation step for those sailors seriously preparing for independent, self-sufficient offshore sailing - both racing and cruising.

The weekend's certified program is designed to meet the US Sailing requirements for Safety at Sea training for offshore racers in US events. Click here for more information on US Sailing Safety at Sea programs. Click here for a copy of the ISAF Offshore Special Regulations. Successful students will receive a certificate of completion issued by US Sailing. You must attend both days from the start of the session to the end of the day to receive the certificate. Click here for information on the Vic-Maui race, one of the major NW offshore races, coming up in June, 2012.

Tickets are $150 per person per day (couples with the same home address will be $250 per day). Membership in The Sailing Foundation is included in the fee. In addition, $25 of the fee will be forwarded to US Sailing. For vessel crews, if 3 crew members are registered and paid for with one check or credit card charge, a fourth crew can attend for half price. For additional crewmembers beyond 4, you can contact Bob Schoonmaker (206-842-7245) for special arrangements. The fee covers lectures, demonstrations, exhibits, course materials and a box lunch. To ensure good contact between the students and the presenters, each break-out session is limited to 25 students.

Seating is limited and advance reservations are strongly advised.

There are two ways to register for the seminar:

To pay by credit card, using our secure Paypal portal, complete our on-line registration form by clicking here. If you don't receive a confirmation of your registration within 48 hours, please contact us at seminars@thesailingfoundation.org.

OR
Complete an interactive PDF form (click here for the PDF form), print it out and and mail it in, along with a check payable to The Sailing Foundation, to 2635 151st Place NE, Redmond WA 98052.

There are a number of hotels in the immediate area:

Executive Hotel Pacific - www.executivehotels.net/downtownseattlehotel/
The W - www.whotels.com/seattle/
Monaco Hotel - www.monaco-seattle.com

Attendees should contact the hotels directly to book their accommodations. There are no special group bookings this year.

For more information on the seminar, e-mail seminars@thesailingfoundation.org.