Revised list of safety equipment has been released by US Sailing for sailboats in the monohull category. The safety equipment requirements list has been revised and SERs for multihulls have been approved as well. These revised guidelines will become applicable this year.

SERs describe the kind of gear to be used on these boats whether they race near shore or offshore in the US. The information needs to be referred to by boat inspectors, race, and owners. Racers that happen offshore as well as in the coastal regions would need to refer to these lists that would help them know boat particulars and equipment requirements.

The SERs of multihull and monohull categories are approved by US Sailing Safety committee for the sea as well as offshore activities. The approvals were made in February 2019. The change in monohulls is a minor one this year whereas the multihull SERs list is a new one. This is a list that would probably see revisions next year as well since there are multihulls being included in several events.

SERs are compiled with inputs received from different sailing communities across the country. It also helps set guidelines for safety equipment requirements for race organizing bodies. They are also given the freedom to modify the same as per venue and events. In general, SERs are simplified for pre-race inspectors and yacht owners; these are self-contained and are not part of external documents; race categories have also been reduced to three which include coastal, nearshore and ocean. SERs have been made compact so that they can be easily included in a club’s website or put on notice. These requirements are also in line with World Sailing requirements. The goal is to ensure that sailboats that compete internationally need not to make any modifications. It also makes it easy for international boats to compete in the US.