Shorebased


for just over a year. Having reviewed feedback from students and instructors, Chersoft (the developers of the software) are


Course duration


When planning your RYA Day Skipper and Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased courses, please remember that the required teaching time is 40 hours. The required time for the RYA


Yachtmaster Ocean course is 43 hours.


The assessments must always be in addition to these hours.


Training Chart Plotter enhancements T


he new version of the RYA Training Chart Plotter has been used by students


in the final stages of producing a new version of the plotter. Some of the new features are simple interface tweaks such as adding new menu items to make creating routes or plotting a little quicker and easier. Other features are improvements to the overall capacity of the plotter and the real life version of Nuno Navigator. The three main navigation improvements are: » VMG is calculated for waypoints. » Waypoints can be selected as the target waypoint, rather than the plotter choosing the one it believes you are going to.


» Routes can be locked onto to ensure you continue to get data such as VMG and XTE for your chosen route, even when many miles away from the planned route. You can set the route in a different hemisphere and get an XTE of 10,000 miles!


Powerboat, PW and Inland Waterways


rare occurrence. In fact in the UK to date, there has not been a fatality recorded where one of the causes has been a killcord or switch failure. However, the sad fact remains that more accidents could be prevented if helms simply remembered to use the killcord. Thanks for spreading the word about the RYA Killcord and Kill Switch Failure survey which we ran last summer. There were over 1,000 respondents from 23 countries, although 90% of responses were from UK boaters. It was satisfying to read that although there were failures, the vast majority occurred during killcord testing. This shows that the training works: testing is a key syllabus point


6 |


Killcord care T


he failure of a vital piece of equipment such as a killcord is a shock, but thankfully is a


in the Level 2 Powerboat Handling course, so please keep the message going strong.


Killcord issues The survey showed us that quite a few killcord issues could be avoided through better health-checking. Killcords tend to fail due to: » rusty metal components - crimp or clip


» snapping with no inner cord to provide backup


» outer cord perishing, leaving the inner core exposed


» stretching and loss of elasticity making it difficult to keep it positioned correctly around the leg and avoid accidental activation.


After market killcords (those not from the original equipment


manufacturer) have their own potential problems, such as the attachment being too tight fitting and jamming in the switch, or too loose and therefore not reliably pulling the mechanism far enough apart to activate it.


Kill switch issues Switch failure can be attributed to a number of possible causes: » A poorly fitting killcord toggle may stretch the mechanism. By testing the mechanism each time you head afloat, it keeps it moving and can give an early indication of a sticky switch.


» Water or salt ingress makes the mechanism stiff


» Damaged components. As for maintaining a healthy kill


switch, periodic checks should include


a visual inspection for signs of weakening or


damage, along with checking that the moving parts snap back into position as expected. Please incorporate the above


into the safety routines at your training centres and spread the word about maintaining the health of this key safety equipment during all powerboat courses. And, of course, remember that these checks are only of any use if the helm remembers to wear the killcord.


REMEMBER: Check the kill switch Check the killcord Test before use


www.rya.org.uk


You can see the new menu items, details of AIS targets and the improved route monitor information naming the target waypoint and giving VMG.


We will also have the ability to view AIS targets. The full route scenario available in the instructor resources has a number of AIS targets included. Visit www.rya.org.uk/go/ trainingplotter-instructor One of the most requested


features that will be incorporated is the ability for instructors to


create their own simulation files. It’s as simple as setting the desired track as a route and then exporting that route to a NMEA scenario. Have a sneak peek at the new plotter here.


Once the new plotter is


available for general release we will notify all shorebased centres and instructors.


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