Spot tracker, plb device, vhf radio - all required...
Cell phone, gps - highly suggested??
It seems like this is ALOT, is it for double coverage??? True or not true??
gps
(5 posts) (5 voices)-
MisterMoon
MemberHere's my take on why they are all necessary for the running of the event.
PLB: Organizers can't get insurance without requiring it. No insurance, no event. Period. Originally the rules required EPRIB, but that was dropped when the Spot came out. The PLB/EPIRB came back when we saw too many Spot failures over several events.
Spot: This tool is primarily for the organizers to keep track of where folks are and to see if they are making progress. It's also good for knowing where people are when a significant weather event rolls through. If someone doesn't move for a long time and there is no other contact and they aren't pressing the OK button regularly they can then alert the authorities for possible rescue. Also, Spot tracking really helps gives the racers' families back home piece of mind and saves a lot of frantic phone calls to the organizers wondering where their loved one is when they haven't heard from them in a while.
VHF: Critical for any coastal sailing. Needed to get weather forecasts, communicate with bridges, and also for distress calls. I would not do any coastal sailing without mine, ever.
Cell Phone: You are required to check in with your shore contact regularly. Unless there is not one single person in the world not on the challenge who loves you and cares about you, this is an absolute requirement.
GPS: There might be some people who would want to do this the old-fashioned way just to up the level of difficulty. Therefore it's not required. I'm not one of those people however.
Posted 7 years ago #
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