Safety & Sea Survival.

Safety at Sea and Survival (SSSC) is a nationally accredited course which started after the tragic 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race. It’s a mandatory qualification for offshore racing, but the uptake from cruising sailors has been immense. It doesn’t matter what form of sailing you do, the rules and problems are the same.

Our Safety at Sea and Survival Course is our iconic training initiative. The course teaches pre voyage planning, heavy weather sailing techniques and what to do when things go wrong. It gives you experience in life rafts and abandonment should the situation become even more serious. It is taught by Jeff Cordell who is one of Australia’s most experienced tutors, backed up by industry professionals who have been developing the course materials since this course began in 1999.

We split the course into three sessions. The first is all about preparation. Knowing more about the safety equipment, checking it and being familiar on how to use it. We cover crew training such has people overboard recoveries, passage planning and weather.

The second session covers topics around heavy weather sailing. We discuss sail selection, fatigue management, boat preparation and steering techniques. The final session covers what to do if things go wrong. We practice using flares, go to the pool and inflate a liferaft. You’ll get to sit inside a liferaft and feel what it’s like! We cover helicopter rescue and jury rigging, just in case you’ve broken the mast or the rudder or have to abandon. This sounds rather grim but the knowledge gained will help you manage or avoid bad situations.

You’ll receive SSSC accreditation which is valid for 5 years. We also run a refresher version for reaccreditation for existing SSSC holders.

Full course cost $380 and refresher $300. Don't forget existing BYC members get a 10% discount on course fees - use discount code "BYC" when booking.