Safety of participants is ‘the’ mission-critical objective of the Dieppe Dash Team.
There are a number of elements to the safety features including the items mentioned below.
Preparation
…is everything! We will do our bit and we ask that you do your bit; make sure your boat and crew are as prepared as possible.
Pre-Dash Event
Each year we offer an event a few weeks before Dieppe Dash at which skippers and crew can meet the Dieppe Dash Team and like-minded boat crews to discuss the event and ask questions. It is particularly useful for first-time channel crossers to get a better idea of what a channel crossing entails. It is also useful to meet the other crews participating and to liaise with boats you might like to make passage with.
Safety Briefing
A Skipper’s Briefing will be held on Thursday, (the evening before departure) commencing 19:30hrs . It is essential that the Person-in-Charge of each boat, or their Surrogate, attends this briefing in order to confirm all is in place before making passage.
The person-in-charge of the individual boat must submit details of the shore side contact person for your boat, no later than 17:00 on the day of the skippers’ briefing. We recommended that your shore side contact holds name, address and next-of-kin details for each person on-board on your boat. The organisers will not require these latter details.
Safety Equipment
Safety at Sea is primarily about preparing for the unknown; this includes ensuring the boat is fully found and seaworthy in terms of Construction and Maintenance; also that the equipment carried on-board is of a correct type and serviceable.
The Dieppe Dash Safety for All Boats document provides guidance on sea safety planning based on UK and International Maritime Law and World Sailing Offshore Sailing Regulations . The Safety for All Boats document can be downloaded from the Documents page.
The Dieppe Dash Safety for All Boats document encourages boat-owners to register their boat in the RYA SafeTRX scheme
During the Event
Travelling in Convoy
Boats in the rally section are advised to consider travelling in convoy to increase safety and to keep a watch out for each other. For this purpose, rally boats are advised to cluster their departure times, such as on the hour, so that several boats leave together and montior each other.
Sign-On, Stand-Down and Abandon Safe (SOSDAS)
Dieppe Dash is an organised event; it is imperative that the organisers know who is taking part, who has finished and who has decided to turn back or head for an alternative port of safety.
All boats MUST follow the SOSDAS procedure as part of the Dieppe Dash Sea Safety assessment; details of all boats participating together with numbers of adults on board, numbers of persons under 18 years of age on board and shore side contact details for each boat will be passed to HM Coastguard prior to departure.
The Dieppe Dash shore side contact team will be on duty throughout the time boats are at sea and will notify the relevant authorities in France or UK (as appropriate) in the event a boat appears to be missing at sea.
The SOSDAS instructions can be downloaded from the Documents page.
Maintain Radio Contact
Event Organisers – Brighton and Dieppe (and Race control) VHF Ch77 (Call Sign – Dieppe Dash Control):
- All Boats – Boat to Boat communication during the event shall be via VHF Ch77.
- All boats must monitor VHF Ch16 whilst at sea (Dual watch).
- All boats shall observe all instructions given by the emergency services regarding use of VHF Ch16.
- All Boats – Dieppe Dash Berthing Master contact via VHF Ch72 (Call Sign Dieppe Dash Berthing).
Crossing the Shipping Lanes
The main navigational hazard on a cross channel passage is crossing the shipping lanes. On route from Brighton to Dieppe you will be crossing the Dover Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) which maritime law requires you to cross on a heading as near to 90 degrees as practicable to the direction of traffic using the shipping lanes in order to present the largest possible target for RADAR to paint.
Care must be exercised when approaching a large vessel in the TSS and discretion exercised before taking action with intention of avoiding a collision at sea – At all times International Regulations for Prevention of Collision at Sea (IRPCS) takes precedence.
After Each Passage
Standing Down
Don’t forgot to complete the Stand Down procedure as per the SOSDAS instructions – or we may notify the Coastguard that you are missing!