A plan to ensure monohull safety

The World Sailing Certificate of Plan Review was established in 2007 after a growing number of keel failures. Now, as a result of the plan, all new monohull yachts with age and series date after January 2010 are required to have a World Sailing Certificate of Plan Review in place for OSR Category 0, 1, and 2 races.

World Sailing-recognized Notified Bodies undertake the review each year to ensure compliance. They then request a certificate from World Sailing. The list of notified bodies can be found on the World Sailing website.

Sally Lindsay Honey, Chair of the World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations committee, noted that with the recent increase in keel and rudder failures, it is even more important that the boat design and build be to the high standards recognized by a current Plan Review.

“Before an event, as skipper of the boat, be sure to check that its certificate is current,” she adds, noting how the requirements for the World Sailing Certificate of Plan Review are outlined in OSR 3.03.1, and the scope of the review is ISO 12215 Part 5, 8 and 9.

There are two forms of certification available:

• Series Production: where several boats of the same type are produced per the plans, and therefore each yacht will not require individual review and certification.
• Custom: Also known as unique boat, is where the boat is a one-of-a-kind yacht or a series production yacht that has been built or modified such that it is not following the plans of that series. Custom certificates are distributed via World Sailing Recognised notified bodies.

The scope, criteria and all necessary documents are available to download on the World Sailing website.

It is always the skipper’s responsibility to ensure the boat has a valid certificate for any event it enters and to check keels and rudders for anomalies or damage on a regular basis.

More information is available on the World Sailing website, or by emailing technical@sailing.org.

Source: World Sailing