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Duties

Under the club by-law 14, all club members over the age of 16 are expected to complete at least two duties per year.

You are encouraged to sign up for your duties via the website based system when the calendar and duty list is released (usually in the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year). This means you can choose the date of your duty and ensure it doesn't clash with other commitments. Members who do not volunteer for duties via this system by a specified date, will be allocated a duty by the club. The duty system also enables you to request a swap with another member if you need to.

To sign up for a duty, or request a swap, you will need to you will need to log into the Members Portal on this website to see the Duty Roster. If you have a duty you need to swap, you need to "accept it" and then request a swap.

You will receive 2 e-mails reminding you of your duty as it approaches, one 10 days before the duty and a second 4 days before, the e-mail will include links to duty relevant information which you should read in preparation for your duty.

If you are unable to make a swap using the system please use the members directory to contact members who have the same duty on another date and try to arrange your own swap, please notify the sailing secretary if you make swaps this way.

There are a number of duties and roles which we need fulfilling by our members. We detail the main roles and the key responsibilities below but there are other duties and activities that can be fulfilled by a member in place of these. The club is run by members for members, this means everything that happens has to be done by someone so by-law 14 also encompasses many roles and duties that aren't listed below or are specifically mentioned in the actual by-law.

RO - Race Officer
Responsible for managing the day's racing. For full details and guidance please refer to the Race Management Manual attached below; but in summary:

This includes contacting all members of the team prior to the day to make sure they turn up, opening up the race hut, managing the safety boat team and overseeing the process of running the days races.

Running the races includes setting the course, managing signing-on and the race record sheets, managing the correct sequence of flag and sound signals to start the racing. During the racing it is important that the race record sheets are maintained to ensure that fair and accurate results can be produced. The end of the race is correctly signaled and finishing times accurately recorded.

There is no need to calculate corrected times and subsequent results unless officiating in a one-day event when results are needed at the end of racing.

The RO will be responsible for managing any protests or on the water disputes either by forming a protest committee or by recommending a course of action via the rules arbitration process. The RO is not expected to sit on any protest committee, simply to ensure that a meeting is held to resolve the protest.

DRO - Deputy Race Officer

The Deputy Race Officer is a second pair of eyes ears and hands for the RO, helping to share the responsibility for running the days racing whilst also learning what the job involves. Please look at the Race Management Manual at the bottom of this page to see what is involved.

This role is ideal for less experienced or newer members to assist with running the racing. Our youth members are encouraged to volunteer for this role.

ARO - Assistant Race Officer
The running of a days racing involves an amount of organisation and paperwork to record the day's results, the OODA's task is to help manage the paperwork whilst at the same time learning the RO duties. Please look at the Race Management Manual at the bottom of this page to see what is involved.

This role is ideal for less experienced or newer members to learn the basics of running the racing. Our youth members are encouraged to volunteer for this role.

SBO - Safety Boat Officer
The Safety Boat Officer is responsible for ensuring that those engaged in the days racing have a second line of support if they get into difficulties, remembering that helm and crew choose to race at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety (RRS 2.1). If you are acting as Safety Boat Officer please take five minutes to view this video to ensure that you are familiar with the correct and safe process to launch and recover a safety boat at Ripon SC.

The SBO operates under the direction of the RO and DRO at all times when on duty on a racing day (Sunday and Wednesday) and under the direction of the Shore Coordinator and relevant Coaches on a Saturday. Whilst on duty the safety boat will be manned by two people at all times, the SBO and ASBO. The ASBO should be dressed and prepared to enter the water if necessary. Children under 16 are not permitted in the safety boat.

On race days, the safety boat will also be used to move and position temporary racing marks as required by the RO, during this activity the ASBO can gain some experience of driving the safety boat as necessary.

ASBO - Assistant Safety Boat Officer
The ASBO should be prepared to enter the water if the need arises and is expected to be dressed appropriately to do this regardless of the weather conditions. The ASBO is encouraged to learn the duties of the SBO. If you are acting as Assistant Safety Boat Officer please take five minutes to view this video to ensure that you are familiar with the correct and safe process to launch and recover a safety boat at Ripon SC.

Shore Coordinator
This role is a shore based role and is ideal for new, or inexperienced members to help them get involved. The role is to facilitate the smooth running of the day and ensure the Coach or Session Leader can focus on the coaching rather than dealing with minor administration and organization matters that inevitably occur on shore. For large Youth & Junior events, this role will also be expected to act as beach master under the direction of the Race Officer or Event Manager.

The Shore Co-ordinator role is for the entire session and starts approximately 1 hour before the published start time and is not stood down by the Coach or Session Leader until all boats and sailors are ashore and all kit is away. This role is used during every Saturday afternoon Improver session, and the activities needed during Improvers are listed in detail in this document.

Session Leader
This is a new role introduced in 2019 for organised club sessions where a designated key-holder and overall co-ordinator is required. This role is better suited to more experienced sailors as they will be expected to supervise the safety boat teams and ensure that the on-water activities are completed in a safe and organised manner and liaise with the Race Officer team if the event includes racing. If you regularly put yourself down to act as Race Officer then please consider this role as well. General members who do not currently have key-holder access are encouraged to volunteer for these duties as key-access can easily be arranged for the dates required. Calendar events that require a session leader include Friday Social Sailing, August Saturday Sailing and Family Weekend.

Event Manager

Event Managers are usually established members who have an interest in the event being held and act as the club's representative for external visitors as well as managing the overall organisation on the day for everyone who is participating or visiting the club. Frequently this role will be fulfilled by a committee member or a member of the Training & Coaching teams or the fleet captain. However; other members are encouraged to volunteer for this vital liaison role to share the load and also ensure more members learn how to run larger or external events at the club.

The Event Manager is responsible for opening up the club, arranging & liaising with all duty team members prior to the event, arranging registration, entries, general enquiries. This will allow the duty team or presenters to concentrate on delivering the event. Calendar events that require an Event Manager include Commodore's Weekend, The Club Open Day (Push The Boat Out), Junior Trophy Day and Open Meetings.

Coach / Instructor

The Training & Coaching team are listed on the duty list. You need to have an RYA coaching or instructing qualification to sign up for this duty.

Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer (DofE Volunteer)

Youth members participating in the DofE scheme who have opted to complete the volunteering section of the award at RSC can sign up to assist via this duty role. If you wish to participate in this scheme, please contact Fiona Spence so that the club can arrange to complete the relevant sign off with the DofE scheme. If this duty slot is over-subscribed - additional slots can be created to satisfy demand!

Safety Boat Personnel & U16s

Whilst members under the age of 16 can obtain their PB2, it is club policy that the safety boat is usually manned by two people over the age of 16 when operating as a safety boat for club activities. U16 members are not allowed in the club Safety Boat as "passengers" when it is operating as a SB. Coach boats must have an ASBO accompanying the coach so they are effective as safety boats if the need arises. U16s may travel in a coach boat if they are signed up to the session but are not participating in the current activity.

Other Ways to Support RSC by Volunteering

Other jobs that may require member assistance, on a regular basis, but are not listed specifically on the duty list include;

  • Cutting the grass & other grounds maintenance jobs
  • Maintaining the club boats
  • Communication efforts
  • Various club admin tasks
  • Results admin & publishing
  • Club Road Trailer Management & Maintenance
  • Club Equipment Maintenance

If, for whatever reason, you are unable to fulfil your duty obligations via the duties available for sign up, please contact the Commodore who will be happy to discuss other ways you can contribute to the on-going success of Ripon SC.


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Last updated 18:03 on 6 September 2023

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