Issue date
Yachting New Zealand have made it even easier for more people to become qualified race officers with the addition of the club race officers course to the online learning platform, Embark.
The club race officers course is an extension of the introduction to race officiating course and delves into more depth on race management and what race officers need to know and do to run good quality racing. Completion is required to become qualified as a club race officer and the course is free to complete for members of affiliated yacht clubs.
It is made up of five modules: setting courses, starting races, during a race, finishing/results and running safe racing, and can be done at a speed and time convenient for the participant.
"The online club race officers course will allow more people from all over the country to access this training without having to give up a whole weekend, travel or spend money to get there," Yachting New Zealand education programmes lead Danika Mowlem said. "Not only is this more cost effective but it allows us to standardise training for all members across the country. The aim is for every club to have a qualified club race officer."
The club race officer course was previously taught at seminars alongside the national race officers course, which wasn't always ideal for participants in either course. These two courses have now been separated, with a new, specific national race officer seminar to be piloted next year. The new qualification criteria can be found here.
The introduction to race officiating and club race officers courses would be ideal for clubs to use as a teaching tool with young sailors or volunteers to improve their understanding of racing.
"It might be something clubs could use on a day that's too windy to go sailing," Mowlem said. "The club race officers course is good for people to do even if they don't aspire to be a race officer. They can do all of it or a little bit."
Anyone interested in completing the club race officers course needs to sign up here and modules on umpiring and judging will be added soon.
