The Storm Trysail Club, with the support of the Storm Trysail Foundation, will be hosting our fourth Hands-On Safety-at-Sea Seminar on May 20, 2017, at the campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College at Fort Schuyler in the Bronx, New York.

According to Event Chairman Charles "Butch" Ulmer, "The popular format of one-day Hands-On activities will be supplemented by online video presentations produced by the Storm Trysail Foundation and U.S. Sailing. These videos will provide additional learning that will enable attendees to qualify for full World Sailing (formerly ISAF) certification."

At the 2017 seminar, over 250 attendees will participate in four 90-minute Hands-On "blocks" bracketed by opening and closing sessions. The four blocks include: on-the-water Man Overboard practice held on 11 40-50 foot ocean racing yachts loaned by STC members; Survival Training in the swimming pool using inflatable PFDs and life rafts; Firefighting and Flares, where fires are extinguished and hand held flares and parachute flares are fired by each person; Damage Control with rig cutting, hull patching, steering gear repair, use of pumps, and actual plugging holes in a mockup of a sinking yacht. Highly qualified instructors and coaches are involved throughout. Previous years' participants have asked for additional safety-at-sea training and, in response to that input, Storm Trysail had has created an advanced program for returning participants.

Seminar Moderator Richard du Moulin noted that, "The new Level 200 program will be open to sailors who have attended a Hands-On Safety-at-Sea Seminar (now called Level 100) within the past five years, or who have full World Sailing certification or equivalent. Level 200 participants will spend a half day on the water and half ashore." This extended time on the water will enable sailors to practice multiple man overboard recovery techniques (with a real survival swimmer), reef and unreef, set a storm jib and storm trysail, perform damage control drills (fire, flooding, broken mast), and inflate a raft and actually abandon ship. Classroom sessions will include an interactive round table discussion with scenario planning, Medicine at Sea, Emergency Communication, and Evacuation with experts including the U.S. Coast Guard. The Level 200 program will be run concurrently at SUNY and is limited to 48 sailors.

The Seminar website will go active immediately after New Years and will be reachable via www.StormTrysailFoundation.org, but please hold the date! The Level 100 and 200 are excellent means to prepare for the 2017 sailing season, whether you plan on the Annapolis to Newport Race, the Marblehead to Halifax Race, or local cruising and racing.