Two Way Communication

For those who attended the recent ORCV/SYC Marine Expo, AMSA’s Lynda Berryman, Advisor Communication Systems, delivered news of some exciting developments around personal safety beacons and the streamlining and acknowledgement of communications.

The development of new Personal Locator Beacons incorporating both satellite and AIS in one beacon along with acknowledgement of receipt of a distress signal is a real boon for offshore sailors, who will be able to reduce the number of devices that have until now been progressively added as yet another item to one’s PFD.

Like all personal beacons, unless you have them on your person when you have an incident, they are of no value in alerting rescue authorities.  So it makes sense to put your PFD with your sophisticated distress beacons on before you leave the pen, as you would put on a seat belt before driving in a car.

The technology is rapidly improving, but there are human limitations that interfere with the chain of information that can be life-saving in a situation of distress.

The ORCV has an enviable safety record and is committed to best practices in Safety at Sea. This includes risk management for all races and training programs to share knowledge and experience to reduce risk.

There is also a responsibility for boat owners and crew members to do their own risk assessment for every race and return voyage to ensure the best outcomes.

So on the human scale,  “two-way communication” is essential for the ORCV as the organising authority for these races to be equipped with all the information required within the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions from all race participants well prior to the event.  The quality of the data provided must also conform to the parameters in the race documents.

In the most recent passage race in Port Phillip, the Winter Series Melbourne to Blairgowrie passage event, 17 crew out of 323 (5.3%), had not correctly completed details for their Emergency Contact (EC) person and/or their Next of Kin (NOK). Your Emergency Contact must be a person with whom the ORCV can contact and explain the gravity of a situation and on confirmation that they have the facts correct they can support the next of kin in receiving the news and dealing with the situation at hand.

So the rules for ensuring we can invoke meaningful two-way communication are -

• Do not nominate yourself as your emergency contact or your next of kin
• Do not nominate someone else in the fleet who is in the race or pursuing other offshore sailing
• Do not nominate someone not living in Australia
• Do not nominate someone who does not have a mobile phone number.

We understand that often the paperwork defaults to the boat owner due to difficulties for crew to get into the TopYacht system. The boat owner has multiple other responsibilities to deal with so why not volunteer to be the Boat Team Manager and undertake the responsibility for ensuring all paperwork for all crew members is up to date and checked before each race. It could be life saving so please help us to help you.  The ORCV has a guide to assist you to update and use Topyacht correctly as way to educate crew on using the system correctly.

If you have any queries or feedback, please contact IMT Lead Rosie Colahan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ORCV Next Gen Program

Getting Young Sailors on Deck, Offshore, and Into the Future of Our Sport

The Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) is proud to support the next generation of offshore sailors through the Next Gen Program—a hands-on initiative that connects young people aged 16–25 with experienced skippers and crews for real-world sailing experience, starting with boat deliveries and progressing to racing.

Whether you're a keen cadet, a school sailor, or simply passionate about life on the water, Next Gen is your chance to step beyond the classroom and into offshore sailing with support, structure, and mentorship.

What Is It?

The Next Gen Program helps bridge the gap between youth sailing and offshore racing. Through the program, we match qualified young sailors with skippers and boats in need of crew for boat deliveries—often long, scenic passages from coastal towns to their home ports.

These deliveries are more than just transport—they’re immersive learning opportunities where young sailors get a feel for passage planning, watchkeeping, sail handling, navigation, and life at sea.

Who Is It For?

Young sailors aged 16 to 25 who are:

• Passionate about sailing and keen to learn more
• Interested in offshore and coastal cruising or racing
• Ready to commit to learning and building trust with their skipper

To participate, sailors must have completed:

• The Safety and Sea Survival Course (SSSC)
• A commitment to sail at least three times inshore with the delivery skipper before heading offshore

This ensures safety, familiarity, and good communication before tackling longer passages together.

Why It Matters

Too often, young sailors hit a wall after school programs or cadet classes, unsure how to get onto bigger boats or into more serious sailing. The ORCV Next Gen Program removes that barrier.

By partnering youth with skippers for deliveries and inshore races, we:

• Build skills and confidence in real-world conditions
• Provide pathways into offshore racing
• Strengthen the sailing community by fostering intergenerational mentorship
• Help skippers build long-term relationships with capable, enthusiastic young crew

This isn’t a one-time sail—this is about long-term growth, friendships, and experience.

What Comes Next?

Many of our Next Gen participants go on to:

• Join offshore races like the Westcoaster or Apollo Bay
• Take on navigation, helm, or foredeck roles in club events
• Become advocates and mentors for the next wave of young sailors

We're not just giving young people a spot on a boat—we’re giving them a future in sailing.

Get Involved

Are you a young sailor looking for your next step?
Or a skipper keen to support the future of our sport while gaining reliable crew?

We’d love to hear from you.

Skipper's Survey Results

From a skippers survey came the decision to run a Cat 2 race next February instead of the traditional Easter weekend. 

The survey extended to all yachts participating in ORCV offshore races in the past 3 seasons with an effective response rate of 75%.  

In planning the proposed event, the ability to start races early was a key issue. We asked skippers to review their experience in the 2022-23 King Island and Devonport races, which started at 5pm and 6pm respectively. The responses indicated that the early starts had not been a constraint on entries in those 2 events. 

• 64% preferred the early start,  
• 95% of the boats who planned to race were able to do so, albeit with the absence of some of their regular crew on 3 yachts. 
• 86% of the skippers advised that the late afternoon starts had not caused crew constraints  
• Only 2 boats advised that the earlier start times had led then to decide not to race. 

Forty-seven of the surveyed skippers advised that they are planning to race in Cat 2 races next season. We asked this group to indicate their start time preference. The result was a clear preference for late afternoon starts- 

• Late afternoon - 68%
• Early evening (after 7pm) -13%  
• Traditional night Starts (first suitable tide after midnight) - 19% 

The level of interest for the proposed Cat 2 race in February was high. 72% of the boats reported that they would seriously consider participating and a further 11% supported the idea although they would not participate in 2025.  

Importantly, more than 80% Skippers who would seriously consider entering the February race advised that their participation would be in addition to their currently planned races. 

Port Fairy and Stanley were equally weighted by skippers as the preferred destination but if the race was run to Port Fairy, they would be more likely to continue to Adelaide and participate in the Port Lincoln Regatta.   

The New Race 

The Club has decided to run a race to Port Fairy starting at 1630 hrs on Friday 14 February 2025, thirty minutes before the start of the ebb. 

Port Fairy was chosen as the destination in 2025 partly because of its role as a feeder race for the 75th anniversary of the Port Lincoln races (which start one week later) but also due to the need to reliably meet two key design parameters for the race:- 

• The ability for some crew members to return to Melbourne on Sunday night if required  
• The ability for the remaining delivery crew to be back at their clubs on Monday night. 

Strong support from the Port Fairy Club and Community for the race and the availability of scheduled coach-rail service leaving late afternoon for the return to Melbourne are additional elements in the decision. 

We hope to attract a large fleet and look forward to seeing you on the water next February. 

Paul Roberts 
Rear Commodore & Sailing Captain  

We’ve been weird, wonderful and winners

Casting our gaze over the recent offshore season, the Clean Oceans team are incredibly proud of the efforts and enthusiasm exhibited by the club and members to deliver initiatives in the name of sustainability. The ocean racing community is one of great passion, and a vote for protecting our oceans is a vote for the longevity of the sport we know and love. Let‘s look back over some of the highlights so far:

The ORCV’s destination races saw the introduction of the Species Showcase, a corner that shines the light on unique marine species, iconic to the area our fleet are visiting. Beginning in Hobart with the 2023 Westcoaster, the Handfish became the star of the show, with one species, the critically endangered Red Handfish, found ONLY in the Derwent River. These abstract looking creatures have also attracted the nickname of the world’s rarest fish as their numbers continue to be heavily impacted by habitat change, ocean warming and pollution; and are the focus of a dedicated research conservation team.

Shifting our focus to the Melbourne to King Island, our fleet was greeted by the unmissable chorus of Little Penguins, our next showcased species. For a bird only 30cm in size, these little fellas are truly impressive with their long-distance deep diving, spanning tens of kilometers each day. Recent research investigating growing levels of chemical pollution recorded in the penguins’ blood is a stark reminder that at the end of the day, our land-based actions are intrinsically linked to like above and below the water.

Finally, we wrapped up the season with the crowd favorite, the Nudies! The Apollo Bay race featured the Vercos Nudibranch, a flamboyant and almost fictional looking creature, that inhabits the local marina and coastal reefs along southern Australia. Nudies are the dazzling jewels in the crown of our marine fauna. Like a neon sign, they remind us just how intricate and interconnected the ocean and its life is, and what wonders lay beneath the surface.

As well as showcasing marine wildlife, we have also collaborated with some fantastic organisations working to conserve, educate, create and inspire meaningful change in the ocean community. The ORCV are incredibly grateful to have engaged with the Handfish Conservation project and Otway Ocean Care to promote conservation work, and Recolab and Castaway Textiles, for the work they do to divert waste from landfill while creating stylish and unique produce to be enjoyed by the yachting community and beyond.

We are always looking for innovative ways to engage the ocean racing community with the ocean beyond racing. Over the last 12 months we have worked to further develop the microplastics water sampling initiative for the return legs of major offshore races. Often times, in the science space, deploying teams of researchers at sea can be costly and difficult, and so the idea to create a citizen science program with our fleet, was born. In classic scientific style, we are working through trial and error to optimize and refine the method and data generation process. We look forward to reigniting this program in the new season and thank all the crews who have been part of this process so far!

In recognition of the ORCV’s efforts in the sustainability space, we have been awarded silver medals by the Sailors for The Sea Clean Regatta’s Program for our destination races, a brilliant outcome that we aim to build on with the oncoming season – going for gold! This internationally recognised certification framework is a great way to demonstrate effort over time, and nurture continuous improvement, innovation and creativity. We can’t wait to build on the already strong foundation of the 2023-24 season, so let our team know if you have any ideas or connections you think could add value in the sustainability space!

Lasty, a huge thank you goes to our members who continuously show interest and enthusiasm in the Clean Oceans Program. Our members are what bring our initiatives to life and ensure continued stewardship of our oceans