Race Officer: Requirements for Qualification
RYA qualifications for race officers are Regional Race Officer and National Race Officer. The International Race Officer qualification is awarded by ISAF
The Club Race Officer qualification is not an RYA qualification but one belonging to the clubs themselves, using materials provided by the RYA.
Details of training, courses and seminars for race officers and other officials can be found at Training Courses and Seminars.
All qualifications are held for four years (two years for those over 75 years of age) after which time an application for renewal must be made. Applicants must be:
- members of the RYA
- age 18 or over for both National and Regional qualifications
- an experienced racing sailor
- an email user with internet access
- UK passport holder (or have principal residence in the UK).
The qualification requirements, which must be achieved within the 4 years prior to 1st November of the year of application, for Regional and National Race Officers at initial and renewed appointments are:
| Requirement |
Regional Initial |
Regional Renewal |
National Initial |
National Renewal |
| Seminar |
Regional |
Not required |
National |
Not required |
| Examination |
RRO |
Not required |
NRO |
Not required |
| Performance Assessment |
Not required |
Not required |
Not required |
Not required |
| Minimum Experience* |
4 Events |
4 Events |
4 Major Events |
4 Major Events |
| References# |
1 |
Not required |
2 |
Not required |
| VHF Certificate |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Powerboat Qualification |
Not required |
Not required |
PBL2 |
PBL2 |
| Manuals |
Not required |
Not required |
ISAF Race Management |
ISAF Race Management |
| Conference |
Not required |
Yes^ |
Not required |
Yes^ |
* As Race Officer In Charge.
# References must be from the events given on the application form.
^ Attendance at a Seminar of the same grade is an acceptable alternative.
Candidates for the National qualification are also required to show additional experience such as an ability to work with a variety of course configurations, in waters outside of their home area and with several senior race officers. A 'major event' is deliberately not defined as there are many factors to be taken into consideration when assessing this.
The guideline that the Race Management Committee uses to assess suitability of both Regional Race Officers and National Race Officers can be downloaded from the link on the right side of this page.
Application and Reference forms for these qualifications can be found at Application and Reference Forms.
More detail on the race official scheme and its requirements can be found by clicking here.