Hey there I'm Kobi Simmat from Best Practice TV and today we've teamed
up with oceanpaddler.com to go through some basic safety equipment and some on
the water requirements for while you're training and racing this ocean ski
season now one disclaimer for you just check
with your local authority for the waters that you're paddling on now on the
lovely Sydney Harbor in Sydney Australia today and we've got special requirements
local to Sydney and New South Wales so it's important to look at your maritime
regulations in your local area where you're paddling now the second thing on
race day check your race directors rules check the race rules and the
mandatory safety equipment for your race we're going to go through some of that
generic equipment for you today now one of the emerging best practices for ocean
paddling is obviously high vis clothing today I'm in bright orange I've got a
Fenn rash vest on I've got a best practice hat and I've got the ocean
paddler PFD now your first piece of equipment I think that goes without
saying is a PFD now there's a bunch of different requirements out there
internationally in the marketplace here in Australia your PFD needs to be
certified to an Australian standard if you're on maritime regulation so when
you're training and if you're racing you need to check your race directors
requirements now some of the complementary equipment for what you're
doing out on the water when you're training or racing is obviously with any
surf sport is a good quality leg leash like this one from oceanpaddler.com
now because of the distances you're able to travel on some of these great surf
skis you can now get we also recommend that you have an orange smoke flare like
this one one of the pieces of equipment that's becoming more and more popular
every day obviously the mobile phone now that is recommended by one of the local
regulators now today after my iPhone 7 I've got the Rode ID app installed and
we'll go through that later on I'm going to got it in a waterproof case I can
throw that lanyard around my neck or the ocean paddler PFD I can just drop it in
the pocket like this zip it up nice and tight and it's there obviously pretty
important for any sport in any training that you're doing is your hydration now
this is the Fenn water bottle today I'm paddling a Fenn Elite S I can drop the
water bottle in the sleeve that sits at the front of the ski I can take about 2
litres of water now it's important for both racing and training and the final
piece of equipment that we're talking about today is lights so between sunset
and sunrise here in Australia we've got to have an all-round white light from
the front the back of my hat and that meets the
requirements here in Sydney so once you get out on the water or you start to
plan to get out on the water there is just a couple of top tips that we've got for
you during training the first is obviously plan your start and finish
time so you know your approximate distance how far you're going to go when
you're going to be back you can tell someone where you are running an app on
your mobile phone like Road ID is a good idea and then if you can paddle with a
buddy now it's important to remember that in
an area like this that you are actually a vessel and there are rules and
regulations so that applies during training and obviously also in racing
and also think about your ability so am i confident to do
what I'm setting out to do without relying on my buddies and obviously
needing safety and rescue equipment so you want to try and get there on your
own steam and have a great day so we've got 10 things to remember on
race day the first is make sure you know the rules
the second is go to the race briefing the third is follow the course and if
you feel like you're really winning and you're out by yourself you're probably
not so stay with the crowd and the fourth thing is follow the instructions of officials so
anyone on the course at the start during the course are at the end and the fifth
thing if you see somebody that's in distress stop and give them a hand if
you get yourself into trouble it's important to try and look after yourself
don't panic just chill out and relax now if you can't get back on your ski or if
you're getting into trouble raise the awareness of another paddler around you
if you're carrying your mobile phone or your safety devices you've got those to
use so familiarize yourself with when is appropriate to use those things and how
to get the attention of safety officials now to help out the event organisers if
you do have a problem or if you pull out of the race remember a couple of things
one obviously what's your race number also make sure that you contact the
event officials to pull out of the event if you've got a timing chip it's
important to hand that back so that you can be taken off the register and it's
most likely going to be that you still need to comply with the maritime rules
which means giving away that really big vessels like ships and ferries and those
sorts of things so it's situational awareness reach out the oceanpaddler.com
either email them or contact them via their website now if you do need any
of this great equipment it's all available on oceanpaddler.com we'll
see you next time Best Practice TV and oceanpaddler.com