Race licences and measurement certificates

[Johnny Rocket]

Why is there a need for race licences and measurement certificates?

What do they achieve other than income for the RYA?

This is a serious question, not just having a dig. They may serve a fundamentally important purpose, but as I'm not a racer I don't know!

[Jon Fuller]

The licence, shows that you have passed a medical, and includes a certain amount of insurance, how much, I don't really know.

It also gives the governing body a lever to control things, ie, refusal or disqualification of the licence if there's repeated issues with a racer, so it simpifies exclusion if it's needed.

The measurement certificate is to show that the boat complies with the rules specific to the class in which it is to race.

A new, or rebuilt boat obviously needs 'measuring' to confirm that it fits the rules.

The issue of repeat certificates, which are just posted to the boat owner, on reciept of a yearly payment is a little more confusing, if the conformaty is not actually tested before re-issue, and the certificate is mearly posted, it's only really about colecting another 'tax' for the priviledge of racing under RYA rules, in other words, a load of bollox!

[verytricky]

We have to have a current measurement certificate because it is in the UIM rules. There are definate class rules in most classes, and the measurement certificate has the measurements, taken by a qualified surveyor of boats, against homologation papers ( in the one design for example )

If there is then a question that someone has modified their boat, the measurements can be checked to verify that the boat is still as original when last 'measured'.

It also verifies 'ownership' of the boat - which is important. If i borrow and race and crash your boat without permission, this is a problem! Insurance etc all become clouded. When Pete Little raced my boat, he had to have a written permission from me for the specific race, as the certificate was in my name.

IMO it is actually a good requirement.


What is under question is the charge ( I think £110 for a V24 ) for printing out a single A4 sheet of paper, stamping it and posting it to the competitor.

This smacks of profiteering; it does not bare any relation to the effort involved.

There is a possibility of the current cost for the 'measurement certificate' being challenged legally. I have a laywer currently looking at this question under European law. It appears to be an illegal charge.

The RYA have already changed their rule where they charged a full measurement charge when a boat changed ownership without changing. Before, like when I bought the boat from Richard Carr, I had to pay ( I think £220 plus £80 ) for the measurement certificate transfer into my name. The boat did not change - the measurements did not change, I just was out of pocket £300 for the privilage of a name change!

This is now no longer the case!

So we are winning in some areas.

[Johnny Rocket]

OK, so we retain race licences. However, the licence fee is a set at a realistic price of admin costs plus a bit -- there's no reason why they shouldn't make a contribution to the overall costs, but the bulk of the income should be charged per race.

In the "simpler racing system" aka Johnny Rocket's New World Order we may not need measurement certificates as a basic requirement. As they will only apply to class championships then it would be up to the class associations to make their own rules. This would further reduce the costs for occasional racers not interested in championship entry.

If they were to be made a general requirement then there should be a one-off payment with a nominal fee for change of ownership. Rather than annual renewal, a challenge procedure could exist where any competitor could challenge the eligibility of another boat. Challenger pays the measurement fee if they are wrong!