Green Cards & Safety Inspections

Daniel Pinsky of Exodus and Pat Lawless of Silvermines Hydro are the first skippers of the Golden Globe Race fleet to receive their ‘green card’ - but what, you may ask, actually is a green card?

As in any yacht race, boats must be certified for conformity to the rules before the race start - and the GGR is no different. Standard safety and skipper checks occur as part of the green card system, as well as checks to ensure conformity to the GGR's retro rules.

The green card certification also includes non-safety equipment confirmations, notably administration checks regarding “full payment of entry, registration, communication and sponsor fees as well as any fines.” GGR competitors also have to obtain an exit stamp from the Nantes immigration office before receiving a green card.

Rob Buttress, Safety Inspection Manager, explained how the safety element of the green card worked in the months and weeks leading up to the fleet’s departure.

“So earlier in the year, a self-checklist was sent out to people.

“The purpose of it was so that the skippers had half an idea as to where they were and what things they still needed to buy and all that kind of thing.”

Once the skippers had arrived in Les Sables d’Olonne, and with two weeks until race start, teams of safety inspectors then undertook surveys following the same checklist previously issued to skippers. 

"I had three three teams of three inspectors, and they went through and basically replicated the same exercise [with the checklists]."

While there were some issues of interpretation (it turns out dodgers and lee cloths mean different things in English compared to American English!), the inspections were meticulous; while some of the fleet had a few issues to fix following their inspection, these were rectified in their re-inspections.

However, as explained earlier, safety checks are not the sole component in receiving a green card. Other components include the submission of a final registration pack which contains important documents for the circumnavigation, such as proof of suitable and proper insurance, a waste management plan (for all rubbish must remain on the boat for the duration of the circumnavigation), and fresh water plumbing schematics, among many others.

Once all criteria of the green card have been satisfactorily met, the skippers are awarded their green card - essentially the final go-ahead before the start, an exciting milestone for skippers and their managers. 

With the awarding of a green card, their boat is effectively isolated under a “banned equipment rule” as explained in the NoR.

“Once issued, the boat is under the banned equipment rule which means that no banned equipment (other than digital cameras until the race start day), or any person with banned equipment in their possession is allowed on the boat without the written permission of the GGR Director.”

However, a green card is not all that is required of the skippers and their preparations - before they set off, emergency equipment must be sealed; this equipment includes a GPS plotter, nine litres of water, and a vital autopilot component (to be installed in emergencies if the self-steering system fails), among other emergency equipment.

The green card, though, is what every GGR skipper works towards in their journey towards the startline in Les Sables d'Olonne. Receiving it is a watershed moment which marks their GGR dream finally becoming tangibly real. Exciting stuff!