Club Re-opens to All Members This Saturday

We are excited to announce that the club has decided to re-open participation to members who reside outside “Area B”.  As of this coming Saturday, 19 September, all members will be welcome at the club during official racing on Saturdays, subject to satisfying the critical requirements set out in this article.

The club has reached this view following further advice from Australian Sailing that was based on further discussions with the Office of Sport.  Australian Sailing has advised that the “department stressed that:  1. These restrictions are recommendations only  2. Regional boundaries can be taken as a guide, not a definitive barrier  3. Avoid travel across regions where possible.”

We note that the sport of sailing is one which requires (a) access to water and (b) access to specialist equipment that is stored at the sailing club and is not readily transportable. We also note that there has been recognition by the NSW Government since the commencement of COVID-19 that exercise is important for both physical and mental health.  In this context, the important words in the latest advice from Australian Sailing are the words “where possible”.  As it is not possible for our members to continue their exercise without access to the clubhouse and the water, we believe it is not possible to “avoid travel across regions”. For these reasons, the club will re-open to members from outside “Area B”.

Importantly, we note that the club has maintained, and continues to maintain, rigorous compliance with all Public Health Orders.  (The current “zones” are recommendations and are not Public Health Orders.) In order to ensure our ongoing compliance with the Public Health Orders, as well as to minimise the risk of an outbreak associated with our club, we reiterate the following critical requirements related to attendance at the club.  It is important that all members must read and understand these, and commit to observing them.

Critical COVIDSafe requirements:

• You may not attend the clubhouse if you have been overseas or interstate to Victoria, unless you have received a negative COVID-19 test result after waiting at least 14 days since returning

• You may not attend the clubhouse if you have attended any of the reported case locations on the NSW Health website HERE during the indicated times, unless you have followed the requirements in respect of that case location as set out on the NSW Health website 

• You may not attend the clubhouse if you have any of the following symptoms, however mild: fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of smell or taste, fatigue, runny nose, muscle pain, joint pain, headache, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, or loss of appetite, unless you have received a negative COVID-19 test result since the symptoms appeared

• You may not attend the clubhouse if you have been in contact with anyone with COVID-19, unless you have received a negative COVID-19 test result after waiting at least 14 days since your contact

• The sailing instructions will provide scoring relief for non-attendance due to complying with these COVIDSafe requirements – more information to come

• We request you avoid the use of public transport to and from the club, where possible

• Before entering the clubhouse, you must sign in with an active mobile number to allow us to maintain contact tracing records         

• Hand sanitiser will be provided at the club and must be used prior to entry and prior to and after touching any surfaces or equipment at the club

• You must maintain social distancing of 1.5m both inside the club and in the park

• No more than 10 people are allowed in the clubhouse at any one time and no more than 20 people are allowed in a single broad grouping in the park at any one time. If there are already more than 20 boats in a group, please take your boat to the other end of the park

• You may not get changed inside the clubhouse or on the northern deck.  You may not socialise inside the clubhouse or on the northern deck

• The clubhouse is to be used only for boat retrieval or race management purposes and you must remain inside for as short a period as possible – “get in, get out”

• There will be no use of toilets, showers or changerooms (the accessible bathroom will be available for toilet purposes only, if absolutely necessary)

• If the canteen is operational, no one (other than canteen volunteers) is permitted inside the clubhouse to access the canteen.  All orders must be placed at the canteen station in the park and all food must be collected from the canteen station in the park – more information to come

• Each week, there will be a rostered COVID Compliance Officer (CCO) to make sure everyone is complying with these restrictions

• We encourage all members to download the COVIDSafe App and to make sure it is active when you come to the club

These COVIDSafe requirements are the way we make sure we comply with current Public Health Orders and keep our community safe. Thanks to the many members who have been abiding by these rules. However, in the past few weeks complacency has slipped in and the rules have begun to be bent. We understand some of these requirements can be a bit of a pain at times – who doesn’t want to take a hot shower after sailing or hang out with their mates on the front deck. But unfortunately the reality of the current situation requires all of us to do our part, and stick to our plan which allows us to keep sailing. 

Thank you for taking these regulations seriously. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to the club this Saturday!