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Displaying items by tag: IMRF Survey

A survey by the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) has been launched to try to understand the current gender balance in search and rescue (SAR) organisations all around the world - whether paid professional or volunteer, national, regional or local.

The IMRF is the international NGO working to develop and improve maritime search and rescue (SAR) capacity and capability around the world. A membership organisation with members located across all continents, it organises training, shares best practice and act as the voice of the industry.

However, there is currently no definitive study that assesses the level of representation of women in the SAR sector, or looks at the roles that they fill. As a result, the IMRF has developed a survey to ask both women and men working in SAR about their experiences, work and aspirations.

Theresa Crossley, CEO IMRF explains: “Quite simply if we want to try and make sure there’s equality of opportunity across the sector, first we need to understand what the current status is, what the barriers are and where those opportunities may be.

“We are asking anyone who works in maritime search and rescue – and that could be front line operations or back office support, full or part time, volunteer or professional, male or female, to complete the survey. It only takes about five minutes, but the information will be incredibly useful in helping us to plan the next steps. We want to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to get involved and/or build the career they want in this inspiring sector. The link to the survey can be found on our home page www.imrf.org.uk ”

The #WomeninSAR initiative was launched last year (2019), supporting the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Empowering Women in Maritime initiative. The project aims to increase the representation of women in the maritime sector and to support and raise the profile of women in maritime search and rescue. Last year a new IMRF #WomeninSAR award was launched to recognise exceptional leading women in the sector at the annual IMRF Awards and the first all-women training was held in Morocco in conjunction with the IMO.

The IMRF #WomeninSAR survey can be found here:

Published in Coastguard

About the Melges 15 Dinghy

The Melges 15 was designed by Reichel/Pugh and built by Melges.

The design prioritises stability, comfort, ease of use, and performance. 

The Melges 15 is built to be sailed by everyone from friends and couples to families and kids. The design offers performance, comfort, and stability in one sleek package.

The Melges 15’s stable hull shape and ergonomic cockpit make it a suitable layout for adult racing and educational sailing. Easy conversion from a club configuration (non-spinnaker) to a one-design setup, provides more versatility to club programs and options for individual owners.

“The Melges 15 creates a clear pathway for junior sailors to get started and stay excited about sailing while also being comfortable and accessible enough for adults to learn, race, or cross-train,” according to Harry Melges III.

With the main design goals focused on stability and performance in various conditions, the boat features a narrow overall beam and a flat cross-section shape for stability, righting moment, and ease of planing. For a more forgiving feel upwind and to navigate larger sea states, the Melges 15 has just the right amount of fore and aft rocker.

Melges conducted extensive research and product testing to produce this layout factoring in cockpit depth, backbone height, and floor plan. The result, they say, is a comfortable environment for both the skipper and crew. The deeper cockpit takes the load off the sailor’s knees helping them feel locked into the boat while the high boom and gnav vang system work together to make the boat easier to manoeuvre.

The asymmetric spinnaker offers an additional performance element, while the single-pull launch and retrieval system makes handling the sail easy and fast.

 

At a Glance - Melges 15 Specifications

  • LENGTH 15 ft 
    BEAM 5 ft 6 in
    DRAFT 2 ft 7 in 
    HULL WEIGHT 230 lbs
  • SAIL AREA
    MAIN 93.6 sq ft 
    JIB 39.8 sq ft 
    ASYMMETRICAL SPINNAKER 156 sq ft 
  • CREW 2

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