Question 24: In case of chartering a boat what are the exact requirements from the charterer to participate in the regatta? Is there a minimal charter fee agreed in the class, do he need to pay the class fee? Is there anything special that needs to be included in the charter agreement?
Class Rule C.2.3(a) requires a boat to be helmed by either its owner, part owner or charterer unless an alternative helm has been approved.
Class rule C.2.3(c)(iii) further defines a charter helmsperson as:
"Charter helmsperson means a person chartering a boat for several Class events or a single Class event which has submitted a copy of the charter agreement to the RCA of the event(s), or ICA for international events and paid an appropriate charter fee for the charter period."
Accordingly, to be considered a charter helmsperson, that person needs to submit a copy of the charter agreement between them and the owner to the relevant authority, and have paid an appropriate charter fee.
The Class through either an RCA or the ICA does not stipulate what the charter fee should be as this is a private matter between the owner and the charterer of the boat.
There are no specific clauses that the rules stipulate must be within the charter agreement.
It should be noted that a rule improvement will be considered by the Executive Committee to clarify that the relevant committee must approve a charter helmsperson to ensure that a genuine charter is in place. This will be considered before the class season begins.
In addition, attention is drawn to class rule A.12.1 which requires a charter helm to be a member of the class and that Constitution provision 4.6 provides that after a charter helm has competed in one class event they must pay the relevant class membership in order to continue being eligeble to enter a boat as a a charter helm.
Andy Wibroe
Technical Officer