To qualify for full membership you need to do an ocean crossing of at least 1000 Nm.
Then, what's considered to be such a thing ?

Do you need to sail from one continent to another or is a route along the coast of one continent of 1000 Nm without a stop enough ?
Lets say you sail from New York to French Guiana non stop. Does this qualify you for a full membership even though you did not cross an ocean ?

/Hans

Hi Hans,
The Club has never been literal in its interpretation of the word "ocean".  As we all know, some 1000nm trips are a doddle and some are not.  The rule state:

Full Membership. The requirement to be met by all applicants for Full Membership of the Ocean Cruising Club is the Qualifying Passage, which requires that:
•    the applicant was the skipper or member of the crew;
•    in a vessel of not more than 70ft (21.3 m) L.O.A.;
•    for a non-stop ocean passage between two ports; and
•    of a distance of not less than 1,000 nautical miles measured by the shortest practical Great Circle route.

This definition of the Qualifying Passage shall only be amended by the Full Members in a General Meeting. (Reference AGM 2014.)

New York to French Guiana would qualify.

Regards,
Rachelle

+x

 

rachelle.turk - 13 Sep 2022

Hi Hans,
The Club has never been literal in its interpretation of the word "ocean".  As we all know, some 1000nm trips are a doddle and some are not.  The rule state:

Full Membership. The requirement to be met by all applicants for Full Membership of the Ocean Cruising Club is the Qualifying Passage, which requires that:
•    the applicant was the skipper or member of the crew;
•    in a vessel of not more than 70ft (21.3 m) L.O.A.;
•    for a non-stop ocean passage between two ports; and
•    of a distance of not less than 1,000 nautical miles measured by the shortest practical Great Circle route.

This definition of the Qualifying Passage shall only be amended by the Full Members in a General Meeting. (Reference AGM 2014.)

New York to French Guiana would qualify.

Regards,
Rachelle

Hi Hans and all,
Interesting question and discussion.
To my mind, and in casual discussion with long- and short-term members, being able to be a full member indicated that you were able to skipper a boat 1000 nm offshore nonstop which, generally, if you can do that you can cross oceans. Open water feels like a pre-requisite as that indicated you are ready to take on whatever weather may come after the 3 days or so that the weather guys are pretty accurate. Which is why a 1000 nm along the coast does not make it for me: it changes things (or should) when there is no place to bail out to.
Along those lines, I do have a problem with crew being allowed full membership: at least as given. Some crew are absolutely qualified while others are little more than passengers. I would at least wish that the potential member declare himself or herself to be, by personal estimation, qualified to have taken control of the boat and brought her safely to shore were the skipper to have become incapacitated. I would also wish to have the skipper declare that the potential member was, in his/her estimation, fully capable to have taken over command of the boat were the skipper unable to perform his/her duties.
Without the above declarations, both from skipper and self, I would not want someone to become a full OCC member. And if the person did not meet the above qualifications, then they were crew and not a potential full OCC member. When I meet a full member, I wish to know that they have done the work and have the skills and knowledge to take a boat significant distances offshore.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy