With the 2013 season coming to a close the sailors would be welcomed to the new season with some changes in 2014. The regulatory bodies have come to a conclusion that there needs to be some change for this year and the changes are for the better sailing. One of the most important changes that will be seen is the percentage of fuel sulfur which should be 1000 ppm.
This would help to reduce the airborne particulate matter resulting in less emission of sulfur dioxide. According to the Load Line Convention the southern limit of the allover load will soon be moved by 50 miles towards the south which would give more room to the yachts and ships to pass from the allocated area. Previously this was always planned but it was not incorporated but from this year it will be taken care of and it will help the sailors a lot.
Apart from this there will be some other changes as well such as the length of the yacht can be changed and each yacht will be able to have either a shore based support or an onboard stability computer that would be having more than three vertical fire zones.
There will be changes in the fire safety systems as well and as per the changes that have been made a yacht can only have a radiotelephone apparatus that too in the two way portable mode so that it becomes easier for the firefighter’s communication. The communication will be done via radio and the radios should be intrinsically safe with explosion proof facility. In addition to this the yacht should also have some spare cylinders with a facility for onboard recharging and breathing apparatus cylinder. Changes in the noise level are also been looked into but the definite information about this has not yet been updated.