20^th December 2024

Ski Racing Australia Board Communications – Issue 4

The SRA Board met recently to be updated by the SRA Safety Committee, the new SRA Sanctioning/Compliance Committee and by the Maritime Investigation Liaison on the progress for the Return to Racing plan.

SRA Safety Committee

Much work has been ongoing by this committee and also the Falls Investigation Team. The work, in particular, which Daniel Cotton, Brock McMillan, Connor Lindsell, and Chris Singleton have undertaken, has been exceptional and will lead to enhanced competitor safety.

The testing on helmet restraints and wetsuits has been conducted on a test rig developed by “Cotto” and he has been vigorously performing preliminary static load tests to determine what improvements can be achieved with regard to wetsuit design, restraint anchor point performance, optimal anchor point locations, and determination of suitable hardware for the restraint system.

Members of the Safety Committee have also visited Crashlab in Huntingwood NSW. Crashlab is a division of Transport for NSW and is responsible for testing and certification of all consumer helmets (inc motorbike, pushbike, mountain bike, etc). The committee are planning to utilise some of Crashlab’s equipment and expertise to perform some dynamic testing on helmet chin strap buckles to confirm peak release loads, and hopefully some additional tests in the New Year.

The next step is to build a new test rig for dynamic testing of wetsuits, restraints, and helmets. This will also include procuring testing equipment for performing dynamic tests on the new wetsuit and restraint designs they have developed. As we compile and build our data via the dynamic tests we aim to finalise the optimisation of the wetsuit and restraint design. The next step at this point will be to provide our data and the dynamic test rig to an independent professional in the field of human crash and sporting biomechanics for the purposes of having our test procedure and data validated.

It should be noted that a number of members have also been working on their own solutions for protecting skier’s necks and all of these members should be commended. Their ideas are promoting discussion and the development and testing of alternative solutions and ideas. Their collaboration is appreciated.

In the coming weeks, SRA will launch a series of video’s showcasing the testing that is underway. This will help you to appreciate the rigour which underlies this project.

The SRA Board have also agreed that the SRA Safety Committee and the Falls Investigation Team will work together to continue working through the objectives of Project Protect into the future.

Competitor Information

SRA continue to encourage all competitors to complete the compulsory equipment survey to ensure that SRA has the information to assist the return to racing plan.

The survey link is

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6RBSBR7

SRA Sanctioning /Compliance Committee

This newly formed committee of Kelly Lindsell, Steve Shipp and Bobbette McMillan have drafted their Terms of Reference, which will revolve around:-

• Promoting compliance with the SRA Constitution, SRA Rule Book and SRA Sanctioning Policy;
• Annually reviewing the Sanctioning Policy and Practices and provide resolutions and recommendations to the Board;
• Engaging with SRA approved officials, event organisers and the various regulatory authorities to ensure any issues are identified and managed; and
• Understanding and reporting to the SRA Board opportunities for improvement in the overall compliance of SRA.

The review of the Sanctioning Policy and all that is associated with that in this new environment, is the current focus for this team.

Maritime Investigation Update

The Maritime Investigation team continue to collect information from many sources with SRA continuing to supply information when requested.  The lead time for any feedback remains 1st Quarter 2025.

Heads of State & State Forums

The SRA Board will be holding a Heads of States and Clubs Meeting in early 2025 with a proposed communication forums concept to be rolled out with an SRA supplied information package.

All of sport Review

With a renewed focus on reinventing our sport as part of the Return to Racing, we have the following key areas being reviewed:

• The type of racing we return with;
• Calendar of events;
• Grading of events;
• Membership Period;
• Age Group Period;
• SRA intent to run a new 150hp Outboard Class; and
• Marketing

We encourage our members to be part of this journey by contributing via email to

Yoursay@skiracing.com.au and letting us know what you would like to see implemented.

The SRA Board will continue to update our members as progress is made on our Return to Racing plans, with the 1^st Quarter of 2025 critical in both the Maritime investigation and the SRA PPE development.

Have a Merry Christmas and we wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

Yours in Ski Racing,

SRA Board