10 common mistakes… and how to avoid them
TOBY HEPPELL got his first boat aged four and grew up sailing on the East Coast. He has been a sailing journalist for more than 15 years
It's easy to get into bad habits when we go sailing and equally easy to lose sight of some of the ways we might wish to progress our sailing skills. To an extent, for the cruising sailor, when we are able to passage plan safely and sail from A to B then any impetus to continue developing our skills can slowly leech away. We spoke to the RYA’s Richard Falk, weather guru Chris Tibbs, rigger Gordon Bonney and sail-trim expert from North Sails, Bill Gladstone about the areas they feel get overlooked.
1 RIGGING CHECKS
Though there is no need to check over every single part of a boat before heading out, a regular check of rigging and systems is important. This is especially true if you are going any significant distance. ‘I’m always surprised by the number of people who don’t really check out their rigging before they set off,’ says Gordon Bonney, director of Performance Rigging. ‘To me, there are certain things that need to be checked regularly. Some people have a list, but I think it’s best to just look around your boat during the normal course of sailing her. If you’re getting the anchor out of the locker, check the windlass drum under the deck to make sure it’s working correctly.’
Some elements, particularly on standing rigging need checking more thoroughly. ‘For the most part, to be covered by insurance you need to have standing rigging checked every 10 years, but it’s not quite as simple as that. Lots of things can effect both wire and rod rigging that will cause it to be a hazard earlier. Similarly it might last longer. As a rule of thumb I would like to see people having someone up the mast every two to three years depending on miles at sea.’
This variability in how long your standing rigging is going to
