“If you have a happy boat, you can have disasters happen to you, and it’ll be fine. On an unhappy boat the smallest things can become an issue.”
“A happy boat is my biggest ambition for this trip,” said John Kirchhoff before setting out on his transatlantic crossing with the ARC last November, on his Southerly 42 Easter Snow.
So, how can you set your boat up for crew happiness? Between social media and crew-match websites, it’s easier than ever to connect skipper-seeking-crew with potential crew-seeking-yacht and, hopefully, find a good match. But there are no guarantees: whether strangers or close family, living in the confined space of a yacht, and potentially adding stress, restricted sleep or seasickness to the mix, can reveal people’s true personalities like few other scenarios. We spoke to skippers and crews taking part in this year’s ARC rally to find out what they saw as key rules for crew happiness.
GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER
Just as internet dating has revolutionised how people meet one another ashore, so the majority of crew matches occur online – with sites such as Ocean Crew Link, Crewseekers etc offering a simple way to upload and view profiles. There were still a few ‘Boat Wanted’ flyers pinned up around Las Palmas
