Abby Ehler gives her advice and top tips on how to prepare a boat for the season ahead, from planning for the worst, to defining your goals, having a checklist for the start of the season is essential. Abby Ehler has competed in three Volvo Ocean Races and run top race boats including Farr 40s, TP52s and the 76ft mini-maxi Nokia Enigma. She has also been a key player in shoreside management for the America\u2019s Cup and SailGP. So there are few people in a better position to understand what it takes to prepare a boat and crew for the season ahead.\u00a0
\nEhler says she \u2018fell into\u2019 the world of boat captaining, but was delighted to discover she had a natural aptitude for it. \u201cI enjoy the elements of boat captaining because it requires a lot of attention to detail, high levels of organisation and logistics. So I guess it\u2019s not everyone\u2019s cup of tea, but it works to my strengths,\u201d she explains.
\nEven if this part of campaigning is something you put off, rather than relish, these tips from Ehler will get you on the right path to prepare a boat more efficiently and with much greater reliability.
\nDefine your timeline
\nIdentify the event where you want to be operating at your absolute peak and work out how many days, weeks and months you have before then. Once you\u2019ve got your timeframe, split up the areas of work: rigging, winches and deck hardware, sails, the bottom of the boat, and mast.
\nHighlight your key dates, eg the date the mast goes in or boat launches in the water. Those deadlines will govern doing all your mast and associated rigging jobs, making sure that\u2019s all checked and ready prior to that set date.
\nLikewise on the day the boat is launched you want to make sure your underwater surfaces, rudder bearings, and any underwater elements such as depth sounders\u00a0have all been ticked off before the boat gets wet.
\nSea trial first
\nAs soon as the boat launches, you can guarantee the job list will increase tenfold. Then add crew into the mix, and the list will increase again. This is why it\u2019s important to nail as many tasks as you can before the boat goes into the water.
\nAn early sea trial of a Italia 13.98. Photo: Paul Wyeth
\nIt\u2019s vital that your first sail after a long lay-off over winter is NOT a race, but a sea trial. After the boat has been out of action for a long time it\u2019s really important just to have that time to shake things down. You want to test the systems without the pressure of racing.
\nAvoid shortcuts
\nFew shortcuts pay off in the long run. Pre-empt potential bottlenecks in your suppliers\u2019 network and prevent any unnecessary stress and rushed jobs with last-minute demands and requests. Get your service orders in with the sailmaker, the boatbuilder and any contractors well before the summer rush begins.
\nWhen you\u2019re out on the water too, make sure you do things in a methodical way. There\u2019s often that person who wants to rush in and fix things using just their multi-tool rather than getting the right spanner. You can almost guarantee something will go wrong as a result of that rushed approach.
\nArticle continues below\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFiddling with the fit-out<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSolo sailor Pip Hare, author of our Advanced Sailing Series finds herself on a French submarine base…<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCheck your rig<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStay safe on board with this practical checklist from Yachting World’s Andrew Roberts<\/p>\n
\u2018Out of sight, out of mind\u2019 is another dangerous clich\u00e9. Just because you can\u2019t see something below decks doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not going wrong. It could be that hydraulic ram right up in the bow. Or the steering cables, or the rudder bearings, which might involve crawling through some horrible, small cave to inspect them.
\nYou want to fix everything you can fix right away: don\u2019t leave for tomorrow what you can do today.
\nThink about maintenance and problem solving: how you might you access and service machinery? Ask if changes can be made to suit your needs. Photo: Paul Wyeth
\nPrepare a boat with checklists
\nWhen tiredness sets in, it\u2019s easy to forget things. So I\u2019ve used checklists I\u2019d prepared before we left that would cover off all areas of the boat. One list was basically a quick walk through the boat checking for any chafe in the running and standing rigging including the steering cables, checking the hydraulics for any obvious leaks etc. This helps take the human error out of missing something or forgetting about it.
\nAnother tip is that if you know you need an 8mm Allen key to adjust the steering quadrant, paint \u20188mm\u2019 on the side of the quadrant so you\u2019ve got that immediate reference. Same if you need to go aloft to do a wand change on the masthead: you only want to go up the rig once, and with the minimum of kit, not a heavy toolbag.
\nExpect the worst
\nHope for the best but prepare for the worst is a useful approach in any scenario and particularly when you\u2019re going on a long offshore. Be a sponge for information from people who have that particular race experience under their belts. Also know your boat inside out and be aware of any weak spots.
\nMake sure you\u2019re carrying spares to cover off enough of the elements that could potentially stop you from finishing the race. Good preparation will put you in a much better place to weather the storm.<\/p>\n
If you enjoyed this\u2026.<\/p>\n
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The post How to prepare a boat for the season ahead appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Abby Ehler gives her advice and top tips on how to prepare a boat for the season ahead, from planning for the worst, to defining your goals, having a checklist for the start of the season is essential. Abby Ehler … <\/p>\n