We ask the experts about the skills every good skipper should have in their armoury

10 common mistakes...

and how to avoid them

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 last

makes it difficult to draw a solid conclusion about whether you need

yours checked or not. ‘Lots of things can affect standing rigging. We

see a lot of boats that have

spent time in the Med or in

other hot places that

need their rigging

replaced more regularly.

That is almost certainly

because salt water and

salt-water spray gets

onto the rigging and dries

quickly in the warmer weather.

There is usually much less rain

compared to the UK to wash the

rigging down regularly.’ He adds

that other factors contribute to

degradation of rigging: if the

boat is berthed downwind of a

factory this can have an impact

over time too, as trace chemicals

in the air from the factory can

degrade rigging over time.

The one thing Gordon’s team

deal with the most, however, is

furling kit. ‘Servicing furling gear

is pretty important, I would say.

Making sure it is installed

correctly is key and making sure

it turns easily, particularly the

swivel at the top of the sail.

Typically the swivel experiences

two different loads, vertical and

lateral. After a while they tend to succumb to this strain and just give

up. We pretty regularly have to service furling gear where this has

happened and owners have just carried on but used a winch to furl

and unfurl, making the problem worse and worse.

REMEMBER: Checking rigging is not a function of a specific amount

of time, rather the real-world conditions your boat has experienced.

PRACTICAL

SE AMANSHIP

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 good practice to have

someone up the mast every

couple of years to check

the rigging