Preparing for an Event/Season

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  How many times have you prepared for an event, simply by hooking the boat onto the back of the car and being driven to another new venue by your ever faithful Mum or Dad, while you relax in the back dreaming of fair winds, sunshine and catching up with the craic from the last event/season with all your like minded mates?  When you get there you stick the mast up, bend on the sails and away you go. Easy!

   Nine times out of ten you will probably get away with this, but just think of all the things that could go wrong, any one of which could ruin your race/day/event /season/ranking/ qualification for ISA Helmsman Championships or Worlds.

   A few simple checks will greatly reduce the chances of this happening to you. Some of these only need to be done once a year while others should be done before every event. I’ll leave you to decide which is which.

Let’s start with the paperwork.

   Have you entered? All the organising clubs offer a discount for early entry. This not only helps your budget, but is of great assistance to the club as they know how many boats to expect.  Entry forms are easily downloaded from the website.

   Do you have your measurement certificate and insurance documents with you? These are not always required but it is better to have them just in case.

New sails? Try and get these measured before the event as it will save time.

Details of all class measurers are on the website.

Check your trailer.

   There are some long journeys on the circuit and your trailer will not last forever without some routine maintenance.

Check whether the wheel hubs are greased and tow hitch lubricated.

Check if your tailboard lights are working.

Check tyre pressures including spare.

What happens if you get a puncture on the trailer?  

   Is your car jack suitable to lift the trailer? If not, you can buy a small bottle jack for about £10 - £15.       

Does you car wheel brace fit the trailer wheel nuts? If not a spider wheel brace with four different ends should do, or carry a suitable socket.

   Check all your straps / ties, you don’t want to lose your boat. Don’t laugh. I know a man once who set off from Belfast with his boat securely tied on, but when he got to Cork it wasn’t there! Not an ideal way to start an event.

Make sure you have everything with you before you leave. Sounds simple but I also know a certain World Champion who arrived in Dunlaoghaire for an event without any sails. Mum had to drive over 100 miles home at midnight to fetch them. Was he popular or what?

On to the boats.

   Wooden Mirrors are beautiful to look at but they need to be looked after. Don’t be smug all you plastic boat owners. The day will surely come when your boat has to visit the repair shop. 

   Pay particular attention to any varnished areas.  Keep the boat as dry as possible between events and make sure any new or re-opened screw holes are sealed with epoxy. Water loves these holes and will turn your wood black. [and heavy]. There are various grip tape products on the market, if these are applied in the right place, they not only give grip, but also provide protection for the vulnerable areas.

Check all the fittings regularly, especially reaching hooks, jib fairleads/cleats, mainsheet blocks, any cleats or blocks screwed to the floor, all rudder fittings both on the boat and the rudder stock. These can and do work loose.

Check the universal joint for your tiller extension. There are cheap and expensive versions of these. The difference is the expensive ones have a piece of wire running through the middle so that if the plastic does let go, the wire should still give you control until you can replace it. You decide.

Check your toe straps regularly. It is very embarrassing if you or your crew falls out of the boat because of a loose nut.

Check ropes regularly, especially halyards, and particularly the Gaff halyard. These are notorious for chafing through at the Gaff fitting, and apart from being not very fast, it hurts a bit when the Gaff comes crashing down on your head!

Check and replace regularly the little plastic slide that attaches the clew of the mainsail to the outhaul track. These cost about 50p and could easily ruin your day. As an insurance measure, loop a piece of fine rope through the clew and round the boom. If the slide does break at least the sail will not fly away completely.

Check the kicking strap, especially where it attaches to the boom and tape up anything that could come apart. Again it’s very slow to have the boom swinging three feet above your head downwind.

On the water.

   Make sure you have all the safety items required by the IMCAI.

These are: - lifejackets, paddle, baler, painter [attached round the mast] and all bungs secured. You will not be allowed on the water without these.

Spares.

   It’s amazing what you can do with a roll of tape, a few random lengths of rope or bungy and perhaps a spare shackle or small block. Most sailors will be able to carry these in a pocket of their life jacket or shorts. Trust me-it’s well worth the extra weight.

Don’t forget. After racing, always rinse your boat down with fresh water, not forgetting the foils.

Sailing instructions: -

  These are issued to every competitor, and, contrary to popular belief, they are not for writing down your order from McDonald’s on the back of. Nor are they designed to sit in the cubby hole and soak up the water that you missed with the sponge. Read them, especially Addendum B which gives information about the specific event, colour of marks, where the notice board is etc.

   Make sure you know what all the flags and sound signals mean, including class and course flags. This is information that doesn’t change from year to year, so once you know it, you know it and you therefore avoid the risk of looking over your shoulder while asking someone what the course is and smashing your boat into someone else who is doing the same thing!

Rules.

   No-one in the world knows all the rules, but if you can remember one or two simple ones like when you have water or when you have luffing rights, you might find that a well chosen hail, given early, might avoid either damage

to your boat or time spent later in a protest room.

   Some of the rules have changed this year. For example, the ‘360’ and’ 720’ turn penalties are now called ‘one turn’ and ‘two turn’ penalties. This means you only have to do one tack and one gybe or two tacks and two gybes rather than the full 360 or 720. Try it before racing. It can save you time.

   There are lots of other ways to prepare for specific events such as tidal research, weather forecasts, buddy sailing, transits and compass work but these should be left up to the individual.

   Likewise, boat set-up is variable according to boat type, sails, wind conditions etc. but if you want any advice, ask one of the ‘big lads’. Don’t forget, they’ve all been there too!

Most of all ENJOY!

Fub.