Finding a new boat to sail in 2010

This year I will be doing very little once again in the way of competitive sailing. I am on the top plateau for my personal type thing, just in the fog a little and getting ever rustier but I know that polishing in a cycle of plateau is not for me. I need to be my own captain now, so must await financially fair weather.

But for you, young gun for hire? What is 2010 going to be?

Well if you are looking for a new boat then read on....

Maybe you have moved, maybe your old boat has. Or maybe you are climbing up the ranks. LEAVE that old dog who never wins and wonders why they do so badly. This is the time to plan it out so you don't fall into the same-old-same-old or being the whoare left over on the quay.

In no way is finding a new competitve boat to sail on analagous to making love to a beautiful woman. Earth girls are easy, sailing teams are complex societies from another dimension.

You have to define first and foremost what you want out of those fifteen or so wednesday nights, the five or six weekends and that one big regatta. Then think about what you are prepared to put in!

Effort means things like : going on courses - i recommend competent crew ( ulterior motives, see below) and dinghy sailing if you can. An hour in a dinghy is worth 8 in a 36 footer and pays off when you get a shot in a sportsboat like a melges 24 say, or even a hunter 707 in force 6! ; '

physical training- usually you need to be able to pump a little more on the halyards or winches and it is aærobic threshold training that counts here. General body conditioning, core training and flexibility are essentials to improve your phsyique for sailing and I found immense good from having donw a winter of mountain tours or a spring of cycling- endurance helps concentration and that little extra when other yachts are flagging.

Eating humble pie: eat it, but not too much. You don't want to be a boat bitch or a B lister. You want to get a position on a better boat from which you will learn. The best place to be is maybe as assistant to the bowman or mast man if they are sociable types prepared to teach you: SAY you want to learn. But don't eat too much humble pie because you will get demotivated and like careers it can be a bit incredible for a cocpit scrub to become the primary gas pedal (main-man, first trimmer or overall sail "maker" )

I recommend eating humble pie the other way around: be a big fish in a smaller pond. In other words pick a boat which has NO reputation yet but shows the right signs. More on this as my core strategy below.

Travel: are you prepared to go to a new club each week to improve the level of competition you go off the start line with? In the UK people often travel down from London to S'hampton for wednesdays and I used to travel from manchester to Pwhelli or Hamble or Scotland or Ireland just for weekend races!

Graft- are you prepared to do something good for the club? A bit of volunteering, laying marks, helping start or timing, woodwork or whatever you are trained in....this pays dividends most places as the committee respect the hell out of you for asking what you can do for....very JFK. I did this locally, knowing that it was good to just participate and an otherwise bit cliquey group opened up for me and took me into their hearts!

Ok, so now you understand that you need to GTF out of YOUR COMFORT ZONE which was 2009. De-habitualise, de-bunk your self and deconstruct your technique!

If you go on a course it has two objectives- one to learn and be better, deconstructing your techniques, re-learning the basicsa and at the end offering a certificate people can relate to with you as a new potential crew mate. Secondly it is to meet people and network your way onto new boats or into new situations. Now keeping in touch with such new acquaintances is much easier because of social media like facebook! OK, you may not get to know of any good positions on new boats, but now you can offer a prospective boat a fresh supply of rail-meat : lard or semi useful beginner/intermediates who are happy enough to be ballast and tweak the cunningham. For an owner or crewboss you have now tripled your value, especially if you can bring the rare quantity which is deck-fluff ( read eye candy) from your course.

At the "silver ware" end of the fleet in small OD yachts, and even those up to 7 crew, you will find a good deal of stability in the ranks and jealously protected positions. But DO approach them after your season warm up, for an off chance sail as extra man. You learn to win from WINNERS, you cannot teach a perpetuals loser to win. I avoid any fixed teams like the plague but I do keep an eye open for a little day sailer saiolign two up instead of three.

QUaysiding- doorstepping, cold calling call it what you like it is a gut turning shitty experience to turn up cold. But if you are good, and and have sailed a variety of boats, then try it after maybe you have had one pre season peek at a warm up race. Who is short crewed?

At a new club talk, not e-mail, talk to the racing secretry or some other minion prior to taking enquires further to the commodore or who ever knows the racing scene best. Make it clear to them you are expereince and are looking to sail on a competitive boat with good regularity, but will take a one time shot with the best in the fleet to learn. This will make them wake up a bit and although you won't maybe get a name to sail with straight away, you will not get landed with the loser end of the fleet as a keen little puppy dog " I wanna sail, just gotta sail, any one looking?"

If you are kind of low-intermediate then this is about as far as you need read to. You can take a whole season being a boat-tart, just swapping out as the opportunity arises, using chat rooms to find new rides, hanging out at the cool-young-bar while the owners aren't listening and generally being a slut. But know when to stick to a boat: sociable and fun, they teach you shit, they forgive you for shit, they even win once in a while, they kind of like you, they ask you back ! STICK!!


For those of you who can the following:

1) fix problems with a cool head

2) spot wind changes and explain competitor actions

3) the rules when others can't ( other wise STFUP)

4) do your job plus one other

5) help with nav, boat prep, repairs etc

Then you need the advanced section here:

Established good boats are just as hard for good sailors to get a slot on. What can happen is that a crew disintegrate after a new boat is bought ( usually the change from winner OD to hmm, coudl do better handicap boat) or crew get lured away by dinners and travel expenses to a fat-cats boat. My advice is forget it- forget the very established #1 boats.

What is more rewarding depends on you: if you are a mega social, poser type then you need to be on a flash boat with the young team. If you are the techie quiet type then a techi boat is for y ou. Anyhows, if you are more dedicated to your sailing than your socialising you should look at a boat which is on the up.

How does one spot a boat which is on the up?

usually it will be a new, refurbished or VGC boat and usually it will be in the racer-cruiser HC fleet, but you may get hold of a new entrant in an OD fleet. One design fleets have a tendancy to have a pecking order and new boats can get a bit burried in wind shadow, thus hiding their potential for a season at least.

An upside boat will have new sails, most of all this is important, one light season used is OK but new is best. Also it must have a reasonable HC rating ( most post 1996 racer-cruisers do!) or be a tight class minimum wieght OR stiff OD.

The owner, like you, knows they are on the learning curve and relishes it.

The crew are a mixed bag, some egos no doubt. You play the subtle management coach, not consultant. You will have bent tht eowners ear since the first beer you took quietly with them.

Offer to help with boat set up and tuning sessions. FInd out if they sail socially or just wann go fishing so you can get to know the owner-driver.

Then be relaxed and feel yourself lift off the 2009 plateau up to a new level.

lastly, remember this upside boat may quite likely become a #1 boat and you will be that crew jealously guarding your posi'. Think of how much the owner will be faithful to YOU as well. Also is this going to be a one season wonder? Or is the next season race list gonna be over ambitious for your holiday plan?

been there and done it, had the silver ware and worn the grin. OK I was never in with the in crowd but then again I never would have liked it up that hole!