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Preparing for Travel Regattas

Preparing for Travel Regattas

Preparing for Travel Regattas

There’s snow on the ground around the country, and the winter sailing circuit is in full swing! There are a lot of moving parts especially when you are transporting a boat to Florida, particularly if you are planning on leaving it in a yacht club parking lot for a few months. Below, I’ve highlighted some of my checklist items for ensuring a smooth trip south and reducing the potential for downtime when you’re on the road.

Let us know what’s on your mind before you hit the road for travel regattas!

Inspect mast & rigging

Short of having the boat sink (which happened on Day 1 of my first Jet14 Nationals), my biggest fear at a regatta is having the mast come down. Not only is it extremely dangerous, it’s almost impossible to find spares on short-notice and expensive to ship to Florida if your boat is doing multiple regattas.

  • Check mast base for corrosion/cracking. This is one of the primary spots where the force of your sails is transferred to the boat, and a failure will surely mean damage beyond just replacing the spar.
  • Shroud attachment points and other rivets on the mast should get a quick inspection for the same corrosion and cracking.
  • Spray your halyard sheaves and all other moving hardware with some McLube, to keep them fresh.

Make sure to rinse your boat, hardware, and spars with fresh water before packing them back up between events! This will prolong the life of the spars by preventing that corrosion from forming.

Packing Sails & Strapping Boats

Have you ever pulled a spinnaker out of the bag after the winter, just to discover that the mouse living in the junior barn munched their way through your inventory during the fall break? Even though I was the last person to put them in the bag, and even if they were stored hanging in a climate-controlled garage, I always pull all of my sails out and unroll to inspect before packing them up to go south. Here, we have a helpful guide for folding C420 sails to fit into luggage.

For transporting the boat, we always recommend a good set of rack pads and use of cam straps instead of ratchet straps or tie-down line. Ratchet straps are ultra-secure, but you run the risk of damaging the boat if they get tightened too much. Conversely, line is gentle but can stretch on long hauls and requires more-frequent adjustment.

Zim also sells a number of trailers, racks, and transportation solutions. We can help design a trailer to suit your needs; just email info@zimsailing.com!

Tool & Spares Bag

Separate from my standard toolbox for daily use, I also keep a small tool bag that contains spare hardware in my travel kit. Depending on the class of boat I might move one or two items in and out, but here is the ‘standard list’ I try to carry around. You’ll notice that power tools are not on the list; everything here is meant to be left for weeks on end while you’re back home, and have it be totally functional as soon as you need it. Stuff with batteries like a drill I fly back and forth with me, so I can keep them charged.

Charter!

The easiest way to avoid all of this headache is to charter a boat from Zim Sailing! We are at most major regattas and a large quantity of winter events in Florida. With a charter boat, the toughest thing you have to worry about is picking up a breakfast sandwich on the way to the regatta venue. We deliver your boat to the venue, complete and ready to sail. Check out ZimSailing.com/Charter for more details, or email charter@zimsailing.com to reserve your boat today!

21st Jan 2022 Sam Patterson, Charter, Sales, & Operations Executive

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