Rammer

It clearly depends on your insurance company. I requested clarification, and received written confirmation from my company that I was fully covered for all racing risks under the ‘all risks’ section of my Policy. The only stipulation is that my yachts are fully described and stated at their full replacement value within that section. Thankfully I have not yet had to test the reality of the Insurer’s stated position though! I would suggest that anyone in doubt should specifically ask their Insurer to clarify, in writing, their position over racing risks and third party liability

Hi John, Is this some market research perhaps? All interesting anyway. I know a number of skilled guys who regularly build new boats for pleasure and for the satisfaction they get from that alone. I, being completely unskilled in that pursuit and unable to to do this, must buy from a professional builder if I am to have a new boat and the following are my thoughts from this standpoint. Well, as a mid fleet skipper, I think I know that a new boat won’t get me instant success, and if I really want this I must just need to improve my sailing skills. In fact, if many of my rivals get a new boat similar to my own the best that will happen is that I might retain my position in the pecking order. There may be a different outlook if you are one of those lucky skilled people who are always in the van of the fleet who perhaps may feel that they need a new boat every so often in order to protect their position. Maybe we should ask them if this is so? However, I guess, initially there may be a boost to my confidence in knowing I have a new competitive boat but if that confidence doesn’t lead to improved performance the honeymoon period could be very short and I know I will have spent a lot of cash just for the privilege of having one. Also, I know that I may well find that it takes some time to get to know the new boat and in that case I may go backwards before there is any, if at all, improvement gain. That all said, for me there is an excitement in getting a new boat that I don’t get even when, after I’ve put in hours of work in developing rigs etc, and had the satisfaction of some performance gain, with the old one. For me then it’s an emotional thing even though I know that it is my heart ruling my head. Perhaps it’s the same for many new boat purchasers?

I have used this winch since 2017 in 2 different IOM's and have nothing but praise for it. It is lighter, faster, cheaper (around £100) and simpler to programme than a RMG. During the time I have used it has been faultless. The only comment I would make is that in the most recent version the drum has been changed from the usual split section type to a continuous single groove variety which I do not like quite so much. The winch is available in the UK from Dave Potter, or from Pierre Gonet in France.