1. Cockpit Seat Hatches:
A most common fault is leaky cockpit seat hatches which allow
a great deal of water to get below, made more troublesome by
the current tendency towards very flat midship sections. While
it is difficult to build a really tight hatch, reasonable gasketing
can help a lot, and, most important, large capacity drains to
minimize the time during which the hatch seams are under pressure.
2. Dorade Vents: The so-called
Dorade vents have been copied in many unfortunate ways, characterized
by boxes which are too low, cowl vents superimposed on the boxes
which, in turn, are too low and/or too small, and boxes are
almost invariably incorrectly scuppered. Scuppers should be
in the after face, which is the most sheltered surface of the
conventional Dorade box. Further, these vents should never be
screened as the use of screens greatly reduces the ventilation
provided and insects do not go through them with or without
screens.
3. Spongy Life Lines: particularly
characteristic of glass fibre boats, and largely a by-product
of inadequate diagonal bracing on pulpits and pushpits and gangways,
are further troubled by inadequate dimensions of the stanchion
socket base and then an inadequate pad below deck and occasionally
aggravated by stanchions which are too light and which bend
in themselves, creating a further fault. Another common fault
is the almost universal use of closed barrel turnbuckles and/or
turnbuckles without toggles.
4. Gangways: In the side life rail
gangways arc inherently dangerous, all too frequently have inadequate
diagonal bracing, mentioned above, and have horizontal pelican
hooks which if not under a lot of tension can be knocked open
merely by passing by. The safest scheme, and the most economical,
is to omit side gangways, omission of which can contribute greatly
to the safety of the entire life rail.
5. Tiller Details: Since the days of
Herreshoff, and later Nevins, there have been relatively few
nicely made tillers. The average tiller is too heavy in the
grip area and too weak in the hinge fitting which latter takes
the greatest load. The end which one holds in hand should be
down to one inch diameter with a reasonable ball or knob on
the extreme end and the sections should increase with more or
less straight taper to appropriate size in way of the hinge
fitting.
6. Winch Handle Holders: There are
so few boats which have adequate winch handle holders and yet
with the present day boats really designed around winches, it
is obvious that well located and securely stowed winch handles
are an absolute necessity.
7. Cleat Positioning: The correct
angling and spacing of cleats with relation to the winch which
they arc normally serving can contribute a great deal to the
ease and efficiency of handling. To create a simple rule, cleats
should be turned ten degrees counter-clockwise from the oncoming
line so that the first turn around the cleat is made clockwise
just as the turns arc made around the winch. It is desirable
to have a minimum of two feet between cleat and winch, though
frequently this has to be compromised due to insufficient space.
8. Bow Chocks: Again we have to look
back on Herreshoff, and later Ncvins, to find boats built with
really useful bow chocks. In general, the chocks are too small,
too weak, and edges too sharp, many of them designed apparently
with the thought that the line will always pull straight out
ahead, whereas in reality it is just about always going downward
and may swing to an arc of more or less one hundred and eighty
degrees. European boats suffer from rollers, perenially with
inadequate and sharp checks which work moderately well for a
chain if it's leading straight ahead, but from which the chain
can jump if the boat is swung around by the tide as so often
occurs. In view of the excellent results that can be gotten
froni the inherent spring of nylon anchor ropes it is also important
that there be no sharp corners associated with either the chocks
or chain rollers.
9. Hatch Covers: In spite of many ingenious
arrangements, there are relatively few hatches that are in themselves
really tight in extremely bad weather. There is also a desire
to get ventilation and the only way that a hatch can be kept
watertight and also offer some ventilation in moderately bad
conditions is to fit it with a tent type cover which is absolutely
tight on each side and across the forward edge. A rabbet to
retain the edges of this cover, with a continuous inner lip
around three sides of the hatch and with the outer lip simply
broken at each corner to facilitate installation of the cover,
is a very necessary basic provision in connection with all hatches,
with the exception of the lazarette hatch where any small leaking
can be much better tolerated and which hatch is located in a
basically protected area.
10. Genoa Sheet Tracks: These should
have numbers presumably on every fifth location hole and the
sliding members should travel easily without having to resort
to kicking, the use of a hammer and/or profanity. Best results
can be obtained when the locating unit or stop is divorced from
the actual sheet lead member. With this arrangement the locating
unit can more easily be released and relocated, while the heavily
loaded sliding member is temporarily kept just clear by winching
it forward just a fraction of an inch. Once the virtue of this
arrangement has been experienced, one will never be satisfied
to go back to the conventional scheme where the location pins
are one with the member that carries the sheet itself.
11. Compass Alignment: This should
be considered a pretty simple detail, but is seldom right on
the mark and frequently visibility can be improved and forces
that cause deviation reduced by raising the compass, which at
the same time makes it far more suitable for taking bearings.
12. Compass Deviation: With further
regard to securing a good compass, the use of built-in correctors
should be avoided as, frequently, the initial compass errors
that arc observed are merely the result of these correctors
and all too often they are improperly locked so their position
may be inadvertently changed which can create a serious error.
A properly located compass, in other than a steel hull can frequently
be 'dead-beat' with no magnets at all and this is, by all odds,
the best ar-rangement. Instruments must be kept somewhat further
from the compass than the instrument manufacturers optimistically
suggest. The same applies to such things as fire extinguishers,
magnetic curtain rods or possibly bows for bridge deck companionway
hoods, as well as many stainless or chrome plated winches.
13. Mast Coats: How few boats have
really effective and tight mast coats, but it is basically pretty
simple, demanding the use of neoprene as a water barrier and
then a protecting coat of Dacron to protect the neoprene from
the deterioration created by sunlight. The most vulnerable joint
is where the upper end of the coat fits around the mast itself
and the extra long stainless steel hose clamp, in turn protected
by the Dacron cover and backed up with some of the good silicone
sealer can make an absolutely tight joint. The mast surface
must be smooth. If the mast must be removed, the joint should
be opened around the deck collar without disturbing the seal
around the mast which, as stated, is the more difficult one
to keep absolutely tight.
14. Spinnaker Pole Chocks: These are
frequently less than optimum-the right type has a sort of streamlined
sheath that fits over the inboard end of the pole and then the
outboard end is held in place using its own latch. The pole
should be placed where it interferes least with the usable deck
space. The old fashioned saddles, each located about a quarter
of the way in from the ends of the pole, leave pole ends vulnerable,
which not only can cause a bad tack, but may actually tear the
spinnaker pole from its chocks, and the pole can easily be lost
overboard.
15. Boat Hooks: In general, similar
provision must be made for a boat hook, certainly on deck forward,
and for a jockey pole, in an out of the way place. Where possible,
it's a good practice to stow the jockey pole below deck, though
handy to the forward hatch.
Rod Stephens,
Problem Areas, in: Yachting World Annual, 1973,
pagg. 43 e segg.