There are 10 key principles when it comes to boat handling under power, says Rachael Sprot, but it’s time to update them to reflect the latest tech and evolving features of modern boats
Mind your bows,’ said my mother in an increasingly high-pitched voice, ‘bit more to port…don’t clip the stern!’ I was 17 and we were in Tesco’s car park in our old Vauxhall estate doing ‘circuits and bumps’. When it came to handling our wooden race-yacht-turned-family-cruiser, Polar Bear, she was less generous with the driver’s seat.
In fact, it wasn’t until I took my Yachtmaster exam that she finally relented and handed over the tiller. ‘I hand-sanded and hand-painted those topsides,’ she warned, ‘don’t you dare scratch them.’