What's the most important rope on the boat? Is it the kicker, the Cunningham, the jib sheet? Surely it has to be the mainsheet. But then again... bearing in mind the fact that most of us sail our boat just a few hours each weekend, and the rest of the time it sits in the boat park, perhaps the most important rope is the one that ties the boat down to the ground. Very unglamorous, and for most of us an afterthought, but speaking to one well-known dinghy insurance company recently, it's surprising how many of us overlook this boring but essential bit of kit.

I don't know what it is about 2008, but as I write this in mid-April, could we be on course for the windiest year on record? It's been blowing old boots, and blowing boats around boat parks. Hence my mention of tie-down ropes. That particularly stormy weekend in February was an expensive one for the insurers. Which of course means that all our premiums are likely to go up next year.

Now, I'm in no position to get on my high horse about this, as I've been guilty plenty of times for not tying my boat down properly. And sometimes we can't, because there are no tie-down facilities. This is a frequent problem on the Olympic circuit where fleets of valuable boats occupy a car park for a week in different venues around the world. Here's a solution that is so obvious when you've seen it, but which I see very few people do. We used to do it with the 49er. Just take the wheels off your launching trolley and sit the A-frame of the trolley flat on the ground. I promise you, try it, and you won't believe how solid your boat will be. It can sit there in a Force 8 and it won't budge. Meanwhile, if you can tie your boat down, please do it. Because we all end up paying when things go wrong.

14 Trials... and tribulations

One boat that needs tying down at all times, to the point where we don't unleash the boat from its trolley until the hull is floating on the water, is the International 14. So it was with some trepidation that I, and nine other 14 owners, lent my boat out for the 14 Trials. This was the event held at Hayling to find out which three teams would be lucky enough to win the use of an International 14 for the 2008 racing season.

A windy and cold weekend was forecast, but race officer Harvey Hillary seemed determined to make sure something happened, despite the entrants' lack of 14 sailing experience. International 14s are not easy to get to grips with, not least on a short course in winds shifting and gusting from 12 to 19 knots. Sensibly there was a ‘two-capsize' rule, which meant that if any boat's mast tip touched the water twice in a race, they would have to retire immediately.

Much to my surprise and relief, however, there wasn't much call for the ‘two-capsize' rule, as the sailors looked very at home in the boats. Actually, looking at the pedigree of sailor who came along, that shouldn't have been too much of a surprise, bearing in mind it included the likes of reigning 49er national champion Dylan Fletcher and former 49er and RS800 national champion Ian Martin.
 
I went out on the race course, crewing for Mike Lennon in his pristine Bieker 5 boat. Anyone who knows Mike understands that any boat he sails is finished to perfection, or about as close as you can get to it. It is also well known that you can take the sailor out of a Flying Dutchman, but you can never take the Flying Dutchman out of the sailor. There was nothing that you couldn't adjust on the old Olympic boat, and indeed everyone in the FD class seemed to have adjustable everything led up to both side tanks, with extra helpings of adjustability just for good measure.

Mike used to campaign the FD early in the 90s, before it gave way to the Laser as the replacement Olympic class. The Laser was a bit too simple for Mike's complex tastes, so he retired from Olympic campaigning to find something more suitable. Mike's 14s are always mega-adjustable, the difference between a FD and a 14 being that one boat is six feet shorter than the other. So there is a lot of rope to cram into the 14, although the layout on Mike's boat achieves this beautifully. It is a clutter-free cockpit. There is a bank of five clam cleats led up to each side of the centre of the cockpit, and another four led up to the aft end of the cockpit. Nine adjustable things on each side of the boat! Don't ask me what they are, because that's not the crew's department. I just pull the big rope which controls the big sail when we're going upwind. Oh yes, and I call the depth and speed.

Depth and speed? What? Yes, believe it or not, a few of the 14s are now sporting the sportsboat version of the Tacktick range, the Race Master, which as well as telling you the time and which way is North, also gives you depth and speed. A bit overkill for a 14 maybe? Actually, having now experienced one I'd say it's essential. For Chichester Harbour anyway. Is it that boats have got faster or that Chichester Harbour - the useable bit of it - has got smaller? One thing is for sure, just because you've got the shallows mapped out in your mind for one season doesn't mean that you're safe the next season. Such is the strength of the tide sluicing in and out of the Harbour past Hayling Island Sailing Club, those treacherous shallows always seem to be on the move.

Hence why the depth sounder is such a vital bit of kit on a boat like the 14 which, with the high-aspect narrow foils that are in vogue these days, draws not much less than 6 feet. Even if you see a small keelboat between you and the shore doesn't mean you're safe in a 14. We need more water than they do.

So anyway, Mike and I joined in with this Trials racing, to see how good these young triallists were. Yes, they were good. Embarrassingly so. Not that Mike and I were sailing that badly, but these young teams were often equalling or bettering us in boats that were in some cases three or four years older than ours. One thing they had in their favour, however, was the lack of a depth sounder. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. With the tide heavily on the ebb and the wind blowing from the north, it was all about getting as far into the Thorney Island shore as you dared. As the day wore on, and the water continued to disappear, it became impossible to get all the way out to the layline without running aground. It was a matter of edging as near to the brown, murky water as you dared. I was calling the depth to Mike: "1.9 metres, 1.9, 1.6, boat in front has tacked." "Let's go," said Mike. "Just a bit further," I urge Mike, "let's get some clear air on the new..." CLUNK. We hit Thorney Island, doing in excess of 10 knots. Oops. Daggerboard has munched its way into the back of the slot. Just as well the boat was off to Ian Lovering's workshop for a bit of maintenance the following week.

We decided there wasn't much point in putting the boat at any more risk for an event where we were mere bystanders. Well, we were certainly bystanders when we found ourselves standing waist deep in water after our grounding, a shining beacon of how far up to the layline NOT to go! So we let the young ‘uns continue with their trial, and did our own practising in slightly deeper waters.
 
Saturday was a good day's racing, but Sunday morning was snowy and windy, with a wind chill factor that made Harvey decide enough was enough. So the three winning teams would be determined by Saturday's racing, plus an interview process to determine how committed the teams were to racing 14s for the season. The first two teams on the water, sailed by Chris Rashley/Matt Gotrel and Dylan Fletcher/Alain Sign, had first call on the boats. But prior commitments to the RYA Development Squad ruled these teams out. Ian Martin, recently retired from full-time Olympic campaigning, and his crew Ian Sharps won one of the boats. The other two winning teams were Tom Heywood and Ed Clay, and Tristan Jacques and Tom Dawson.
 
So, three new teams in the 14 fleet, all in their early 20s. That's all well and good, but once the free loan of these boats has expired, will they stick around in the 14 fleet? After all, the main purpose of this exercise was to get new blood into the class, which finds itself with a lot more high performance competition than it did 15 years ago, when the International 14 was the only twin-trapeze asymmetric show in town.

Will the new kids be there in a year's time? Well, what was encouraging was that besides these three teams, there were two other crews that decided to buy secondhand boats straight away, and another two who were so impressed with their outing in the 14 that they are looking to scrape together the £6,000 or so required to get a competitive package. In terms of making the new generation of RYA-trained sailors aware of the 14 class, the weekend's racing was a massive success. There are lessons here for every class looking to grow its numbers, although obviously it's not every fleet that has three owners such as Matt Critchley, James Fawcett and Martin Jones who are generous enough to loan out their spare boats for a whole season.

Two-year Tera campaign

Another class with something similar going on is the RS Tera. Korean car manufacturer Hyundai is sponsoring the RS Youth Sailing Programme for 2008, and one element of this scheme involves the two year loan of RS Teras to sailing clubs across the UK to help them promote junior sailing.

Participating Hyundai dealers will purchase a RS Tera and loan it to a local sailing club. The sailing club will have complete use of the boat as it chooses, for the benefit of young sailors in their club or area. If your club would like to take advantage of this opportunity, then send an email to Jon Partridge at RS Racing jon@RSsailing.com. Once the list of participating Hyundai dealerships has been finalised, RS will match the local clubs to partner in the scheme. As RS points out: "Be quick - there are more sailing clubs than Hyundai dealerships!"