You may have stepped off the boat at the end of the autumn series with a mental list of items that needed attending to over the winter, but how many of them were actually addressed? Even if you got on with the job list, a winter at rest ashore or afloat can store up new problems for the coming season. Gordon Bonney of Hamble-based Performance Rigging believes that many of the early season niggles and breakdowns are easily avoided simply by taking a look at the state of your rigging and deck gear. “While you may need some expert help in fixing a problem later, it doesn’t always take an expert to spot potential problems, just time,” he says. “Most people would be amazed at how simple and how common many of the maintenance issues are. We can walk around a typical marina with a list of 20 basic items and I can guarantee every boat will have a least one of them. And yet at around £100, a rig check will cost a fraction of just one high-tech halyard.” Many of the maintenance issues are just common sense, but modern materials and advanced deck gear have been introducing new, less obvious issues.   Spinlock’s Chris Hill explains: “Most people don’t see clutches as having moving parts when under load. But when they’re working properly it is as if they are breathing. You can see this if you watch a clutch carefully as you go through a tack – the cam will move and respond to the changing load on the rope. This movement is essential for the clutch to work efficiently and hold onto the rope. “If the components don’t move, then the rope can be loaded incorrectly, with the possibility of slip and then chafe as a result. Bearings can also be damaged over time, which can exacerbate the problem. And all because the clutch components were fouled up.” Most of us will have experienced slipping halyards and lines and will doubtless have assumed that the clutch was wearing out, but the solution can often be a simple case of cleaning the workings. As any top team will confirm, preparation is a major part of any campaign and getting a season off to a good start begins with taking a careful look at your kit. Here are five key areas to look at that the experts come across frequently. 1. Twisted or chafing halyards They might have been fine in the autumn when you last raced, but if the halyards were not taken out of the mast and replaced with mouse lines there’s a good chance they will have chafed over the winter. Whether the halyards were accidentally twisted around each other or were simply lying over the top of the forestay or behind a spreader, a few months sitting in the same position and flapping in the breeze is enough to cause problems. Ideally you should attach mouse lines and take each halyard out to inspect it. … Continue reading 5 tips: pre-season troubleshooting – key problems with deck gear the experts see regularly