Recently at RS Sailing HQ, there has been a debate of how important top covers are when buying a boat. The conclusion from RS HQ was that top covers are as important for your boat as wearing your buoyancy aid sailing, you would be silly not to have one on.
Many of you will recognise the 3 P’s from the realm of 1st Aid but when it comes to boat care, those same 3 P’s couldn’t be more suited to the way you look after your boat. For us, this starts with a having a quality top cover with your new boat purchase.
Here’s how a top cover applies the 3 P’s to your essential boat care plan:
Preserve – Your flash new kit
Your brand-new boat is now stored in the dinghy park, sat in all its glory on its new launching trolley. A top cover helps to preserve its pristine condition and keep that ‘new boat’ feel for as long as possible. This is a step that prevents many issues with your boat in the future.
For training centres, this has an additional purpose, it helps present to customers that you take care of your boats and that the customers should too! This hopefully means that your training boats will be preserved for longer!
Prevent – Kit failure
UV damage is probably to the biggest element that your top cover will prevent you boat being exposed to. In addition to the aesthetic aspect of UV damage to the lines, spares, hiking straps and hull, UV can also reduce the lifespan of these important boat parts and lines. We would hate for you or your students to be hiking hard on that final beat in the summer regatta or summer camp and end up checking out the centreboard with head-first, reverse entry into the water.
Other weather factors to consider are rain and wind. Nobody want their first job upon arrival at the dinghy park on a Sunday morning to be 5 minutes of bailing a week’s worth of rain and all the leaves that have blown into your boat.
Statistics show (from in depth study of the RS Team), that boats without a top cover are also most likely to have parts “borrowed” from them. This is due to all the fixtures and fittings being visible for everyone to see. Many of us will have been in that situation in the dinghy park thinking, “they won’t even notice it’s gone if I return it after the race, they’re not sailing today anyway.”
If you’re still reading and haven’t got a new boat, don’t let your tired looking top cover stop you from caring for you current RS dinghy either. Get on the RS Sailing Store website and get yourself equipped with the right cover to keep your boat protected.
Promote – More time having fun!
Remembering the 3 P’s makes buying a top cover the right and only option with your new or existing boat or fleet. This means more time out on the water, rather than in the workshop for your RS dinghy, which is what it’s all about #sailitliveitloveit!
With the points highlighted above, a top cover not only mean more sailing but it will also improve the re-sale value of your boat when you look to upgrade or change class.
All things considered, it should now be easy to see how taking this one simple step in your boat care plan does a wonderful job towards promoting more sailing for you at great value for money. The rest is up to you!
For top covers and everything else RS Sailing, visit the RS Sailing Store.
