Darrell Nicholson
The next few months will be busy. The particularly brutal winter of 2014-2015 drove many of our testers into their workshops, and now they are emerging from their lairs with spread sheets, macro-photography, and detailed analysis of failures in everything from anchor shackles to water filters to furler fairleads.
There is a common misconception that most of our testing takes place during the summer; but our contributors are sailors as well as scientists and marine professionals. Theyd much prefer stewing over metal fatigue, battery sulfation, or mildew remedies in the darkness of December, than to be wasting daylight hours in July. Pinning down a PS tester to a deadline in summer can be like trying to catch the wind.
Pinning them down in the winter isn’t much easier.
The reason? I call it the death spiral of curiosity. Being blessed with testers who are passionate about their areas of expertise can be a double-edged sword. Their intense interest means they’ll be obsessively thorough in their research and testing; but that also means that testing can spiral out of control as fascinating minutiae piques their curiosity.
As it turns out, the best cure for a tester trapped in this downward “more-research-is-needed” spiral is the imminent approach of sailing season. The varieties of bacteria that thrive in a water tank becomes less and less fascinating when weather warms and the flags outside the workshop window start to flutter. Spring, therefore, is harvest time for us-and this spring has been particularly fruitful.
Here are just some of the tests and reports we have the horizon.
- A broad test of varnishes and wood finishes, including the latest synthetic one-part and two-part coatings.
- Our long-term test of 5- and 6-horsepower outboards, including the Torqeedo and the propane-powered Lehr.
- A three-part series on onboard water treatment devices beginning in the June issue.
- A detailed buyers guide to roller-furling headsails.
- An investigation into what sailors can learn from Team Vestas accident in this years Volvo Ocean Race.
- A long-term test report on Yanmars new direct-injection 4JH57 diesel that meets the strict Tier III emissions standards.
- The final installment in our report on single-sideband radio equipment, focusing on ground-plane options.
- A comprehensive look at failures in anchor shackles, both conventional shackles and swivel shackles. This follows our previous report on anchor chains.
- A report on the various peer-to-peer boat-sharing options that are cropping up online.
- A test of synthetic teak decking surfaces.
- A review of the latest battery monitors.
- A look at interfacing wind instruments and autopilots.
This is just a small slice of whats ahead for us in Practical Sailor, as we now move into our 41st year of testing sailboat equipment-with no advertising support. In addition to these reports, well continue to stay on top of whats happening in the world anchors, electronics, maintenance products, safety equipment and marine systems. Our testing is 100-percent reader supported, so, of course, we are very interested in what drives your own curiousity. If youve got a test youd like to see or you think you’ve got what it takes to be a PS tester, drop me a line at practicalsailor@belvoir.com.
