What You Can Learn on a Quick Test Sail

The full survey will come later. Right now you want to kick the tires a little and see if this boat makes your short list. Caution: Willing seller required.

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A test sail is a great way to weed out the painted vixens before spending your hard earned cash on a marine survey. Sure, you could ride around with a Mimosa in one hand while the broker regales you with tales of far away, exotic lands, but a smarter move would be to approach your test sail with planning and a critical eye. Heres how to glean as much info as possible about your potential purchase during a test sail.
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Frank Lanier
Captain Frank Lanier is a 28 year Coast Guard veteran and SAMS Accredited Marine Surveyor with over 40 years of experience in the marine and diving industry. He holds a 100GT masters license, is an FCC licensed electronics technician and a PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer. He's captained and maintained vessels ranging from dive boats to passenger ferries in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and South Pacific and has over 15 years of liveaboard experience aboard both power and sailing vessels. He's also an author, public speaker, and multiple award winning journalist whose articles on seamanship, marine electronics, vessel maintenance and consumer reports appear regularly in numerous marine publications, such as BoatUS Magazine, Practical Sailor Magazine, Southern Boating, SEA Magazine, Boating World, Lakeland Boating and Australian Yachting. His website is https://captfklanier.com/