Tristan Haskins has learnt a valuable lesson recently, after snapping his outhaul out at sea. In short – change your ropes and keep emergency spares!

Lesson Learnt!

“Go check your downhaul and outhauls. The first pic is my old outhaul. I got caught in 40 mph cross / off at Brancaster with a snapped outhaul. I was doing a long beat upwind to get to flatter water. SNAP. SPLASH. SH*T.  It’s only when you’re bobbing in an offshore gale half a mile out you realise a) how important these little ropes are b) why you MUST sail with others and c) why I always have 1m of spare line wrapped around the front of my boom. I didn’t panic, dumped the snapped line and made tight with my emergency spare…. Safely ashore 10 minutes later
Go do it now ! Not next time you’re rigging up you’ll ignore that little worn bit and go sail…

“Thanks to @24-7boardsports for quick delivery of Marlin Formuline. I wish I’d used that in the first place.”