9. Practice makes perfect:

Now this sounds stupid but stay with me! We all have those days when we turn up at the beach and the conditions haven’t quite come through or they have but then simply turned off mid-session. However, instead of passing the time sitting in your car/van and waiting, have a go at rescuing yourself in the safe, calm surroundings. The RNLI and Coastguard do it so why shouldn’t we? Try sailing without your fin, disconnecting your sail whilst afloat, swimming under your sail or even a full scale de-rig and in doing so you have instant knowledge of just how long it will take if you have to do it for real!