5 expert tips for sailing in cold weather

As temperatures drop, Andy Rice gets tips on how to handle the cold from self-confessed Arctic weather fan and winning Clipper Round the World Race skipper Bob Beggs

Unlike most of us, Bob Beggs seeks out extreme cold and is currently planning his next yachting venture into the Arctic Circle. “When I was in the Commandos I did 10 winters up in the Arctic Circle in Norway, and quite a bit of time in Northern Canada, and I must admit I enjoyed the cold climates and the challenges it brings.”

Which is why Bob is the ideal person to ask what the rest of us should do when we’re faced with cold conditions on board.

His experience from skippering non-professional teams in the Clipper Race is that you design everything around minimising exposure to the worst conditions and keeping as few people on deck as you can manage, without compromising the handling of the boat.

“It’s often standard to have someone dedicated to trimming the vang on and off, but honestly, how often do you need someone in that role? I’ve seen people come off-watch after four hours, freezing cold, having not adjusted the vang once. If someone’s not needed on deck, they should be down below staying as warm and dry as possible.”

Here are Bob’s five best tips for fighting the extreme cold.

Minimise exposure

Modern technical clothing is very good but if you’re going to expose yourself to the foredeck and you’re doing big sail changes in heinous conditions with white water charging down the deck at 20 knots or so, you’ve got to accept that you’re going to get wet – no matter how good the gear you’re wearing.

So it’s about limiting exposure.

If a team talks through what they’re about to do before they start going forward, then their exposure on the deck is less. Sometimes, when we’re racing upwind and you need to do a headsail change, for instance, the tendency is to keep on pushing upwind because you don’t want to give away distance gained. But, if you’re quick, you can turn off the breeze and gain overall because you can get the thing down and get on with the sail change much more efficiently.

The added and vital benefit is you’ve limited crew exposure to the cold, the wet and the wind chill for much less time.

Run three watches

The two-watch routine has been the most commonly used in the Clipper Race over the years, even going back to my first race in 2000. Personally, I’ve always run a three-watch routine with the Clipper. That means there are fewer people on deck getting cold at any given time, but there are still people down below who can go on deck quickly to fill a role in those moments when we need more people on deck in a hurry.

So, I have a support watch, a mother watch, who are doing the cooking, cleaning and maintenance. With 22 people on the vessel there’s lots of meals to be cooked, lots of cleaning to go on, as well as lots of maintenance.

Also, I normally give the watch leader the authority to rotate crew in extreme conditions, especially at night. As long as you’ve got three or four people on deck you can rotate the rest of the team down below to try and get them re-warmed.

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Keep moving

I’m not a person who suffers from cold, but if I do start to feel it, I’ll do some press-ups or jog on the spot or do something to get the blood circulating. One of the best things to keep warm is to keep moving. I encourage a buddy system where each team member looks after a buddy. It’s not unusual to go up on deck [of a boat I’m skippering] and see two crew shadow-boxing each other, or doing squats or sit-ups while they’re on deck, just to get blood circulating through the body and into the fingers and toes.

Gloves off

I’m not a big believer in gloves. I’ve seen many types over the last 40 years at sea – they’re great when dry, but on an exposed deck they become wet very quickly: wet gloves keep your hands wet, and you lose tactile awareness of what you’re holding. The only exception is when you’re helming and you’re constantly exposed to the wind, getting hit by waves and getting soaking wet.

When helming your hands can get numb in 15 minutes or less, so we tend to wear the kind of gloves a fisherman uses for packing fish into ice. They have neoprene on the outside and are fleece-lined. Other than that, putting your hands in your pockets is far warmer than a wet pair of gloves.

Food for morale

Good food is good for your nutrition, but more importantly it’s vital for crew morale. Not everyone can win a Clipper Race, and the people that signed up for it are not signing up for a win, they’re signing up for the adventure. In an ideal world they can race AND win, but winning doesn’t keep you nourished.

This is especially true on a very cold watch, when a good hot meal or warm drink can really lift your spirits. Don’t underestimate the power of good food and drink for raising the team’s performance.

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