It’s not always easy to prove yourself as a skipper and gain authority onboard when your crew consists of friends, work mates or family who you live with in a different way in daily life.

But a boat is a boat and as the skipper, you DO have the responsibility for your crew and the chartered yacht.

A successful and safe bareboat charter holiday is only possible when there are clear rules on board and when the crew is well prepared for their duties and responsibilities on board.

It is actually not that difficult to achieve a smooth sailing holiday…we can give you a guideline on the 10 most important steps on how to organise your crew and how to interact in the most harmonious way while on board your charter yacht.

The skipper is the decision maker when it comes to operating the boat. There are several ways to put that across to your crew. A briefing before beginning your sailing holiday makes it easier for your crew members to understand this important rule on board and accept it as such.

A description of life on board, setting sails, manoeuveering in harbours and bays, and how to have trouble free procedures if everybody sticks to the rules, is worth it’s weight in gold.

Of course it shouldn’t turn into a dictatorship, but it is very important to explain to the crew how important it is to work as a team, instead of against each other, and that there needs to be one person in charge who makes the main decisions.

Give every crew member a job on board, i.e. line handling, fenders, anchor, etc. Before you do so, try to adjust the job to the person’s capabilities. Have a look at each participator’s abilities. You will get a feeling which task is best for who.

Some people might not want to be active and involved….others might be very keen on participating and to take on board jobs and duties.
See how the atmosphere is on board and try to give people a job suitable to their own abilities and needs.

Please also consider the physical condition your crew. You might want to give duties which require some strength or quick reactions to people who are up to it. For example handling mooring lines.

Not everybody has the necessary physical strength and quick reactions.
Duties such as throwing the stern lines or tying up fenders don’t require strength

but finesse…

Maybe the fender job would be good for the ones who rather like it relaxed and prefer doing things in their own time.

For the ones who don’t like to be active on deck at all, there are always things below deck, i.e. opening and closing seacocks, or control of the battery voltage for instance.

Don’t leave anybody out, make them all a contributing part of the team.

The more you adapt the duties to the preferences of each person on board, the more you will enjoy your sailing holiday as a team.

Once you have organised your crew and found the perfect job for everybody, try to stick with the procedure. A constant change in the job duties of each person will result in chaos. For you, as the skipper it will be much easier to be consistent with the plan as you will be able to rely on people doing a good job in their field. People actually will know what to do once you give your instructions.

Explain all duties in a calm and functional way. Not everybody on board has the knowledge you gained as a skipper. Explain to all the crew exactly what you expect of them and show them how things work, rather than giving long explanations.

Would you prefer the stern line to arrive in the hands of the marina staff on the jetty or end up in the water? Good! Then take your time and show the person in charge how to coil up a rope properly and how to fix it on the cleat. Show them what to do IF it ends up in the water….

A demonstration is always better than a description.

Always stay calm and talk clearly and calmly as a skipper!!!! There is no reason to bark out orders and create stress. Stay cool and think every step clearly through before you speak.

Creating a hectic and stressful atmosphere on board will create insecurity amongst your crew. Calm and clear instructions will allow smooth and problem free actions.

Stick with your decisions. Every action on board while sailing and manoeuvring should be announced and instructed. Explain to everybody what you intend to do before you act.

Think your manoeuvres through before you announce them and instruct accordingly. A constant change in plans in the middle of a manoeuvre will confuse your crew. Once things go wrong out of confusion, it will be difficult to straighten them up.

Stick with your decisions. Every action on board while sailing and manoeuvring should be announced and instructed. Explain to everybody what you intend to do before you act.

Think your manoeuvres through before you announce them and instruct accordingly. A constant change in plans in the middle of a manoeuvre will confuse your crew. Once things go wrong out of confusion, it will be difficult to straighten them up.

Compliment your crew once you complete a manoeuvre and things went well. Everybody needs a bit of praise, especially when they are in the progress of learning new things. This will really motivate them.

And if things do go wrong….take it with equanimity, everybody can make a mistake. It is your responsibility as a skipper to expect mistakes and to invest enough time to avoid them by explaining the things again.

Sit down with your crew and go through the errors and analyse what went wrong. Find a solution together how to avoid it next time.

Be aware of using technical terms. Not everybody onboard has been to sailing school and many people struggle with sailing terms. Everything on the boat can be explained in “normal” language. Don’t expect your crew to turn into a expert on sailing terms after the first day of sailing.

Last but not least….as difficult it might seem..admit your own mistakes when happening. Even though the skipper, you are a human being and don’t need to be omniscient. If you can have a laugh about mistakes you made, and others, an evening in the cockpit can turn into a funny conversation..what is more entertaining than some funny sailing anecdotes ?

Another good way to prepare your crew for the upcoming sailing holiday is our technical bareboat charter film on www.sailvation.com

The occasional meeting before beginning the sailing charter can increase the excitement and the film gives your crew a clear idea what to expect, how life on board can be and how to use the equipment. It will make your life as a skipper easier….

Watch the movie together and answer questions before you step on to the boat with your crew and you already will get an idea how your friends will react to life on board….

We wish you a fantastic sailing adventure, Your Sailvation Team