5 EXPERT TIPS: CHRIS BROOKS ON SAILING OFFSHORE IN BIG CONDITIONS

Sailing in the middle of the world's oceans gave Chris Brooks plenty of experience handling big weather conditions. He shares his knowledge here with Andy Rice.

- CHRIS BROOKS

A cross 45,000 miles of sailing around the world on the Clipper Race, keeping the boat going fast and safely in survival conditions reaches the point of becoming routine. But it's something never to be taken for granted, and there are systems and routines to keep the risk of breakage and injury to a minimum.

"In a long offshore race, think at least three hours ahead - ideally more - so you can plan for what's about to hit you. Getting things in place, with the rig set-up, the sail selection, the crew preparation, all those things are much easier to organise ahead of time before the big conditions arrive," says Brooks.

Here are his five top tips for keeping the boat going fast and safe in big upwind conditions.

1 KEEP TO DEEP WATER 

Wherever possible it's important to keep to deep water, being careful of hazardous areas, for instance sand bars, any kind of shallow water. Soon after the start of the last Fastnet Race, for example, as we were exiting the Solent we went offshore as soon as we could, which I think worked well. In shallower water the wave height is similar to the waves in deeper water but it's the shorter wavelength that makes the shallower water more choppy and potentially boat breaking, as well as extremely uncomfortable for the crew.

2 STOW EVERYTHING