• Pre-purchase
  • Why Own a Boat
  • What Suits You
  • Why Survey First
  • The Survey Is
  • Surveyors Role
  • The Usual Flaws
  • Pick Your Surveyor
• Services
  • Credentials
  • Coverage & Conduct
  • Sea Trial Option
  • NC Surveys
• Contact
• Home

The Sea Trial Option

Usually you have a "satisfactory Sea Trial" as one of the conditions of your purchase contract. Basically, because you want to get a subjective feel for how the boat goes. The trial can be conducted without the surveyor.


Its purpose then would be to satisfy you about the boat's performance away from the slip, including speed, handling, maneuverability, ride, sail trim, and stability.

But I find that buyers don't look at the boat analytically during the trials, anymore than they do sitting at the dock. The get caught up in the joy of sailing or running it. In seeing how the helm feels, how fast the boat goes, what the engines turn up, if the electronics work, and how the sails look.

And I also find that buyers don't do much better sea trialing the boat themselves than surveying it themselves. So there is good value in getting the surveyor's experienced perspective on how the boat runs or sails. Recently, some loan sources have started requiring the surveyor to be aboard for a run trial, especially on power boats, so please check with your lender before setting up the survey.

Some equipment and gear can be inspected for operational condition only with the boat up to its speed in open water. But not every survey circumstance allows or requires a water trial. So, we make the trials a separate inspection that is a step beyond the static-condition valuation survey.

The powerboat trial lasts up to 1 1/2 hours. It can be conducted with the engine surveyor aboard doing his work. The boat must be trialed in water of sufficient fetch to allow high speed runs without concern for other boats and wake damage to an adjacent shore. Offshore boats should be taken offshore.


The motor trial covers:

• Engine operation and fluid or exhaust leaks when up to temperature and under load. Motor mounts under back-down test.

• Engine RPM under no-load and at W.O.T. underway. Gauges. Fuel filter indicators at speed.

• Gear and coupling appearance under load and shifting. Packing glands.

• Clutch and throttle operation at all helm stations. Synchronizer.

• Steering and response. Trim tabs under load.

• Bulkhead or hull pan tabbing, and hull-to-deck joint in high speed pounding conditions.

• Rudder port packing glands.

• Bow or stern truster. Stabilizers.

The sailing trial usually lasts about an hour to 1 1/2 hours. The boat must be in water sufficiently wide and deep to allow trimming it on all points of sail without concern for grounding. Trials in over 20 knots are seldom as productive as in moderate winds, but often we just have to wag with what we get.


The coverage on the sailing trial includes:

• Halyards, and their shackles, leads, winches under load, and cleats or jammers.

• Sails: general condition of the main and working jib, draft depth and location with halyards properly tensioned, reefing gear, roller furling operation, sheets, leads, winches under load, traveler, and cleats or jammers.

• Workability of the vessel relative to winch access, interference by the bimini, dodger or deck gear.

• Sailing instrumentation, pointing ability, weather helm

• Motor operation: Up to temperature and under load for a period, exhaust port immersion, shift and throttle, gauges, packing gland.

The surveyor does not act as the captain or sailing master. He is aboard to make his underway inspection, and needs to have the boat demonstrated to him without being sidetracked by helming or navigation duties. The owner or authorized broker must operate the boat, or provide a professional captain who is familiar with the local water, the boat, and its operational idiosyncrasies. The owner, broker, or captain should secure the boat and gear after the trial.

When its a nice boat, the hired "pros" will try to hog it. But, at some point you'll have to take over and run or sail the boat yourself. It is your sea trial. And you need to put the boat through its paces to suit you, short of tearing something up. You should work through the clutch and throttle and try the synch. Or bring her up close hauled and throw in a couple of tacks.