John and Sharon knew their boat, ‘Sofa So Good’ well. They had bought her new, spent years sailing and racing together and even got married on the bow in Singapore!

Between them, they had decades of sailing experience before deciding to complete a circumnavigation. John had sailed since childhood and his career included the Royal Navy and offshore engineering roles.

Yet preparing their Elan Impression 434 for the World ARC meant looking at their familiar boat, and their own capabilities, with fresh eyes.

“We knew the boat, but getting her ready for Bluewater sailing was a very different prospect,” says John.

They understood that winning regattas and completing a long ocean voyage demanded very different priorities. Working with Will Spencer at White Dot Sailing brought together three parts of their preparation: assessing the boat’s readiness, planning the work and building their skills on board.

Adding expertise to experience

For John, seeking advice was a way to build on what he already knew.

“When taking on a large project it’s better to get more heads involved, as long as they are wise heads. You don't just want noise; you need specific people who understand what you're going to be dealing with,” he explains. “If you can bring that knowledge in to add to whatever knowledge you already have, it's a phenomenal tool to help you move forwards.”

For Sharon, their sailing experience gave them an appreciation of what could go wrong, and the importance of preparing for it.

“We had a good awareness of what can happen on a mega adventure like that,” she says. “That awareness makes you feel you need to be as prepared as you can be.”

They wanted confidence grounded in preparation: a clear understanding of their boat, their skills and the demands of the journey ahead.

Turning the assessment into a practical plan

John had already drawn up his own list of jobs to be done when Will and his team stepped onboard to conduct a Readiness Assessment.

“We got Will involved to come down with his team, pull the boat to bits and put together their list. We joined the lists together and had quite a long discussion about what should and shouldn’t be done. We took some things off the list because we had a budget.” he recalls. “Will stayed involved throughout, I was contacting him all the way through.”

Will agrees;

“John already had a detailed jobs list. Our Readiness Assessment brought another experienced set of eyes to the project. This meant we could discuss priorities and build a realistic plan around their time and budget. With a solid understanding of the boat, I could offer well-informed ongoing advice.”

John retained control of the project and managed the refit work, with Will available to discuss decisions as the refit progressed.

Sharon highlighted how Will’s flexible approach was an important benefit.

“It is a real strength how he is able to customise his support to where it is needed.”

Preparing the people as well as the boat

Alongside the refit, Will delivered own-boat coaching to address each of their specific needs.

Although Sharon had considerable crewing experience, she wanted to develop her ability to skipper independently.

“I felt it was important to be independently skilled,” she explains. “If something happens on the boat, I need to be an alternate skipper.”

She completed her RYA Day Skipper with Will onboard their own yacht, learning in the environment where she would use those skills.

John needed a different approach. His experience did not fit neatly into a standard RYA training pathway, so Will focused on identifying and filling specific gaps in his knowledge.

Will added “John and Sharon brought different experience to the boat, so the coaching needed to reflect that. Working on their own yacht meant we could focus on the skills each needed and practise them where they would actually use them.”

That preparation proved particularly valuable in Tonga, where they found themselves pinned against a concrete jetty by 20 knots of wind, with catamarans immediately ahead and astern.

“We managed to spring ourselves off a concrete dock into 20 knots of wind because we'd done it so many times on the boat with Will,” recalls John. “Other people said, ‘One second you were there, the next you'd gone!’ Nobody else could get off the jetty!”

Preparation that proved its worth

Another piece of advice became valuable between Tonga and Fiji.

At a pre-departure World Cruising Club seminar, Will had recommended carrying 1m of cable the same diameter as your own boat’s rigging which could be clipped on as an emergency rigging repair. John had joked that it meant another last-minute purchase, but he acted on the advice.

“Between Tonga and Fiji, sure enough, our rigging started pinging,” he recalls. “We had to get out that spare piece of cable and bolt it on. I was very pleased he'd given us that final little gem.”

The standard of preparation had already earned the couple positive feedback during World Cruising Club safety inspections.

John recalls “We were inspected three times. When the other inspectors came on board they said ‘Wow, you know what you’re doing - you’re so well organised’. Hearing comments like that on the back of Will’s work was a real confidence booster. A lot of it goes back to the word confidence. Will was very good at taking what we already had and building our confidence around it.”

A different way of winning

For John, the preparation also supported a change in mindset. A crew member who had raced with him previously remarked on how differently he sailed during the Atlantic crossing.

“I was the cowboy who would push the boat as hard as we could to win regattas. Suddenly I was Mr Conservative,” John says. “Will helped us see that it’s not about getting anywhere first. If we get home to Singapore safely; we’ve won.”

Looking back, both are clear about the value of Will’s involvement.

“I would thoroughly recommend Will to anybody looking at doing an ocean crossing, particularly for the first time.” John states

Sharon agrees:

“Will is very engaging, but not pushy. He's really personable to work with, and that's important too. I really enjoyed working with him.”

Asked what he would say to someone weighing up whether to seek support, John reaches for a familiar sailing parallel.

“Everyone knows the phrase; If you think you need to reef, reef straight away. If you think you need to take a reef out, have a cup of tea and think about it. I'd put Will in that camp. If you're thinking, ‘Maybe I need to have Will there,’ get him, because it's so worthwhile. I would think long and hard about not using him.”

Planning an Ocean Passage? Talk to Will about your project to find out how White Dot Sailing could support your ambitions.

From Experienced Racers to Confident Ocean Cruisers

How a readiness assessment, ongoing consultancy and own boat coaching helped John and Sharon prepare themselves and their Elan Impression 434 ‘Sofa so Good’ for the World ARC in 2023.