A recent Facebook post on whether to put your Saildrives in neutral or reverse whilst sailing and the vast variety of comments posted prompted me to write the following article. The aim: to prevent you from failing your equipment on the open ocean. Yes, you read this right … you failing your equipment.
It all starts with unpacking the goods, probing and prodding the item, admiring its beauty and then… discarding the manual. Afterall, real men don’t read instructions.
Maybe it is human nature (at least by the ‘A’ type personalities amongst us) to think that only we know best.
We have all been there and done that. And if not, at least we know of someone who has. We draw on ‘real-life’ experiences, not some theoretical, lab-coat opinion.
Once we conceded that it might have been a good idea to at least glance at the manual, we immediately try to convince ourselves again that this is written for others, those who ‘really have no idea’. We also firmly believe that manufacturers are simply trying to cover their legal backsides, so instructions are on the extreme side of cautious and recommendations are just that – suggestions.
If you find yourself guilty to be in that category, please read on.
To set the record straight; no one likes manuals. Not even the manufacturers. Manuals take up a substantial amount of productivity hours to create, they take up space, natural resources and are easily outdated. To overcome some of the above issues, manuals are now integrated into systems wherever possible. They are interactive, with a ‘help menu’ to take you straight to the relevant answer. Alternatively, you are most likely to find a colourful ‘quick guide’ to get things started alongside the longwinded, fine printed manual.
So why do we have them?
Manufacturers spend millions of dollars in R&D to design and produce a reliable product. Volkswagen for example showed in their 2018 annual report a spending of 12.1 billion Euros on R&D. That’s billion, not million!
Reliable in this case doesn’t just mean ‘not failing during normal operation, in average conditions by people applying common sense’. It has to be assumed that their product will be used by even the most inexperienced or ignorant person, under conditions way outside it’s intended design criteria, without it breaking, causing harm or putting you or others in danger.
So the manufacturer has to think of every conceivable way their product could be misused and try to eliminate those options. At the end, they guarantee their product with a warranty and part of that is the operations manual.
Now comes the ‘A-type personality’ user and claims that he or she has done this or that, everything worked fine so it can be recommend that it’s okay to operated outside the specified guidelines because it happened to work for them …. and you believe it. Maybe. But then, the above ‘expert’ mentioned that he had years of experience in the engineering industry, so that makes it extra trustworthy. Now you are convinced and set off on a course for uncharted destruction.
Yet, this could have gone so much better.
Let us make this a little more personal. You just had brain surgery and the doctor who cut your head open tells you not to go diving for 4 months. On your next holiday, you find yourself in front of some beautiful, crystal clear water, 1 week short of the 4 months deadline. What’s one week you ask yourself as you contemplate making a splash. Yet what are the chances that you actually do it, thereby ignoring the surgeon’s advice? There will be no warranty claim!
Completely different story I hear you say.
Okay, back to the technical then. In a recent conversation with a school friend of mine, Stefan Neubacher, also former Director of Volkswagen Commercial Aftersales Worldwide, gave the following examples:
‘Last time you put a roof rack on your late model car, did you use the supplied tools or alternatively, did you check the maximum torque to be used whilst tightening up those screws?’ Ummm…. No. Just make them tight enough, like I have done for years, right?
‘That’s the answer I expected. However, there is a specific limit and that is based on the load bearing capabilities of the integrated roof structure, specific to that model of car. Tighten the roof rack too much and the roof might buckle in the middle’. Ummm… really? They can’t be that flimsy? What happens in a crash?
‘When we design a new model we look at, amongst many other things of course, efficient construction to achieve a set of goals. Weight for example is crucial for a car to run efficiently, burn less fuel to meet emission standards (yes, the irony of that example in this case didn’t go unnoticed but it remains a valid point). So, during the design phase we look at all parts working together, supporting each other so to speak, to achieve that common goal. If you then apply additional forces to an area that is not designed to support those forces beyond the recommended ones, you inadvertently create a weak point.’
‘Let me give you another, less technical example, of why you should follow the manufacturer’s operational recommendations: You are having a nice Sunday afternoon drive. Windows open, sun shining. Everyone is comfortable and relaxed; your partner puts their feet on the dashboard. You pull into a carpark, get distracted as you bring the car to a stop, misjudge that inconveniently place large dumpster … set of the airbag … and your partner’s legs are no more. If only you had followed the manuals instructions and adhered to the well published warnings.’ Ummm… morbid!
Finally, and closer to home, I have been operating large commercial aircraft around the world for over 20 years. My airline’s safety record is almost unblemished, partly because we follow the aircraft’s manufacturers procedures and protocols to the letter. If we didn’t and even so much as scratch the paint, we would be liable and without insurance. You as a client would take us to court for negligence … and I would end up in jail. So you can be sure that I have read the manual and it’s amendments, twice.
And this is my link to yachting. Boats and planes are both operated in challenging environments, with manufacturers having access to years of worldwide experience and up to date, operational data … way more than you and I could ever acquire.
So clearly this is not just about warranty. It is about your experience with the product. How often have you felt pride when saying: ‘This Felangie has lasted me for years and it’s still going, they don’t make them like that anymore.’ Well, quality products are still made to last, they are just more efficient and task specific.
We all love reliability, it gives us comfort. So go out there, read that manual and stay safe.
Acknowledgment: Headline photo taken by Brad Franklin – Kansas City
