One of the most influential pieces of equipment which has enabled exceptionally large yachts to be manoeuvered with safety by a small crew can be attributed to Derek Richfield who has pioneered the use of retractable hydraulic bow thrusters.

The client of today also expects to find in his boat all the conveniences of modern living to which he is accustomed at home: dishwashers, stereos, TV, videos, Jacuzzis, microwave cookers. Much of this is domestic or industrial equipment adapted for marine use, which requires electrical and plumbing services identical to the mains supplies ashore. If you throw your wet bathing gear into the dryer you have every right to expect it to get dried. If we ask you first to go into the engine room and switch on the generator we have not achieved our objective. The fact that this level of convenience requires watermakers, pressure pumps, accumulators, generators and holding tanks is the designer's, the builder's and the skipper's concern; not the owner's or his guests'. This is all part of successful design.

For deck equipment, of course, the gear is all extremely specialised. In bygone days it was the rigger's shop, a part of the builder's organisation, which would have built the mast, the rig and even the sheaves which clicked and creaked romantically but inefficiently as the gear was worked.

In today's sophisticated environment, the need for tighter controls and more modern engineering has taken the responsibility for deck equipment away from the artisan and into the hands of the specialists. In order to provide lightweight and efficient equipment capable of handling the loads of a large sailing yacht a sophisticated approach is vital.

During the last 20 years there has been an astonishing improvement in the equipment available for sailing boats, led by manufacturers meeting the needs of smaller yachts. Gradually, due to the influence of large research budgets invested in successive America's Cup campaigns, the needs of larger yachts have been met. Unfortunately, the loads generated by the rigs of our new breed of cruising yachts are significantly greater than those of 12-metres or even Maxi yachts. Only a few suppliers have come up with gear to withstand loads such as a 15 ton strain on a genoa sheet.

Wolter Huisman met this problem by creating his own subsidiary to supply everything above decks. Under their Rondal brand name, Marquip now make everything except winches (strangely enough, the first product they made). They realised right away that the needs of a cruising yacht are different from those of a racer. Their furling gears for instance are not conversions of manually operated designs, but conceived initially as hydraulic units. Their blocks and sliders not only withstand the loads, but use highly polished stainless steel, white Delrin and high quality anodised aluminium to complement the gleaming deck of a fine yacht.

Reliability is all important, for nothing spoils the serenity of a cruise under sail like a defective winch or a torn sail. It may not always be a question of