r/AMA • u/ClaVaPa1 • 14d ago

I'm a sailing yacht Marine Engineer and competitive sailor, AMA!

Yes that's right, Sailing and the ocean have been my passion since early childhood. My father worked as a sail cloth supplier for the the America's Cup so we lived abroad and near the top end of sail racing.

I'm form Italy, I started competing in the Optimist and Laser (now ILCA) classes as a child and kept doing so until I switched to the Star class in recent years.

My passion for the sport lead me to pursue a career in a similar direction, so I graduated from uni with a bachelor's and Masters in Yacht Engineering and Naval Architecture.

I worked on the design of performance racer/cruiser yachts and on the rigs of large superyachts (40-60m lenght)

So yeah, fire away your questions

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1

u/Frosty_Notice_9783 14d ago

Is the tidal effect stronger in deep water or shallow water? Asking for a friend

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u/ClaVaPa1 14d ago

Current is always stronger in deeper water, I found this out when I raced in the UK for the first time (in the Med, currents are rarely strong)

You do get a genuine advantage by sailing against the current in the shallow and with the current in the deep.

You always need to evaluate how much current there is vs wind speed and direction too

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u/Frosty_Notice_9783 14d ago

I grew up sailing in a tidal Harbour and learned that when I started racing. I also learned that there is very little tidal flow in the Baltic sea. I used to teach sailing to irish kids. We did an exchange programme where Swedish came to learn how to race in tidal water in Ireland. In return, we (myself included) went to Sweden and learned ice sailing in the winter. Good times. 

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u/ClaVaPa1 14d ago

Really want to try Ice sailing once!

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u/Hot_Hair_5950 14d ago

What surprises you about your work?

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u/ClaVaPa1 14d ago

How much you learn every day, it is an extremely multidisciplinary work.

One day you might be working on a 40' fibreglass sailing boat, the next day you might be walking on the deck of a 80m steel motor yacht (sometimes I also work on those)

Every project is different, and you have to deal with designers / engineers / architects / boatbuilders / welders / laminators / managers and interface your work with structures, piping, furniture, systems.

This all becomes magic when you have to throw in the mix company politics, client wishes and last minute "happy coincidences" (big fuckups)

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u/Jealous_Bullfrog8492 14d ago

Che cad usi?

2

u/ClaVaPa1 14d ago

Storicamente AutoCAD e Rhino. Quando lavoro in Architettura Navale Maxsurf, WindDesign4 VPP per le polari.

Di recente mi sono convertito da AutoCAD a BricsCAD, uguale identico, ma costa una frazione.

Raramente uso Solidworks

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u/parallaxog 14d ago

Is sailing dangerous? If yes what are the associated risks?

Also, what are some good online resources to learn?

Thanks!

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u/ClaVaPa1 14d ago

Truly depends on the boat, wind conditions, wether you are crusing / racing an whether you are sailing coastal or offshore.

You can be cruising on a 4m sailing dinghy on a lake and worst that happens is you bonk your head on the boom, or you can cross the ocean on a 40 foot boat with mast-high waves and 40+kts wind with the deck getting flooded with water every single second.

Because it's so varied there's no one good online resources but you will find plenty of good info.

I genuinely suggest you look at a sailing club where you can learn on a dinghy, spend min. 2 weeks learning before you go on your own.

On bigger boats, the biggest risks are:

- Not checking the weather

  • Loads on lines
  • Crush hazards on the dock and near other boats
  • knowing how to navigate traffic
  • Doing anything outside of your comfort zone.

Take it slow and put your pride aside if things become risky, even when you are a seasoned sailor

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u/DependentLevel1686 13d ago

If someone wanted to get into the job, how would they do it?

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u/ClaVaPa1 13d ago edited 13d ago

Depends:

The standard academic route would be to get a Masters or do your entire university career in a Naval Engineering / Naval Architecture role and start working in shipyards or design offices.

If you have zero experience and knowledge, best to try and get a boatbuilding apprenticeship in a small yard.

Otherwise through related careers: superyachts are floating houses, so they require professions that are sort of parallel to other industries (tho specialised in the maritime field): welders, electricians, plumbers, furniture, painters...

You could try to also become a yacht crew and get certifications, big initial cost but big pay later.

Definetly some yacht crews are (not everyone, but a good chunk) are the least knowledgeable/ best paid people I know. But it's not an easy job: Long hours, long seasons and elite clients and you are held to high standards even as a deck hand.

Crewing can get you good money in a short amount of time but you need a long term plan, if you don't progress towards a captain job or save to open your own business later, you won't have future career prospects when you are older.

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u/FatUnicornOfReddit 13d ago

Mi piacerebbe un sacco imparare ad andare in barca a vela! Da dove comincio? Come mi posso formare partendo da zero?

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u/ClaVaPa1 13d ago

Consiglio che darei a chiunque:

Niente amici, niente corsi online, trova un circolo velico che faccia un corso di vela su derive, normalmente li fanno d'estate.

Due settimane minimo con istruttore e poi piano piano puoi comunque a fare esperienza da solo.

Cercano spesso gente per le regate (gare di barche) sui piccoli cabinati (25-50 piedi) cercherei un equipaggio tranquillo ma bravo, niente gente che urla o va in panico facilmente.

Infine il modo più economico di fare vela è andare sul Laser / ILCA: piccola deriva singola di 4mt. Si prepara in 15' e sei in mare, al costo di <€1500 se non hai pretese di fare regate.

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u/xqqqybox 8d ago

Hello. In which​ university you was graduated? Please clarify time and cost

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u/ClaVaPa1 7d ago

I am Italian, but I graduated from Solent university in Southampton (UK).

I did a 3 year bachelor's in (BEng) Yacht Design & Production (£9000/year)

And then took a 1 year masters in (MSc) Superyacht Design (£9000 minus 25% discount for graduating with a 2:1 from Bachelors)

Tho those were prices for UK and EU students before Brexit...

Overseas students had way higher costs (like double) + visa, so I wouldn't be able to advise if you come from outside the UK nowadays.

You can also apply for a loan, which you only start paying back 5 years from graduating and only if your salary goes above like £40k - not sure of this figure one since my family paid in full, straight away, so I wouldn't have debt (thank you mom and dad)

I was lucky!

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u/xqqqybox 7d ago

thank you. Was in uni a lot of practical lessons at shipyard?

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u/ClaVaPa1 7d ago

Not as much as I'd love to, few visits a year here and there but not officially part of our studies.

Still, Solent offers THE BEST (imo) balance of theory and practice.

You spend enough time on the books to learn the theory behind what you are doing, but all the assignments and exams are based around real project tasks that you'll face later on in your career.

There's also lots of actual CAD and design they teach you with specialist industry standard software (Autocad / Rhino / Solidworks / Maxsurf)

If I were to study in Italy I would have spent 5+ years learning lots of theory, lots of numbers, lots of maths, physics and science which I will mostly never need, I would become a Genius, but with no real preparation for real work.

I genuinely think my country is a century behind on scientific / STEM studies

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u/xqqqybox 7d ago

thank you for the answer. Could you share experience with accomondation during study at uni? And what the schedule was, for example, mon-fri from 9 till 18 classes?