Taking preparation beyond the beyond

Well prepared boats win races. They have the crisp sails, the clean bottom, their rigging is well-suited for crew work, and gear doesn’t break. Logical, right, but some boats take preparation beyond the beyond. Sean “Doogie” Couvreux explains:

Drinking water for race boats has gone through quite the evolution in the last few years. A Facebook rant a few years ago about single-use water bottles was the motivation for starting Guzzle H2O and providing systems for race teams to drink clean, safe, and good tasting water.

Lately, we have provided a few teams that race on the Great Lakes with a lake specific system. It has proven to be easy to use and practical for daily operations. The idea is to use lake water to provide drinking water for the team once out on the lake, with the system using a pressure pump that pulls water from the lake which it then pushes the through a filter/purifying system.

Most teams are plumbing the pump to an existing water intake and then teeing off from that to the pump. The first level of filtration is 0.5 carbon block which gets rid of sediment, chemicals, and makes the water taste good. Then it passes through an LED UV purifier which kills off bacteria, viruses, and Protozoa making the water safe to drink. A small ¼” or ⅜” hose is then plumbed to an easily accessed area on deck with a small manual valve.

Each team member has a dedicated water bottle that they can fill once out on the lake. When they want water, they take their bottle to the hose, open the valve and fill the water bottle. The pump is turned on in the morning and is on standby until someone opens the valve and fills their bottle.

The Guzzle filter system will turn itself on and off only when it senses water flow. With a power consumption level of about 1 amp when the water is flowing, the filter consumes a negligible amount of battery power.

This set up has made drinking water a lot less hassle and more practical than buying water from the store. There is no longer a need to carry lots of water down the dock every day for sailing. The boat also doesn’t need to carry the weight of enough water for everyone for a full days’ worth of sailing.

So, there is no need to stress about the weight of excess water that might or might not be drunk throughout the day. Everyone is responsible for filling their water bottle while out on the race course so no need to have someone dedicated to water management during the day.