Trials and Tribulations: Marine Trials Should be Planned - Not Just a Collection of Instrumentation

The complexity of and costs involved in modern marine trials means that unless great care is taken in planning, selection of equipment, preparation and execution of the trial and analysis, the results obtained are likely to be disappointing. An attempt is, therefore, made in this paper to discuss the art of marine trials techniques. Some of the problems and pitfalls are discussed together with what must be done to avoid them.