For a boat owner, walking around a chandlery is like being a child in a sweet shop; so many goodies to buy and everything looks amazing. From nifty gadgets to state-of- the-art navigation displays that can sail your boat for you, it’s all so tempting!

The reality, however, is that budgets are finite, and boats have a funny habit of eating into said budget for all the wrong reasons. Knowing what to buy, what is genuinely useful or even essential, and what represents good value for money and will stand the test of time can be a tricky business.

While we at Yachting Monthly do our best to look at all the new gear that’s unveiled each year, even in our most thorough tests we can’t see how products perform after five or 10 years’ hard service on a cruising yacht. Things get soaked, bumped, run flat and trodden on. That’s the nature of cruising.

So we want to find out from you, the Yachting Monthly community, what equipment you use and what works for you in the real world. We will share the results of this survey to give you the confidence you need to make informed buying decisions.

If you need any encouragement to take the survey, which should take about 15 minutes, we’re giving away some great prizes – see right. Anyone can enter, but your answer should be about a boat you own or have an active part in managing and sailing, and is limited to boats between 25ft-60ft LOA.

All information will be entirely anonymous, and a winner will be picked randomly by computer.

To complete the gear survey, click on the window below, or click here.

What the gear survey covers

Boat Model, age, how long you’ve owned it, and what you’d change.

Sails and rigging Materials, cut and management systems for sails.

Anchoring and mooring Anchors, chains, windlasses, mooring lines, snubbers and fenders.

Safety Rafts, MOB recovery, lifejackets.

Personal equipment Waterproofs, deck shoes, wellies and gloves.

Navigation, instruments and autopilots How you stay on course.

Dinghies and outboards Old faithful tenders and outboards, or the latest tech?

Engines, alternators and batteries How you keep your boat chugging along and powered up.

Wind and solar charging The technology you use to harness nature’s power.

Creature comforts Luxury must-have items.

The gear survey prizes

Complete our real-world gear survey for a chance to win prizes worth £458, including…

Fusion RA60 Marine Stereo, worth £219

Fusion SM-F65CB Shallow Mount 100W Speakers, worth £89

Shakespeare Galaxy INFL8-5 emergency VHF radio antenna, worth £150