After the finished hull's interior and systems have been completed there are still hundreds of item to be checked, tested and tuned. The mast, perhaps 135 feet long and weighing up to four tons, is stepped and rigged. Hydraulic, electrical and electronic systems are connected and checked; sails are bent to the rig and tested for sheet leads. Below deck the engine room springs to life. Engines, generators and every ship system must be started, tested and run-in.

Although all the electronics, motors, pumps, fans and winches have been bench run and calibrated before installation, it is only after launching that these systems can be thoroughly checked. Many rely on seawater cooling. Much of the working gear needs the mast stepped before it can be tuned to play its part in running the yachts.

Testing hundreds of systems requires a methodical approach, so a testing programme is worked out with the engineering staff and the owner's representative to ensure that nothing is overlooked. The engines are first run at the dock, checking temperatures and pressures carefully. Then the bow thruster and variable pitch propellers are put through their paces, again at low power settings while the yacht is at the dockside. Eventually the great moment comes when the lines are cast off and she moves out for sea trials. Now is the time to check performance against predictions from the designer's hydrodynamic studies and collect data for the speed/range and fuel consumption tables. As well as running-in and checking all the equipment, the data gathered on optimum pitch and throttle settings will be used in writing up the operating manual of the yacht. Eventually come the full power trials, when the engines are put abruptly from full ahead to full astern.