Weight Required to Right an 18?

I tipped my H18 a week and a half ago, and in the scrambling that ensued, managed to pop off a quarter of my girlfriend/crew's big toe. This made her less available as counter-weight (hopping around on one foot and all), so a passerby patio boat passenger jumped in and provided weight. Even without the mast pointing the right way, 2 guys and a hopping mad girlfriend provided sufficient weight for a quick recovery. Lessons learned:
- low-stretch halyard is VERY uncomfortable to hold. I'm trying some 2" safety belt webbing... stores in VERY little space and should be easy on the hands.
- practice a bit with crew to take the surprise out of 'dismount' and set expectations for climbing aboard, lending righting weight, etc.
- WEAR the PFD, don't just sit on it (duh!)
Note: I repurposed a mesh zippered sailbag (about 2.5' x 6') as a cross-tramp gear bag. It drains well, and with some Harbor Freight open celled foam on the bottom is stiff enough to lay flat and gobble up any bits of lose gear (extra PFD, two throw/seat cushions, miscellaneous ropes, etc.). My first heavy air day was a bit of a 'yard sale' of lose gear almost lost, and this bag keeps everything tidy, even sideways. It was great not to have to worry about what was floating away.

I expect I'll be supporting the cost of the next few pedicures. :p Fair enough, methinks!

Whilst trolling YouTube, I ran across this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9qu8J8iep0
I can't imagine that 'popping' the sail up is really that easy from the tip, but it is something I will explore!

Randii

The big question is: will she ever sail again!?

You definitely need a good size line to hold on to. The elastic righting lines that Hobie sells are a good 5/8" diameter, so it's not a thin cord cutting your hand, and it has some give to it. It's also always there, so you don't have to worry about getting it out and/or attaching it. Practicing capsizing is a very smart idea, and would've helped tremendously the first time I went over unexpectedly. When you can make a planned & prepared for righting of the boat, the unplanned ones are much easier to react to!

edchris177, what you say makes a lot of sense. I wish someone had explained it to me like that (or included more useful "instructions") before I tried it the hard way. I have to wonder about the weight, though. I've heard that righting bags are anywhere from 35 lbs to 80 lbs, and that makes a huge difference! But I think even an 80lb righting bag wouldn't help me right the boat at 150 lbs.

A little math: I know my brother and I at 288 lbs can right the boat, but previously at 280 lbs could not. I'm 6', he's 5'6". Based on that, and assuming that we lean out at the same angle to the water with the bag or without, and that our cg is at ~56.5% of our respective heights, and shoulder height at 12" below total height, I've calculated that:

For solo righting a Hobie 18, at 6'0" and...
150 lbs, I would need an 86 lb righting bag,
160 lbs, I would need a 79 lb righting bag,
175 lbs, I would need a 69 lb righting bag,
190 lbs, I would need a 59 lb righting bag,
205 lbs, I would need a 49 lb righting bag,
220 lbs, I would need a 39 lb righting bag.

(If you're shorter than 6'0", add 3 lbs to the righting bag for every 1" of height lost. Ladies add 4 lbs to the righting bag to account for a lower center of gravity at 54.5% of height)

Now, rotating the boat around into the wind makes a big difference, and depending on the wind & waves, you might need a little more weight or a little less, but this seems to be pretty much right along the line of what the "minimum" righting weight is. So I think a righting bag is useful for crews that are slightly underweight or a little shorter, but for significantly underweight crews it seems like a righting bag might not be enough. What I hadn't realized before, though, is that the total required weight with a righting bag is actually less, because of the greater leverage - aka, with a righting bag you only need a total of 240 - 260 lbs to right the boat, rather than 290 lbs. Does the information above match others' experience? I really didn't think a righting bag would hold more than 50 lbs of water. I know mine didn't seem to hold that much, but I never really weighed it full. So I figured that for anyone under 200 lbs, a righting bag was ineffective for solo righting.

_________________
Mike

'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238

She went right out this weekend and had a BLAST. We had a stiffer breeze and she was hollering from the fun... that's a good sign!

Randii

[quote="randii"I'm trying some 2" safety belt webbing...[/quote]
Take a
Look at my photo ,get some of that line. Next flip the boat, toss the line over, & see where you have to hang on. Tie some knots there. Tie a couple so you can use them to "lower" yourself to the plank position.
Place one at the level that when you slide it under the harness hook, will hold you planked horizontal. That will decrease your effort by 90%.

Sabres...
It's not pure math. The righting bag is at shoulder level, not your body C of G. Also wind is huge advantage. I can right the Nacra5.7 (boat 19' 30' mast), by simply planking out, IF the wind is 20 mph. The less the wind, the more water o need in the bag. I use a Colorado Big Bag, 10 gallons, 80lbs.
My sailing buddy is 6'1" 185lb. He can right the Nacra 5.0 by hiking, (hooks the line via a strategic knot onto his harness) it then only takes one hand. With the other he lifts a few gallons in a garbage bag.
I'm shorter/lighter, & always use the bag, unless it's big wind.
The knot is essential, you need patience, & may have to wait a full minute for water to drain off before it comes up.
One other advantage of a bag vs pole. If the water is less than your mast length, you can stick it into the bottom. I did that a couple times with the Nacra, it always pivoted around. The other day the Hobie stuck, & stayed stuck, it would not pivot. A pole would have been useless. I had to stand on a stern, (tried the bow! my first choice),then hoist the bag, to break it free.

I accounted for that in my calculations, I just didn't include the free body diagram and all the nitty-gritty. Not many people feel like looking through the calculations! (at least that's what my non-engineer friends tell me). I placed the righting bag center of effort at shoulder height, as a hanging weight.

I agree that wind is a big factor, and there's no way to reasonably predict that variable. I mean, there are calculations for wind heel based on projected area, but it's easier not to get into all that. I had the Hobie righting bag, and I think it was about the size of a 5 gallon bucket at most, so maybe 41.7 lbs @ 8.34 lb/gal. Definitely on the light side based on my body weight, unless the wind was really blowing good. The above cases I considered the wind was probably 10 mph gusting to 15, so not too crazy.

10 gallon righting bag!? That thing must be huge!

Not really. Look at a 10 gal aquarium