I learned something yesterday

For one reason or another- other things to do, no wind, too much wind, threat of too much wind, etc. I didn't sail all last week until yesterday. There was a morning wind which died to zero at around noon, but then started to improve as the afternoon went on, so I took the Hobie to the Park ramp just off the Pamlico River. I often sail singlehanded so had no trouble launching. It was a little difficult getting away from the ramp and out of the narrow, obstructed ramp area due to the wind coming down the creek. Once I finally rounded the last of the submerged piling markers and entered the creek channel, it looked like I would be able to make it all the way to the river on a port tack. By 3:30 the wind was really starting to pick up. I was moving pretty good, but when I was about 3/4 out and near the mouth of the creek I got hit by a strong wind gust that had shifted from just off the port bow to the port beam. She started to go over, but despite letting the main sheet run free and attempting to turn into the wind, I could not stop it. The Hobie went over on its side and I slid into the water.

I stayed calm, and thought to myself, now I have the opportunity to see if I can right the boat single-handed (this is the first time I have dumped it in a season and a half of sailing). I have wanted to attempt single-handed righting for quite awhile but was hoping for better conditions and location. The boat was squarely on its side with the flotation from the sealed mast thankfully keeping it that way and keeping it from turning turtle. I swam around and checked to make sure the main and jib sheets were un-cleated, then I climbed on the lower hull and grabbed my Hawaian righting line attached to the pylons. I wasn't able to reach it over the outside of the upper hull so pulled it from the inside- a little less leverage. I put the line behind my back and leaned way back and outward, as much as I could. I waited for the mast to start lifting- no such luck. Luckily a helpful power boater dropped anchor and hopped in the water to help. With both of us pulling the boat quickly righted.

What did I learn? As others have reported, it is very difficult or nearly impossible to right a Hobie single-handed! My mast was not underwater, the sail was at the surface, the boat pointed in the right direction, and I am a dainty 198#, but I couldn't do it myself. Now I plan to get a righting bag.

I scrambled back aboard, set everything for sailing, then continued to head out toward the river. Along the way I picked up my paddle which had floated away, from another helpful boater. During this time the wind speed continued to increase. Whitecaps covered the river. The wind was pretty strong and I didn't want to go over again so I decided to turn around and call it a day. I had to pinch until I got far enough up the creek where the wind calmed down and allowed me to sail uneventfully back to the ramp where I packed up and went home.

I checked the weather history and during my experience the wind had been gusting from the low to high teens, with some gusts over 20 mph and the direction variable from 110 to about 180 degrees.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

Alan,

Thanks for the post. I'm in my first year of sailing my H16 and I have not turned over yet. I've been wondering it I can right it as well. I'm about 195lbs so I guess I couldn't do it on my own. However I normally sail with my 7yr old son. He's 55 lbs, so i'm hoping that the two of us together would be enough to get the job done. The number I remember seeing regularly here on this forum is that you need at least 220lbs to right an H16.

Even my 7yr old suggested that we needed to practice righting the boat. Perhaps we will do that this weekend.

One question, where do you get weather information history that includes wind speeds? I've been having a hard time finding that information.

Thanks.

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Michael
'86 H16 #91487

http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi

or

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/

Put your location in the top left box and then in the bottom right there is an "Hourly Weather Graph". That's what you want.

Those are the two sites that I use.

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1984 H16 - #80541

I was unsure if I could right my FXone even with a bag. I have the smaller one from Murray's and I weigh 160lbs. Took some patience to pull it up from turtle, but it did come up for me without outside assistance.

(Note links below should take you to wx data in the Washington, NC area)

I use the WeatherUnderground . I think it is easier and quicker to find and read this data than on the NWS/NOAA site. etc. Enter your location (town, state, zip, airport, etc.) to get the current and 5 day forecast weather, local, regional and nation wx radar, etc., etc. I can't say too much about their forecasts, but I like the doppler radar- to watch for tornadoes, thunderstorms and rain.

For sailing, I like their new feature "WunderMap" (look in the list under the radar display.) WunderMap initially displays a satellite and hybrid views of your area. It is scalable and can be paned. Stick and flag wind symbols depict real time wind speed and direction data which is collected via the internet from a network of personal weather stations(PWS). If you click on a symbol you are shown a pop-up with more data. If you click on the station ID link in the upper right of the pop-up you are taken to the Daily Summary page which has data and graphical representation of temp, wind speed, direction, etc. etc. for the day. If you scroll down you see the readings taken every 4 -5 minutes throughout the day. You can change the date at the top of the Daily Summary to see what happened yesterday, two weeks ago, or any other day. The link Full Screen RapidFire Flash View presents a computer generated real time anemometer display of your selected site.

Of course, all this depends on the participating personal weather stations in your area of interest. It is worth checking out.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

A Hobie sure is different than the Sailfish I had as a young 90 lb. weakling. I would just grab the handholds and stand on the dagger board - no problem.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

I flipped the Hobie a few weekends ago and at 175 could not even begin to get it upright. A ranger came by and I asked him to grab the end of the mast and raise it. He raised it only about 3 feet above the water while I was leaning back on the righting line and she came up very easily. I think a righting bag would have made it easy for me to bring her up, but who knows. I need to go through the motions several times in shallow water. That was the first time I had ever flipped.

Just a couple notes:

If you get overpowerd while sailing on a broad reach, your best bet is to head downwind (on a H16 because the bows are so small, this still may not save you, but on boats with more volume in the bow, it almost always works). Rounding upwind while overpowerd on a broad reach is a sure way to knock down.

Throwing the righting line over the hull doesn't give you any more leverage as far as righting the boat is concerned, it just makes it easier to hold on. So if you were leaning as far out as you could (without being in the water) and the boat didn't come up, having the line over the hull wouldn't have made any difference.

One thing that may make the boat easier to right is to loosen the downhaul a lot. Doing so removes to cup shape from the sail so it won't hold as much water.

Make sure the bows are pointed as close to the wind as possible. Stand on the bows to get the boat to spin, or jump in and swim it if necessary. It can be extremly difficult to right the boat (even with two people) if the bows aren't into the wind. At 195lb you may be able to right the boat on your own if there's enough wind and you get the bows point into the wind.

sm

I have gone over twice now and at 205# had no trouble at all getting the boat up and going again. The first time it took a while because I was swimming the mast around into the wind. The second that I tried it with the bows into the wind, it came up immediately. I have a Hawaiian system on my cat also. It is hyper critical to get the bows into the wind. It is also very helpful to have some wind. If it is calm, you are going to have trouble. Also be ready to go under the upper hull as it comes over your head and grab the striker and then up onto the opposite hull. This will keep it from going over the other way or having it sail away from you.
Another thing to try if you can't get it to come up is to go to the back of the lower hull. Your weight will begin to rotate the lower hull around the mast, up out of the water. When the lower bow is about 3-4 feet up in the air, scoot forward quickly and lean back hard on the righting line. Sometimes this is enough to get some air under the sails and it will come over. Good luck next time. My first time I spent about 2 hours on by side.

I was on a close reach in very variable, gusting, winds.

Considering this was my first attempt I thought the boat was pointed into the wind, but could have come through the wind into a slight starboard tack which would tend to work against me and hold the sail down. It was extremely hard to tell since the wind was gusting and swinging where I went over (and why I went over!) as much as + / - 20 deg. Although I knew I was supposed get her pointed into the wind, I really hadn't thought too much about why- to get wind under the sail and help break the surface tension sounds reasonable. Loosening the downhaul and going to the back of the lower hull then moving forward is a good suggestion also. Thanks for the tips.

I wish I had a good location for a couple of training sessions. Maybe I need to find someone who will follow me out into the river in a power boat and assist if I need it.

My plan now is to see if I can learn to do it using the good tips here, without any new hardware, but even if I can do it, carry a righting bag just in case.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

Aschaffter,
Check my thread on "righting bag test". I had the same problem you did. Hope the article helps!

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Eric
H16
Sail# 11500

Been following it.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

huh. perhaps I should be ordering the jumbo bag.

My weight fluctuates anywhere between 130-170.

mdgann:

Sorry to do this here, but this is the thread you've most recently posted to, and I want to ask you about another thread you'd commented in. I'd pm or
mail, but can't do either here.

Mind dropping me a note, please?

Thanks.

Jonathan
[email protected]
H18 & TriFoiler

I am working with a vendor (custom maker of sail/boom, tramp, etc. bags) on making a righting bag similar to Hobies, but at about 1/2 the price. I'll update here or in a separate thread when I get it and get a chance to test it.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057