Getting More Convidence

Hello All,
I am 14 years old and have been sailing since I was 10. I have sailed optis and 420's competitively. A few years ago I learned of the Hobie Wave. After a lot of convincing my family got one. I loved sailing it but last year I got a little freaked out in sailing a catamaran in heavy wind. I was sailing a Hobie 14 Turbo and was flying a hull with someone else in while out on the wire in around 25 knot wind. It was a blast until it took a bad wet turn. This was not the best Hobie 14 Turbo so the bows would go under and pop back up. The person who I was sailing it with noticed this too. So while sailing this happened and we thought nothing of it. The bows did not come back up and I experienced my first capsize on a catamaran. It took around 10 minutes to get back up and we needed assistance (the sail's were not cleated) So the next time I sailed my Hobie Wave I was paranoid of it pitch polling and not being able to get it back up without assistance. I have flown a hull a little bit before on my Hobie Wave and wondered if there is a way to get over this fear of not being able to right it. I enjoy sailing it and would not like to be scared of it flipping when ever I am having a good time on it. Also I was wondering if it would be possible if I could right it, I weigh around 125 pounds. I tried righting it in a controlled environment a few years ago when I was around 105 with no success and have not tried righting it since.
Thanks,
AsLongAsIt'sSailing

Sorry if this sounds silly, but the way to get over the fear is to be able to actually right it. At your weight, I assume you will need assistance. Do you have the money for a righting bag? I've read that they really only give you half the weight they are quoted at, so a 200lb capacity bag will realistically give you another 100lbs, for a total of 225lbs, which should right a Wave.

I've never used a righting bag, but I'm sure they need some practice and some strength to get them in position. Try it when someone is around to help.

Hey, good for you. I used to teach blind kids how to ski, and you can imagine their fears. A lot of guys never overcome a fear - it's just easier not to do something. You are not that person. I can tell you the only way to learn is by doing. That said, I'll contradict it and tell you a couple things:

I assume you and your crew are wearing pfd's, which is item #1 100% of the time. After that, my advice is to think ahead and prevent bad situations from happening as much as you can. For me, I absolutely hate pitchpoling. I loathe it. But I do like to go fast. So I keep an eagle eye on the bows and try to react to things before they go too far. Sometimes I can steer out of a dig, sometimes I have to dump sail fast (I never cleat the main on days like that). Sometimes conditions are building and I have to move the travelers out to depower the boat overall. You will get a feel for these things. Sometimes I feel I can't point a certain direction because the waves and wind could take control, sometimes I am not above doing a 270 degree turn to get around. Sometimes it's just too gnarly (or cold) to go out - like Clint Eastwood said, a man's got to know his limitations. If you get out there and it's too big, limp back in (sails out, pinching on the wind) and try another day. Eventually you'll be up to it.

I suspect a Wave is harder to pitchpole than a H14 because there's more buoyancy in the bows, so you've got that going for you. But as leecea said, there's no substitute for knowing how to right the boat, and there's no way to learn without doing it. If you want to be told the techniques first there are some books like Rick White's "Catamaran Sailing for the 1990's" or search these forums for good descriptions. If you sail somewhere people are around, you might be able to enlist help. If you sail somewhere there is coast guard or a sailing club, maybe buying or borrowing a "cheap" marine "VHF" radio would give you some peace of mind, enabling a call for assistance if your righting efforts are not successful.

Think and do, and most importantly have fun with it. No one is an expert quickly.

_________________
1989 H16
2009 H16 squaretop

Aslongasit'ssailing good for you kid, for the start on tackling the fear, by getting advice from seasoned sailors ... which I am not. I am sure more controlled attempts in warm, shallow waters will get you there. Hope some experience members can chime in here.


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Another tool that can help righting the cat: http://www.murrays.com/13-4101.html.

I suggest practicing righting it. Spend some time before you go sailing by capsizing it near shore, and maybe with a friend with you or nearby, and practice righting it. The more you do it, the easier it gets. And the more different wind and wave conditions you practice it in too!
Also, do you ever practice man overboard? Throw a PFD overboard (not one you need to wear) and gybe around to recover it. Handy to be good at if your crew or your lunch falls over the side!

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks

Wow, Thanks for all of the help on what I should do.

Another vote for taking her out and practicing righting! Best way ever to gain confidence that you CAN right it is to actually do it under (somewhat) controlled conditions. I think that you'll find your Wave is much harder to pitchpole than a 14t and easier to right. 14s like to turtle without a bob! The Wave's far more bouyant, especially if you had 2 people on the 14! I'm 165 or so, and pretty much max out the 14 solo. The 14 is real sensitive to weight positioning in higher winds, also. The sailplan's a little more aggressive than the Wave, and even with max rake tends to load the bows. Your crew with that kind of weight on the boat would likely need to trap out actually slightly aft of the tramp. In higher winds, that's generally where I wind up solo. Have fun!

Dave