Hi there, new to the forum (and hobies in general), but I thought I would share some information to anyone interested in making a righting pole for their hobie. I recently bought a H16, and I love it. Being new to the boat, and being a daredevil, I have flipped it over about 3 of the 6 times I have taken it out! I like to sail solo, but being only 130 lbs, righting the boat is almost impossible by myself, using conventional methods. I sometimes couldn't even flip the boat with my 150lb brother...and as far as I can tell, we were using the correct technique. Adding a mast float didn't help much, and I didn't want to my mast to pop out of its cup using shroud extenders. Righting bags were a thought, but I figured a righting pole was the way to go.
In college, we had an engineering design project, so I somehow managed to convince my team to build me a righting pole, on the school's dime! Since it is winter here, I didn't want to test it on the 40 degree water, but we did test it on land....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmqOdBt4aY.... it seems to work very well, I only have to get about 3/4 of the way out to make it work.
Here is a little more in depth video of how it was made, but I am willing to provide more information if people would like to copy this design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHKA3PPpZNkI have a few modifications I want to make to the bracket before summer, just to clamp it to the dolphin striker a little tighter.
for a list of materials, here we go...
1 ½’’ X 10’ aluminum conduit- Donated, but your local electrical supply should stock them for around $40
2’’ x 4’’Aluminum Lathe stock- Donated, but around $10 for a 12'' section on ebay
⅛’’ Stainless Cable- Donated, but cheap for as much as you need...$0.36 a foot or something like that
Aluminum Angle- Salvage (just something to bolt to the pylons so you can attach a spring clip to it)
Stainless Hardware- $26.03
Stainless Spring Clips- $7.99
Overall, I think that this is a great modification for solo sailors who like to push the boat. There are easier ways to make the bracket, but this doesnt harm the boat in any way, and just looks cool!
If there is enough interest, I can make up drawings and dimensions, ect.