Since I got my Nacra 5.2 I have been worried about righting it alone. So I have decided to build a righting pole for the boat.
Here is how I plan to do it.
Today I tested out the pole that I plan to use, it is the bottom part of a broken pole vault pole. I have alot of these laying around because I was a fairly competetive pole vaulter in HS and broke more than a few poles. The part I am going to use is about 7 feet long and very stiff. I plan to put a rubber V on the bottom of the pole which when being used with slip around the bottom of the front crossbar. Then using a few I-bolts I will attach a couple of ropes with carbiners on the end. One of them with run striaght back towards the boat and attach near the topside of the front crossbar. Then I will also have a rope running from the end of the righting pole to the back and front of the boat to prevent side to side motion during righting. I am not going to rig up the whole ready in a second system. I think I will just carry it bungeed right under the tramp.
So do you all think this will work? I can't really see a problem with it as of yet. I know the pole is stiff enough, I tested it today by sticking it in the ground about a foot and then climbing almost to the end of it. During that test it only deflected about 8 inches; I figure with ropes supporting the end of the pole it should have almost no deflection.
Living in an area where you cant buy righting poles I built one myself a few months ago and I have used it on my 18ft stingray. The simplicity of Ricks pole is really worth buying if you can economically get it to you. I use the locking knot and self stow similar to that setup. Dont be too complacent about the load, it might be fine where your your hands are but I bent a substantial stainless fitting at the dolphin striker end of the pole the force there is considerable and if it lets go it will definately go through your tramp and probably leave you floating with a big dent in your head. Attatch that fitting really well, I stood mine in a beer can of wessystem and cloth to make an end. You also really want a simple line system if your mucking around rigging lines and unrigging afterwards in big winds and waves with the boat trying to turtle youll probably go back to a righting line. With Ricks line system you just get on your centreboard pull the knot through right the boat slip the knot and sail on. I'll finish with a plug for Rick I ordered a few hundred dollars of gear 7 days before christmas and got it in 6 days to a little town 300 km from Adelaide <img src=
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regards Jeff Southall