An editor of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times flipped an 18 in moderate conditions and was unable to right it, in spite of the presence (and presumed assistance) of two other people on the boat. They are to be commended for staying with the boat for the 16 hours it took to drift ashore; the lack of personal flotation devices and (probably) harnesses was a major failing. Read about it in the Corpus Chrsti Caller-Times.
They had lack of knowledge, skills, PFDs, harnesses, etc. Also lack of simple sealing the mast so it won't leak and therefore turtle. This is why we use to have Hobie Fleet Sailing clubs, to share good times, information, teach sailing skills, and to safety check each other's boats. Its too damn bad the Hobie and Prindle fleets have mostly gone away. BUT--- NO PROBLEM---- MODERN PEOPLE GET IT ALL FROM THE INTERNET! HAhahahaahaha!
According to the article, the boat did not turtle when it capsized. After they were unable to right the boat with it on its side, the owner decided to turtle it on purpose so they could sit on the bottom and wait for rescue. (At least that is what the article says.)
Anyone else ever have a problem righting a TheMightyHobie18? As long as a person has 300lb, it should not be a problem. What the heck were they doing out there without PFD's?
It is not necessarily a Hobie -- the article just says 18-foot catamaran.
Maybe they did not have a righting line and didn't know enough to use the halyard.
I guess an 18 must be a little more difficult than a 14, but me and a mate righted my boat from a turtle in about 6 minutes with no previous experience, and it was our first time on a catamaran ever.
I guess some people just submit and accept there is no hope once something goes wrong? - Surely there must have been a length of rope or a sheet that could have been tied around the side-stay or something?.
They were on Good morning America the other day. The boat shown looked like a dismasted Hobie 16 sitting behind them. The skipper was clueless. He was thankful that he was rescued...said he could not afford an expensive sailboat and a bit chagrined over the whole fiasco. One of the women said... well they attempted to tack, shifted their weight and the boat capsized. She did not think it could go over so quickly.
The newspaper paid for the search and rescue.
We sailed right by that yellow oil platform a day before on a 100 mile leg of the Texas 300. The oil platform was about 10 miles of the coast and the winds were in the high teens and gusty.
It sure does make catamarans look bad when people don't take safty equipment and know how to operate there boat. I hope they got tickets for not having proper saftey gear.
This seems to me, to be an almost inexcusable incident. Just goes to show how incompetent, irresponsible people can get themselves into trouble. I'd like to think that this would never happen to me, but I am not quite that naive. Experience tells me what can happen, will happen, and may happen to me. I lost my bullet proof mentality about 25 years ago. My partner and I may overkill the other way. We always talk about preparing for Murphy's law, and it seems like we always use the belt and suspenders approach too often, but geez.............these people forgot the pants! I am glad they didn't get hurt, but there is no excuse for this. They were unprepared, lacked basic knowledge, and totally incompetent. The newspaper makes it out like they were heroes, and adventurers, but they just didn't have a clue. Stay on the beach or go with someone that knows what they are doing -- or at least wear a $5 life jacket!
Don
ARC22 #2226
I saw it on TV there was a blue Hobie 18 in the background.
There were 3 people on board. Two girls and a guy.
He looked about 200 + 110 + 130 = 440+ which is
more than enough weight to right a boat if mast is pointed to the wind.
Either his mast had water in it, or became filled with water
after capsize, or he did not know that you have to
point the mast into the wind to right it.
He appeared embarassed/dumbass to me during the interview.
Maybe he liked the cute one, and got to far offshore.
He could use the jib sheet for a righting line.
He admitted to sailing exp. but no cat experience.
What an embarrassment that the "skipper" is from San Jose, where I live. Good thing he's in Corpus Christi now.
It could have been worse though. At least they were smart enough to stay with the boat, and no one was hurt or killed.
Even though I think the theory of evolution is scientifically untenable (put on flame suit), I say this guy should get a "Darwin award".
David Ho
TheMightyHobie18 1067
Like you said, at least they made it out OK. Perhaps it wasn't "their time". However the events transpired, I think it was silly they couldn't flip it back over. Perhaps if they go sailing again, they will have the intellegence to take some sort of sailing course before hand.
and no PFD's 
Um... at the very least he could have read Phil Berman's "Catamaran Sailing: From Start to Finish" before deciding he could handle anything that came up on a cat.
I used to capsize my boat on purpose for the practice of righting it. Last time (not on purpose) I had only one other person on board and she had never been sailing before. It had been perhaps 2.5 years since I'd capsized last (I sail pretty conservatively when I sail and 18' boat solo!) and we still had no trouble bringing the boat back up
Yeah - these guys and our news coverage iritate me. Where are the comments about their lack of concern not only for their own safety but for the rules and regulations on the water? If 370lbs could right a 6.0na four times in a day, 400+ should easily be capable on an 18 footer.
BTW...name your boat "Flippen Fearless" and you'll know what it means to capsize. For two years I had never capsized during a regatta and I have in nearly every one since naming my boat. Just this weekend...four times on Saturday before finally dropping out of the Myrtle Beach Cat Dash due to my crew being totally exausted (pack a day smoker! 
). We weren't alone though...15 knots, 4-6' seas on a terribly overpowered 6.0na...adrenaline...(perhaps that's what I should rename the boat!).
"...or he did not know that you have to
point the mast into the wind to right it."
I believe that you point your hulls, not the mast, into the wind when beginning to right from a capsize. If the mast is into the wind, once she starts to right, the wind will catch the main and blow it right over onto the water on the other side. With the hulls into the wind the boat will be in irons once she comes back up.
If you leave the mast pointed downwind, you will be fighting the breeze trying to right. While it's true that pointing the stick upwind can lead to another capsize, that is the preferred way to right; have to grab the dolphin striker and hang on!
Sheldon
Sorry for the late reply, but I just read the article. We've had this happen before, and it could be anything, including inexperience. But, it seems to me that the real problem here is the failure to anticipate. Some of us even carry knives because we've heard about being caught in lines. Although I was caught once, but never had to use the knife, I find it a reassuring piece of equipment. As far as righting the boat, I mostly sail by myself. I'm always prepared to right my Hobie 18 Magnum by myself. I can do it easily with my 170# and my righting pole that I have mounted under the tramp. I've been using this for two years now, and it still amazes me that no one in my Hobie Fleet (with 40 members) or even in the Division (I never see them at Regattas) will use them.
Wyatt
Can I make fun of them since no one was hurt?
-I love this quote from Deselms- "...But Tom Made us feel safe" That's the problem with women- their 'feelings' get in the way of the truth.
-and Vetter's quote- "I'm never getting on one of those boats agian" like it is the boat's fault they are brain dead!
point the mast into the wind to right it."
What is most effective for me is having the leading edge of the mast pointed into the wind (i.e., bows to the wind). Once the wind is flowing over the sail, even with the boat on its side, lift is generated (unlike an orientation with the top of the stick pointed at the wind.)
Weighing in at a little over 200, I have successfully been able to right my N6.0 in winds of 15-20 knots. The first time it happened it was not due to singlehanding the boat, but rather the mistake of my crew who let go of the boat while on the windward side. Trust me. A capsized cat can blow away quicker than most can swim. On another occasion I was sailing with my son, who was eight at the time. The forecast had been for 5-10 knots, but a cold front came in stronger than anticipated, with highly variable winds and gusts well in excess of 20 knots. We got caught off-guard when one of the puffs hit. (I was trying to explain something and it took us totally by surprise.) We went from flat to knocked down in an instant. With my son on the hull, I swam the bows to the wind. In this case, since the winds weren't steady, it was coming up pretty slowly once I leaned into the righting line. I told my 50 lb son to climb out along my horizontal body and sit on my chest. That did the trick. She came up quickly once a puff flowed under the sail.
Andrew,
This is a perfect example of why all SC and ARC products come with a righting system on every boat from the factory. It only takes one night on a turned over boat to frighten someone and turn them completely off on sailing. One fatality can ruin your life. The ARC righting system weighs less than one pound and costs less than $100. It should be a coast guard requirement on all beach cats.
Bill
Or...at the VERY least...be class legal.
I'm not trying to burst your bubble here but when 3 persons can not right a TheMightyHobie18 togther than I don't expect them to understand how to operate a righting pole.
Nothing is FOOL proof remember ?
Wouter
Wouter,
I'm not talking about a righting pole. At this point I think I am talking about something else you are not aware of that has been on beach cats for 25 years.
Bill
Can you describe the basics of the "ARC righting system" you mentioned? You've got me curious.
Thanks,
Todd, TheMightyHobie18 MN
It's really simple. All you do is pull a fast-pin on the sidestay adjuster to release the sidestay. There is a much smaller flexible wire attached from the adjuster to the end of the sidestay. This wire then extends the sidestay, which enables the weight of the hull to (increase and) be used as part of the righting moment to right the boat. (Moment = Force X Distance from the neutral axis) A righting pole increases the distance using the same force (you), this system increases the force (adding the hull weight) with a slight increase in distance. Once righted, you just put the sidestay pin back in place. The adjuster has a lever to enable the tighening of the stay after you pin it back in its original position. This is a great system, and adds minimal weight to the boat. I highly recommend it.
Don
ARC22 #2226
Tod,
Allow me to add to Don's description of the shroud extention system: The base of the mast must be secured to its perch on the cross bar or else you would dismast the boat by slackening the shrouds.
Don, can you right the ARC22 by yourself? There is one 145# man on this forum who claims he rights his SC20 by himself.
GARY
In that case it must be a shroud extender. Still I wouldn't place high bets on those people knowing how to use that system either.
Aren't a real sceptical (if not cynical) unsympathetic person today ?
I'm noticing it even myself. And THAT says alot.
Definately not my day today.
Wouter
Gary,
The base of the mast should also be secured to the perch on the main beam while raising and lowereing the mast. So, this safety attachment serves many purposes. I have seen other brands of catamaran without this safety feature injure people while raising and lowering the mast, mast base into the face. Once I saw the top of a mast go into the windshield of a parked car while a beach cat sailor was attempting to raise the mast and the base slipped out of control and the top came down into the windshield of a car parked behind.
Bill
My mast base has a captive pin that you use to raise and lower the mast. But you take it out once you're on the water so in case of a dismasting less damage is done. I've seen firsthand what happens when you leave the pin in and the mast comes down... (first broken mast)
Gary,
You're absolutely right. The base of the mast is pinned. Yes, that could cause a real problem if it wasn't. Good catch. I guess that it is easy to forget about it in the description. You pin it when you step the mast, and forget about it. It is a nice system.
I haven't tried righting the boat by myself. Maybe next time. My crew and I have enough weight to right it with no problem. -- 440# combined, that might even right an RC30. What do you think Bill?
Don