Righting

Always unsheet your sails.
Check out this page for useful tips.

You need to unsheet both the main and jib or they can trap water, adding too much weight against you. I always point the mast into the wind though some advise the mast to be at an angle to it. If it is windy (which it should be if you go over) when you stand on the lower hull, by shifting your weight the wind will turn the boat relative to the angle you want. The wind on the tramp will help right the boat.

Howard

Check the following.... Sealed Mast, Some type of rope righting system, if you solo the hobie in wind conditions under 10 knots/h you will need a water bag or a righting pole. Unsheet Jib and Main .... not so much because they could trap water... that should run out to the rear - More to avoid acceleration and the risk of capsizing to the other side once you get the boat up.
Pivoting the boat to that 45* angle as shown in the pic is difficult. While standing on the lower hull move your weight forward until the rear of the hull points out of the water and the bows are submerged. The rotation that you create this way is slow... sometimes it seems to stop and rotate backwards. Try to get a feel when you have reached the max of rotation - then move back use the rope righting system of your choice and try to be as heavy as you can. When the boat becomes uptight reach for dolphin striker or X-bar to avoid capsizing to the other side.

Patrick

I've found I get the most bang for my buck with the bows straight into the wind. With the boom hanging down into the water, you get the most help from the wind this way, IMHO.

There is also a righting FAQ on the Hobie Forums Righting FAQ

In the year of our lord, 1999, a simple, catamaran sailing man named Gary Friesen discovered how to "right" a capsized, 20 foot beachcat, solo; by himself.

GARY

how did he do that one?

Gary,

I have been hearing all about your design and how effective it was/is. Searching the net really hasn`t helped. Can you provide any more insight as to how one can build it for themselves? Pole length? Support line lenghts? Contact surface and relevant angles?

Dave

Warning... What I am describing here is not the real thing... just a cheap copy of Gary’s Soloright. I used the upper part of a composite windsurfing mast and laminated a paddle shaped piece of glass over the inside of the hull in an area where you would later attach the pole to the boat. The length of the pole is about the width of the trampoline... mostly for the ease of storing the thing. The angle of the pole when attached to the boat is setup so that the pole is approximately parallel with the mast (seemed to provide good leverage). The support lines clip into loops attached to the pylons (when I took the frame off I used the extrusions in the pylons for the loops). The line length is set up to maintain the angle described before. Just roll the Hobie on its side (in shallow water or on the beach) and set up the line length. Some coarse surface (similar to the stuff you would find on the deck of a surfboard) helps to stay on the pole.

Patrick

Patrick,

Thanks for the info. If my memory serves, you made a post on this last spring with some pictures. I copied your post and saved the pics.

I have made a glass mold of the inside surface of the Hobie 16 hull. From this, I will make another mold (duplicate male) so as to make more than one of the soloright devices (one for me and another for a friend).

A question for you; so that I am clear, does the paddle portion actually conform/mate perfectly with the inside (medial) section of the hull and not just the area under the lip of the hull? If so, how big is the paddle contact area (aprox.), and, do you then simply cut/fix your lines in order to maintain this perfectly mated contact between the two surfaces (paddle and hull)?

Also, your description of the pole portion being parallel to the mast indicates that while in the capsized position, the pole is also nearly parallel to the water. This being the case, doesn`t the pole actually submerge too early in the righting process and reduce your leverage? If not, how effective is this device? Is it truly a solo righting device?

Hope you or Gary will advise,

Dave

The SoloRight was a 78" Caviness hardwood oar that was laminated with unidirectional carbon tow, woven fiberglass, and epoxy in a composite lay-up. The paddle end of the oar was laid down on top of the capsized hull's deck lip. (top of the lip when the hull is laying sideways....in other words, it was the inside edge of the hull lip, under the trampoline. And, this was only on Pridle 16, Prindle 18, Hobie 14, and Hobie 16)

The bottom side of the SoloRight, at the paddle end, had a "Z" shaped ledge that butted against the bottom edge of the hull lip and inserted underneath the lip.

The suspension lines were less than 20 feet in length, in total.

The height of the outboard end of the SoloRight was higher than parallel to the mast. The handle end of the oar was roughly, nearly as high as the tramp center lacing.

Thanks to Sheldon for demonstrating.

GARY

Gary,

Thank you very much for the information - certainly an impressive/clever design. I appreciate the physical advantage of contacting the lower hull with the pole and getting the "biggest bang for the mass" when righting the boat. The torque/moment created around the boat`s center of gravity is what your design takes best advantage of - over all the other righting methods that I have seen.

Although I am new to the sport, I was always a little mystified as to why you seemed to abandon the design as a comercial effort. Though I am aware such a venture is never as simple as it seems.

Thanks again. I am certain I am not the only one glad to have some more info on this.

Dave

i agree i have to say that solo right pole thing is pretty cool, ive actually just got a righting bag which i need to create a pulley system for to make life extra easy

Yes, the inside of the hull and the paddle area conform to each other. I laminated my paddle directly on the inside of the hull (hull was covered with a nylon sheet)

The area of the paddle is about the same of a conventional paddle (it might be slightly wider and shorter). It even can be used as a paddle if you feel like paddeling. My version of the Soloright has some flex (flex in pole , stretch in line). Initially there is very little contact between the hull and the paddle area - just the tip of the paddle is stuck under the hull lip. Once I load the pole (as in stepping on the pole) the pole flexes to a point were the paddle and the hull have nearly 100% contacts over the paddle area. I could reduce stretch of the lines by utilizing some better quality line. I also keep my eyes open of a fancier windsurfing mast (more carbon)

Hmmm, I have never seen the pole attached to the boat from a perspective where the angle between mast and pole could be easily estimated ( I try to back up of my initial statement that pole and mast are parallel – nevertheless they are close to parallel.). Keep in mind the beam width of a cat and the fact that after you capsized your hobie, the thing will not float on one hull and the tip of the mast. The mast is most likely submerged to the area where the mast tang is attached to the mast. If you design your pole with a significantly steeper angle you will have a difficult time climbing the pole while the mast is in the described position. Once you get the mast tip out of the water you are not far from getting the boat upright.
I will ask someone to take pics or a short video – this might not happen in the near future.

No, as I mentioned before – It is at best a cheap copy of a Soloright. All the innovative ideas came form Hobiegarry. I just tried to have a system available that would work in a situation where I have to right my Hobie without outside assistance. I also would like to have some strategy/system to get the Hobie out of a turtled position (solo).

Patrick

Yes, it truly is a device that does indeed allow a single person to right the capsized cat, all by himself.

The moving .gif file in my previous post does not show the device in proper adjustment. It worked anyway, but the outboard end of the stick should be about 3 feet off the water. Parallel with the mast is adequate.

GARY

Here is the H16, P16, P18 style of Solo~Right being used on the hull lip of a Hobie 18. He appears to be righting 'against the wind.'
web page

Patrick,

Thanks for the details - very helpful! The only point you missed (truly a soloright device?) Gary answered for you. I wasn`t referring to the design, but rather, does the device truly allow a single person to right the boat (obviously - yes).

As for Gary, now that I have you online with this, I think I will again try to pin you down on the comercial venture thing. What`s the story? ...great initial design...did you have liability, copyright or manufacturing problems? Lack of interest?

I was one of those guys looking for the soloright product only to find the cryptic (goodbye) message on your former link/website.

Interested,

Dave

Answer: Yes. I am not interested in disgussing it in public, nor in private. Sorry.

I appreciate it and appologize for those who missed the boat.

GARY

Gary,

Thank you for the response - enough said then. Too bad for your situation/troubles - had a suspicion.

In any event, many thanks to you and Patrick for the info. The device is a fine design/idea and I look forward to my own homebuilt version.

Dave

For Gary, or those of you who have made this on your own, do you really need to have a snug fit between the paddle end and the inboard side of the hull? From what I can gather in the pics it looks like you only need to use the lip to keep that end from sliding toward the top of the boat. I appears most of the load is on the lines. Am I correct?

i dont know about anyone else in this post... but im a poor college kid, bout how much do all these materials cost for this system?

If there is enough wind and you are large enough, you can solo right a H16 with only the $40 - $50 EZ right bungy line. If you have a crew even better. I bought my 16 during my last year of college so I know about the tight budget.

I have no idea how much materials for a righting pole cost. I do know that I wanted to have a nice and safe Hobie bad enough that I piled a 30 hr/wk job on top of 18 credit hours of mechanical engineering school, and Air Force ROTC to pay for my boat. You are only as poor as you allow yourself to be. Basically, all the time I would have been sailing I worked in the off season. I also found that sleep was highly overrated when you are that young.

i got the hawaiian style righting system... i think thats what they call it these days... and yes, i would agree, sleep is overrated, ill have plenty of time to do that when im dead

Dave... Yoh, I guess I did not read this well... Yes the Soloright was made as the name implies to right solo. My homemade pole does the same job. (I weigh about 160 lb.)

Someone asked about the paddle shape... No there is not really a good reason why you would try to shape the paddle so it would conform to the inside of the hull. I can only come up with a few excuses why I decided to shape it in that way...
It spreads out the load over a larger area when you step on the pole. ( I am kind of freaked out about soft spots on my old ('85) boat. I tend not to walk on the hull if I can avoid it).
It is made from a composite material - you can shape it the way you want it. Doing a lay up over a flat pic is the same effort as doing a lay-up over the inside of the hull.
It does not only look as a paddle- it can even be used as one. Try this with your water bag.
But you are right - straight would work too.

Someone asked about the cost... Mine was kind of free. The two-piece windsurfing mast was donated to me after it broke right around the joint (this is where they always fail). The epoxy and the glass and the foam is something that floats around my garage (might be $40.00 for a starter kit- but you would have stuff left for other projects). The shackles I used are supposed to be used for some type of spinnaker application (made from some plastic so they would not rub on the hulls while attached to my boat). Those where somewhere around $20.00. But there are low $ homemade alternatives to the shackles.

Patrick