I have noticed that in the few secs or less when it has become apparent to the crew that the boat is going over there are often (in hindsight) a funny exchange of words.

My first time flying a hull (with main sheet firmly cleated off-DUMB), the windward hull picks up out of the water and here was the exchange as the hull increased in height:

Girlfriend: I don't like this
Me: neither do I
Girlfriend: What do we do?
Me: I don't know
Boat goes over

Now we know what to do.

Great Topic: In my experience the commentary prior to capsize goes like:

Her: Larry we're flying a hull! I don't like this! Are you un-cleated? Is the traveller out?

Me: Don't worry, she's under control. I have everything under control............

1) If girlfriend/wife has catapulted forward off the trap and emitting obscenity filled commentary on your intelligence and sailing ability...
2) If you may have also fallen like a ton of bricks on said wife, girlfriend ......

Stay calm, regain your self respect, get her unhooked and working to right the cat. Then be prepared to buy yourself out of the jam you are in. Prepare to spend the rest of your sailing career with a back seat skipper.(Duct tape may come in handy) Prepare to have this and other incidents rehashed in humiliating detail at parties everytime sailing comes up.

Hey what's that?

OOOPS!

LoL. last time i flipped i didnt really say anything. I just remember thinking.."man i hope thats just the water and sunlight making it look like i just bent the mast". Oh and plus i fell through the sail.. so there was a lot of F this and that afterwards.

Its very different when your crew and not skipper. i find it rather enjoyable to climb up the hull as it stands straight up (on other peoples boats).

"Don't worry, I got it."

--
Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
--

Actually, to quote my mind from about 5 hours ago, "damn I hope I don't go through the sail"

--
Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
--

haha

recently i was trying to fly a hull upwind, A-cat style, on our gusty lake by getting right in on the tramp, almost under the boom, when a gust suddenly hit

probably should have seen it coming but was more concerned with the finer points of balance than the rapidly approaching dark water surface

anyway, as the gust hit the boat lurched up to around 45degrees and i pushed the tiller hard down to get head to wind and then bolted like a monkey up the tramp to the stay and hung off shouting

down you bitch, down!

and you know what?

she responded

just like an horse that realises that the fun is over and the rider now knows what to do and won't take any more shit

hehehe

my friends says

beginner sailors look at the scenery

intermediate sailors look at the sails

and experienced sailors

look at the water



edited by: erice, Jun 02, 2009 - 03:27 AM

We're good, we're good, oh shit

It's not so much the comments from my crew/wife on when we go over, but the comments every 10 minutes afterward for the next 3-4 hours that I remember.

repeat after me, a knock down is way better then a knock up

Going over near the beach where a few hundred people can see you always brings out some choice words. (last season)
Then they see you standing on the hulls.(this guy is going to have to be rescued) The rope comes out, a minute later one hull is standing way up in the air. Then you hear go, go, go from the crowd, the sail starts peaking out and slowly starts lifting and a big cheer come from the beach as it nears the top then a loud ahhhw comes after the cat goes over to complete the 360.

At this point you really have to move your *** because you are getting close to being blown into the swimming area.

Ah, the joys of cat sailing. Wouldn't trade it for anything!

my brother and i (16 and 13 at the time) were sailing our recently purchased "preowned" hobie for the first time. We had some sailing experince on sunfish and small boats. this is the dialogue of us tipping:
me: we are going pretty fast
brother:my harness hurts. im taking it off (takes it off and holding it in hand)
me: LOOK!!!! WE ARE ON ONE HULL!!!
brother:WHOA! WHAT DO I DO WITH MY HARNESS!
me: i dont know but we are tipping!
(boat flips and brother falls in water confused, still holding harness in one hand)
me: how do we get it back over?
brother: i think that rope thing
me: its rotted and will snap
(we try several methods but decide that the righting line is not going to work when it snapped) we made a "human lever" system that is to complex to exlain to right the boat.
when we got to shore the other cat sailors said they saw us flip and werent ganna help tilll we were in danger. it was a learnign experience

The last time i flipped (on my boat) when there was another person on-board was about8 years ago.

I had let a girl steer (she had recently taken sailing classes with her dad).

As the wind became gusty i suggested we switch back (so i was at the helm).

I told her "please uncleat the main"
She said "huh?"
I again told her "uncleat the main" and pointed to the cleat.
She said "huh?"

And as i reached over to undo the cleat.... whooooosh... we got hit with a gust and over we went...

I told her to swim under the boat and "uncleat the main".

She said "huh"? and i told her what to do....

She swam under the boat.. but didnt undo the cleats (Main and jib).... and i had a real hard time righting the cat.... so much that i needed a power boat to throw me a line and help....

Since she didn't uncleat the main (or jib)... as soon as the boat righted.. the sails filled with air and almost hit the powerboat.

by the time it was all sorted out... she was still in the water, about 1/2 mile away...

Andrew: If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Glad the boat didn't take off on you.

Andrew..Your story is all too familiar. Its why I never let non sailors drive and why I'm very careful about what conditions we go out in.

Always a good idea to make sure the passengers understand what to do in case of a capsize. Saves a lot of yelling when in the water.

I have a 30' safety line on board which gets deployed immediately and I tell passengers to never ever let go of the boat.

It makes me crazy also to see folks going out without floatation vests (always) and wetsuits. (in early summer/late fall)

i am more glad i was able to prevent my h16 from slamming into the powerboat that just helped me. i paid 1200 for my boat.. and certain i couldn't afford to repair the powerboat...

I almost hope you left her out there.

The last time I tipped I looked at my friend and said "oops" with a big grin on my face, he wasn't smiling though. I hadn't flipped my current boat before and wanted to flip it before it happened with my wife on board. She thinks it is better to keep the boat upright for some reason, so I wanted to give it a try before having her need to help me do it.

--
Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
--

andrewscott

i am more glad i was able to prevent my h16 from slamming into the powerboat that just helped me. i paid 1200 for my boat.. and certain i couldn't afford to repair the powerboat...

I had stink boat help me right last summer. I told them not to cleat off the line because my boat is going to take off. They pulled the boat over and immediately took off with me hanging on the side. I look back the family looked terrified as it was pulling their boat backwards. Finally got everything under control.

As for not letting go my girlfriend ended up about 100-150 yds away. She couldn't fight the current/wind to stay by my boat. Luckily another cat picked her up. Even with a bright orange life jacket in the middle of a sunny day she was very hard to spot.

She said: Let's not flip this anymore.

Flipped bow over stern on a rogue wave in Lake Michigan surf. Last words before the wave hit were 'this isn't going to be good'. I had a rookie with me at the time and he was concerned that I lost my hat.

Luckily the total damage was limited to:
- 2 battens
- 1 daggerboard
- 1 hat
- 1 pair of sunglasses (Raybans ... you never lose the $10 glasses)

Worst of all was that it ended the day of sailing and the wind was blowing over 20.

We stood our Supercat 20 on its bow when we hit a tugboat wake under full power and one hull out of the water, the boat came to an abrupt stop. Two of us did the Peter Pan, one left holding on to the tiller, and one fell head first down through the rigging. Ended up with a bent tiller and 50 stitches in my fathers ear. Power boat picked 2 up and headed to shore for medical assistance, while 2 of us righted the boat.

Nothing like being in the water and watching the mast coming at you, with your friends trap wire wrapped around your neck. Boat took off while tipped over, 120sqft of trampoline (sail area).

--
Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
--

wow super cat 20.. impressive boat. someone around my neighborhood has one. we were both out one day and they werent even trying that hard. dagger boards werent in, didnt bother to be out on the wire...still catching up to me rather quick.

Yeah the SC20 is a different kind of boat. They are getting old to keep up with the new technology boats but still a blast to sail with that 12 feet beam. In the right conditions can't think of a better boat to single hand. Trapped out flying a hull six feet out of the water is a riot. I never thought we could come close to a pitchpole on it, but we proved that idea wrong.

--
Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
--

We have a 21'+ SC on our beach and the owner told me last summer that SC's actually are quite prone to pitch poll. Kinda surprised me.

There was a ARC22 on the beach just North of Gilson Beach last year, I only saw it out a couple times, but it sure looked like a nice boat, and fast.

--
Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
--

Since I sail solo most of the time, when I flip my cat usually wimper, and say "help".

I actually wouldnt mind flipping over too much if it wasnt for the people that happen to be watching calling 911. I know it must look like a big deal. I should paint the words "this is normal" on the bottoms of the hulls.

thtsjon4u

I actually wouldnt mind flipping over too much if it wasnt for the people that happen to be watching calling 911. I know it must look like a big deal. I should paint the words "this is normal" on the bottoms of the hulls.

That's so funny, and true.

I was down at Pensacola Beach last year for the Midwinters and during one of the races the Coast Guard showed up in a very impressive boat looking for the "sinking sailboat" that had been reported by a passing stinkpot. They stayed around for a long time before being convinced that no one was in peril.


--
Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

How To Create Your Signature

How To Create Your Own Cool Avatar

How To Display Pictures In The Forums.
--

last fall, there was a break in the storms,of what looked like a couple of hours on the doppler. well i had had a couple of adult sodas, and grabbed a couple of teenage sons of a freind of mine. ten minutes after getting started i knew we was going over. (BOYS DONT LAND ON ANYTHING) then we was in the drink. to bad the water was only 12 or 14 ft deep. muck bottom lake, mast STUCK waaaay bad in the muck. wind coming right against the tramp driving the mast in deeper. we swam to shore and came bact the next day to get her. she was still in the same spot thank goodness. but like above a landwalker called 911. i just said you called em you deal with em. AAHHHHHH good times!

Oh yeah, getting the mast stuck in the mud is a bitch
An especially bad instance for me was sailing a mono and having the boat stuck upside down overnight and had a diver come the next morning to help dig the mast out of the muck. The bottom (or top I guess) 5 feet of mast and sail was caked in mud. The afternoon was not enjoyable cleaning the mess up.

Eric,

Is that you? It looks like your boat (from Trixie's), and the story sounds familiar (was it Dave on the NACRA 5.2 who picked up Shavonn [sp.??]?

I remember when we first flipped our 16, Carol was skippering and I told her either to "uncleat" or "spill wind", which didn't register fast enough, as she was "in training", and we turned turtle. This was on a 65 foot deep lake, so there was no damage to the mast. Knock wood, but we've never flipped the 18.

Peter

Yes its me. Are you heading down this weekend? We are. I also have a friend that just bought a H16 so we are going over to ibsp to practice righting the boat. He had trouble last week and ended up floating off of queens ny for a half hour before finally blowing ashore. Hope to see you and Carol soon.

Usually...

"here we go!'
"we're fixin' to get wet!"
or my favorite from the days of sailing with my dad..."Uncleat everything!"

This is too funny!



--
Birdlaw
H16
--

When I was a kid, my father and his new wife wanted to spend some quality time with me so we all headed out for the mug cup on a Hunter25 (AKA big slow mono...) After a long down wind run, Dad wanted to go forward and get ready to drop the spinaker so he let the wife take the helm and told her "if you have any problems, just turn into the wind" about the time he got to the bow, my step mother asked " which way is that...

Next thing I know, I am hanging from the outboard and catching all the stuff that floated out of the cabin. gotta love an auto righting keel

It was bad enough that he gave up cats for slugs but from then on dad became a stink boat sailor

just one more thing we never saw eye to eye on

we weren't down this week, since we were tied up with other stuff. Hope to be down Sunday the 14th.

Peter (& Carol)

Scott,

My guess: The ARC22 you saw is Lizzie. Gold-ish sails? That would be her. Queen of Glencoe Beach. She has her own winch, four rollers, and never touches the sand. Fittings look like they could double as jewellery.

By the way, Dan Bower is selling his Hobie 18 (the turquoise one) that's set up on the dock at Trixie's. It's on Craig's List: a little more technical than the 16, but more stable.

pomalley

By the way, Dan Bower is selling his Hobie 18 (the turquoise one) that's set up on the dock at Trixie's. It's on Craig's List: a little more technical than the 16, but more stable.

I know I saw him showing it to a couple on Sunday. I think the plan is to sail the H16 this summer and maybe next. Really get proficient at all sailing aspects, tacking, jibing, sail shape, varying the rigging tension ect. I also want to try a race or two to see if we like the competition side.

After that maybe move up to a Hobie miracle or a Nacra 6.0

Hope to see you down there this weekend. It is going to be a nice one!

The Nacra 6.0 is a beast. I considered buying one since you can pick them up pretty cheap, but it is just too much boat for my wife and I to handle.

Move back! BACK! If that bow ducks under, kick like you're repelling off a clif..OH Sh...gurgle, gurgle

erice

as the gust hit the boat lurched up to around 45degrees and i pushed the tiller hard down to get head to wind and then bolted like a monkey up the tramp to the stay and hung off shouting

down you b*tch, down!

and you know what?

she responded

Haha--same here on the P18-2, except in those situations the best I can manage to utter is "oh-oh-oh-OOOHHH!" while my GF screams.

Her screaming is a great alarm device, it makes me immediately push the tiller down and head into the wind making the cat come down. This has always saved us so far. :)

Dan

sailboatguy75

last fall, there was a break in the storms,of what looked like a couple of hours on the doppler. well i had had a couple of adult sodas, and grabbed a couple of teenage sons of a freind of mine. ten minutes after getting started i knew we was going over. (BOYS DONT LAND ON ANYTHING) then we was in the drink. to bad the water was only 12 or 14 ft deep. muck bottom lake, mast STUCK waaaay bad in the muck. wind coming right against the tramp driving the mast in deeper. we swam to shore and came bact the next day to get her. she was still in the same spot thank goodness. but like above a landwalker called 911. i just said you called em you deal with em. AAHHHHHH good times!

Sorry, just gotta say alcohol and water never mix, drink afterwards not before.

i agree you should NOT drink booze if you have kids onboard. If your crew are adult, they can make informed decisions for themself.

As an adult, i accept the increased risk of sailing and having a drink or 2.

Last time I went over was the first and only time I've ever been over in the N6.0. It was during the onset of hurricane Gustav and we were well inshore on a fresh water lake. So we were clipping along at great speed and I was driving her hard all day loving the speed and having fun with my old sail buddy that happened to get me into the sport a decade earlier on his H16. I was really feeling quite proud of the old girl cause we were in 3-4' chop in the open part of the lake and she was busting waves while flying a hull and didn't even HINT that she was going to pitch us, a feeling that I never get on my H14T unless I need a paddle. Anyhow, I turned the tiller over to my bud and settled in for a great ride on the trap calling out gusts when we started a slow blow over...My buddy looks at me...smiles, and says "later!" and bails backwards of the boat. While I'm cussin' him the boat finishes its fall and I run out of trap adjustment to stay "upright" and do a splat in the sail. In retrospect, the days flying his H16, I remember a fall that found me with one leg on each side of the mast...DOH!! I think I need new friends :)



edited by: turtlecat, Dec 14, 2009 - 09:55 PM

Quote

My buddy looks at me...smiles, and says "later!" and bails backwards of the boat

hahah! the last time i got wet, my buddy forgot to stay "Deep" when we gybed with the spin out! He went to far upwind and over we went.. i stayed high and dry on the top hull till he needed help pulling on the rightin line...

all i could say was "hahahah"



edited by: andrewscott, Dec 15, 2009 - 10:37 AM