I'll echo what Charles said above. I drove 8 hours for the regatta from Memphis and it was my first time on my (new to me) Hobie 16 in saltwater. I loved the venue and will make it one of my yearly pilgrimages from now on. I have been sailing on small boats my whole life but picked up a H14 last October and added a H16 to my collection about 6 weeks ago. I opted to take the 16 because it is in better shape and the trailer was more road-worthy. We didn't have a bad start and kept up with the pack for most of the downwind leg but once the rain began, our visibility was severely reduced and we overstood our leeward mark by a lot and ended up almost to Pensacola Beach (Mark 131)
Then, the thunderstorm that had the waterspout hit us and the heavy winds, we could not stay vertical and went over. We couldn't get the boat rotated into the wind quickly enough and with the wind pushing on the trampoline, we were soon in turtle mode. We required assistance from the chase boat to get us unstuck from the bottom and the boat accelerated quickly once it was righted in the heavy winds and we were very fortunate to hop back on in time. The only damage to the boat was mud in the top of the mast/sheave and a missing jib batten that is in the bottom of the Santa Rosa Sound. We did have a nice steady breeze out of the SSE for a short time that allowed me to hang out on the trapeze for a short while. We did happen to see a boat being towed back so we felt fortunate to have survived our scary situation. When we did finally make it back to the beach (last boat I believe), some really nice sailors from Mobile, AL (Robert & Hendrick) helped us taking down the sails and rolling them up.
I believe I saw you Charles on your blue H21 with a drone following you on Sunday. I didn't race on Sunday because I didn't realize my sails wouldn't go up (MUD in the track) until it was too late to start. I did get some nice runs in on Sunday afternoon though and had a blast! Also, nice to meet you, Jerome!!
At the starting line....
Digging the mud and sand out of the mast
Tracklog before my Apple Watch died
Glad to be back in one piece
Edited by dirtybanana on Sep 16, 2022 - 12:51 PM.
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Tim Gibson
1982 Hobie 16 Carumba Sails
1980 Hobie 14 Cat Fever Sails (SOLD)
Memphis, TN
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