[quote=Corkmaster_1]I was in a race sailing my H18 solo at Santa Cruz CA 5 or 6 years ago. Going to weather in 12 to 14 know winds I went over. No big deal. A chase boat comes up asks if I'm ok I respond yes and they leave to help another H16 that's over while my boat is still on its side. I felt comfortable that I could right myself. Next I take out the water bucket and proceed to fill and hoist it to my shoulder (other end of bucket line is connected to dolphin striker) and right the boat. So far so good, up she comes and I drop the bucket and grab the low side dolphin sticker to keep it from going over the other way.
What happen next frightened me. The rope from the righting bag/bucket wrapped my ankle and the boat starts to power up. The bucket is now acting as a sea anchor! The boat does not want to round up, I'm facing the crossbar and being draged under the tramp and can't see what I'm sailing toward. I know I'm at least a 1/2 mile off shore so I have some time before hitting the rocks but I don't know if there are any other boats that I might hit. I also can't reach down to release the rope from my ankle for fear of loosing my grip on the dolphin striker. If I would have let go my worry was that I would now be dragged by the boat and be worse off. After several minuets the wind eased momentarily and I was able to get the rope off my ankle but it seamed much longer.
Once the boat was righted the chase boat must have thought all was well and I did not see them again until the end of the day. From that day forward I do not sail or race alone on the ocean and I now carry a knife!<!-- editby --><em>Edited by Corkmaster_1 on Nov 04, 2016 - 09:49 PM.</em><!-- end editby --> [/quote]
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