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.
What do you say when you flip your cat?
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Posted: Jun 01, 2009 - 01:12 PM
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Posted: Jun 01, 2009 - 01:48 PM
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.
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Posted: Jun 01, 2009 - 02:07 PM
Hey what's that?
OOOPS!
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Posted: Jun 01, 2009 - 02:54 PM
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. -
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Posted: Jun 01, 2009 - 03:19 PM
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). -
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Posted: Jun 01, 2009 - 03:19 PM
"Don't worry, I got it."
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Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
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Posted: Jun 02, 2009 - 01:33 AM
Actually, to quote my mind from about 5 hours ago, "damn I hope I don't go through the sail"
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Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
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Posted: Jun 02, 2009 - 03:54 AM
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 -
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Posted: Jun 02, 2009 - 11:15 AM
We're good, we're good, oh shit -
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Posted: Jun 02, 2009 - 12:19 PM
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.
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Posted: Jun 02, 2009 - 09:07 PM
repeat after me, a knock down is way better then a knock up
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Posted: Jun 02, 2009 - 11:27 PM
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! -
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Posted: Jun 03, 2009 - 01:01 AM
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 -
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Posted: Jun 03, 2009 - 09:39 AM
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... -
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Posted: Jun 03, 2009 - 10:28 AM
Andrew: If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Glad the boat didn't take off on you. -
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Posted: Jun 03, 2009 - 10:58 AM
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)
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Posted: Jun 03, 2009 - 10:59 AM
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...
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Posted: Jun 03, 2009 - 11:08 AM
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.
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Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
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Posted: Jun 03, 2009 - 11:08 AM
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. -
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Posted: Jun 03, 2009 - 01:22 PM
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.
