This is the story of Kevin K and his gear launching flip over at the starting line of the first RTB of the year.

In case you had not heard my friend Mark (not Marc Bachman) and I flipped in 25 knot winds just prior to the start of a race. We ended up drifting into a shallow area at the tip of one of the housing areas.

In the interest of learning and improving things so hopefully what happened to me will not happen again (especially given the high price of new sails), I have given some thought to this experience. Some of this might be beneficial to others.

We had just tacked and I believe we were hit with a gust after we had past through the wind. I usually leave the main sheet locked because if I don't keep the boom as close to center the boat will generally have a hard time tacking. I would think the boat would tack fairly easily in the high winds but with the relatively light mass of the boat, passing through the wind, the high wind has a tendency to slow the boat very quickly and make completing the tack hard. Prior to flipping we had a couple of failed tacks and ended up blowing backwards. Maybe I am doing something wrong.

We both had our weight close to the center line of the boat for various reasons as we tacked through the wind. I rarely have to worry about the boat going over due to its 12 foot width. I was gathering the pile of spaghetti, the mainsheet and traveler line to pull it to the windward side, I have a 10-1 block system and there is a lot of sheet. The gust hit and I released the mainsheet but it was too late, we were already past the point of no return. On my boat it is sometimes difficult to uncleat the jibsheet and Mark did not get the just cleated sheet released, I don't know if he was in the process of doing it or not. My boat (in its current condition) does not point well so I head further downwind and gain some speed before I head back up again. This might have contributed to us flipping also.

Once we did go over the boat took off on it side like mad, as Chris can attest grab whatever you can, letting go is not a recommended option. I was concerned about the boat turtling so I jumped on the daggerboad. Meanwhile Mark tried to get the boat pointed into the wind which was impossible. I ended up trying to help but no joy. I have a sea anchor (an under water umbrella looking device to slow your speed through the water) I should have pulled out but I felt there were more pressing issues. One reason I did not was because I had not installed shackles on the bridal tangs which would have allowed me a good place to hook up the sea anchor. As it stands if I attached it to the bridal stay it would have slid up to the mid point making it not as effective and helping pull the boat upside down. Looking back I should have attached it anyway, Mark could have held it against the hull. If I had the proper set up I could have hooked it up quickly and Mark could have gotten on the boat to help me out.

One lesson I needed to learn again was with the mast into the wind I thought the wind on the trampoline (you know how big my tramp is) would help me right it. So at first I did not release the upper side stay extender. (I have stay extenders on my boat which add 2 feet to the side stay extending the upper hull past the center of gravity and making it possible for a 170# person to right the boat alone). When I tried righting it alone it would not budge. I think that the wind holds the sail down more than it pushes the trampoline over. I had the mainsheet released but the jib sheet and traveler were still cleated. Everything should have been released and I should have extended my 10-1 mainsheet system.

We did manage to right the boat (with the stay extended) but with those above lines still cleated and the fact that we were not pointed into the wind the boat immediately blew over the other way. I did catch the dolphin striker wire to try to prevent it from going over the other way but I knew there was not much I could do to stop it. There was a small chance that both of us grabbing onto the striker wire would have prevented the boat from going over again.

When the boat blew over the other direction I was pretty much screwed (technical term) because I had to reattach the previously extended stay first (I cannot have both sides extended at the same time) and in the conditions we were in about impossible in the time frame needed prior to hitting a sea wall or shallow water. I did not know exactly where we were blowing to but I saw some pipes sticking out of the water I was planning on tying to if worse came to worse. We ended up in a shallow (2 to 3 feet) coral rocky area which allowed us to stop the drift and gave us some time to think. We anchored and tried to reattach my stay extender with negative results. So I furled the jib and took down the mainsail, shredded with every batten poking out. I am still trying to figure out why that happened.

At this point our saviours, Chris, Margaret, their roommate, and Trevor showed up on the committee boat to help us out. They raised the tip of my mast off of the rocky bottom so I could climb up on my tramp and raise my rudder so it would not hit in the shallow water when righted. We got the boat righted and I secured the stay extender while Chris and Margaret went and found all of my flotsam including a daggerboard, a paddle, and my much needed booties (which I had taken off 30 seconds before we had flipped). The full beers stayed in the boat though. Someone was looking out for us. They towed us is in along with the help of my jib. Anyway other than the sail and my mast weather vane there was no other damage that I could see.

Here is what I should have done. Like I said above I should have deployed the sea anchor immediately. The boat's speed would have drastically slowed giving us more time to get the boat righted, pointed into the wind, and allow us to keep up with the boat if we get separated. With the boat pointed into the wind the boat most likely will not turtle. I could have even deployed my regular anchor earlier and it would have eventually grabbed something. I should have released all cleated sheets. The two of us could have righted the boat without extending the side stay, we have done it before. At that point in time we would just pull in the sea anchor and have sailed off and beat everyone racing. LOL.

I do want to mention about using the righting lines most effectively. You need to have your entire weight out of the water and feet off of the any horizontal supporting surface. The Supercat people did tests and and keeping just your toes on the daggerboard you lose effectiveness. This is assuming the stay extender is released and the upper hull is over the center of gravity. When I righted the boat myself, I could definitely see the difference. When I completely lifted my body off of the hull, putting my body horizontal to the tramp with my toes bouncing off of the tramp to try to keep my own CG out as far as possible the boat righted itself. If I touched the lower hull at all it did not want to right.

I did learn a couple of things when I pitch-poled out with Chris a several months ago. I picked up a larger sea anchor, I recommend having at least a 4 foot sea anchor on the bigger boats. In case you are interested in one talk to me as I think I found the best place to buy them. Having a standard anchor helped out too. Release every line. Make sure you are pointed in to the wind. Have my righting line set up and easily accessible is crucial, I did this time. I am able to tuck my righting line and sea anchor into the part of the trampoline that wraps around the forward beam near the dolphin striker. It is right in front of my face when I am standing on the hull. If I didn't I would have a pocket sewed under the tramp for it.

I redesigned my righting line after pitch-poling with Chris. I used to have a long line which I folded in half and I would tie the middle section around my dolphin striker. This was too clumsy when I really needed it. It would turn into a mess and was difficult to throw it over the hull. So I ended up using two different size lines in the shape of a Y. The bottom portion of the Y was the smaller line which I attached one end to the dolphin striker and the other to middle of the larger line. I tied several knots in the larger line and this is the portion that the crew holds on to. The larger line has more mass than the smaller line and throws easier over the hull. The larger line is easier to grip and each end can be wrapped around a crew member with your hands using the knots to lock your grip. I leave the righting line attached to the dolphin striker all the time and it is quickly deployed.

Thanks to everyone's help, the Tuna Patrol lives to see another day. I do apologize for ending Chris's race before it even started.

I am interested in hearing any of your comments.

Kevin