Hi, Patrick, I have a NACRA 5.5 uni and sail solo. I have a righting system I use, a more or less traditional righting pole that works really well. I have nothing against Gary's system, but have the following comments after reviewing his excellent website.
Comparing positive claims of Solo-Right system to regular pole, as listed on Gary's website :
http://www.geocities.com/hobiegary/whysoloright.html1. individuality. Both are designed for solo (duh)
2. dependability. Both work.
3. versatility. He's right, my pole has no other function, it is dead weight most of the time. But, I think this is countered by the fact the pole is *always* in place, and does not need to be re-rigged from port to starboard depending on which side you capsize. (or maybe I misunderstand the diagrams. Or are two sets of lines mounted, and pole is used on whichever side is needed?)
4. Transferability. - yes, it is easier to transfer Solo-Right to a different boat. It can be done with regular pole, but some HW would be on both boats. I guess the value of this feature will vary from user to user. I only have one cat, if I had two, I'd have two poles.
5. Ease of use. Using arms vs legs. Here, I think there is a good case for saying the center-mounted pole is better, or at least that Gary's claim is a bit stretched.
a) I think Solo-Right mounted at water level goes underwater as boat is righted, reducing buoyancy of body weight.
b) as body weight goes underwater, tension must be maintained on righting line, using *arms*.
So, if you look at sequence of pictures on his site
http://www.geocities.com/hobiegary/SRMystere.htmlyou can see that constant pulling on rope to topside of boat is required. As Gary's body goes underwater, you can see he is maintaining tension on the line. I don't agree that "all work is done by your legs." I think it's actually the case that at the end, you are pulling on rope, not even standing on the oar or paddle.
My experience with center pole is that I put my weight up onto end of the pole, lift my legs, and boat just rights itself under me. By the time my feet hit the water, the boat is past the point of righting. My arms don't get tired. I'm not dangling under the pole by my arms, I'm kind of "up on" the pole, it is sort of under my armpits.
I'm also curious about stowing afterward. After righting, as I sail away, my pole just drags under the boat, I grab a short line and hook it up. I'm not familiar enough with SoloRight to describe whether it is easy/quick or hard/slow to stow after use, but this factor might be important to a solo racer (such as myself).
I hope this info is helpful, and Gary doesn't mind a thoughful critique of a non-user.
