I was fairly new to Catamarans and very new to the H-20, and sailing with a crew who suffered from epilepsy. Though it was well controlled with medication, mild siezures could happen without warning.
We capsized in about 20 knots of wind, which made righting the boat easy despite our combined 295 pounds. We had the righting line tied to the mast and around my waist, while she sat in my lap, more or less. When the boat came upright, the hull landed right in front of us, while the righting line was still wrapped around us. The tangle sheets caused the sails to fill and the boat took off, pinning us against the hull. My crew was forced under water and despite pushing on her head, I could not get her free of the hull. We went plowing along like this for several seconds (seemed like minutes) until I was able to reach the tiller extension and get control of the boat. With less water pressure I was able to free my crew who was in the midst of a seizure. Thank God for PFDs. I got her on board and sailed the boat back to shore. We both recovered and sailed later that day, and in the next day's races.


H-20 #896