Hi all,



Just thought I'd put in my two cents as well...



I've been sailing my Taipan for 6 years with the righting rope supplied by AHPC. Its just the simple under the front beam type held to the back by shock cord. I've always competed sloop rigged although the times that I've sailed cat rigged I haven't been able to right the boat by myself once. At 69kg (152 pounds) its no wonder but I thought I'd share how the lighter people do it.



I just wrap the righting rope once around my trapeze harness and hold myself out at an angle and then get my crew about 55kg (120 pounds) to lean against me. If the boat is across the wind with the mast pointing in the wind direction it can be a real pain in the butt because there is nothing stopping the boat in the water and the boat just wants to sail sideways directly downwind! So if you can turn the boat around its much easier.



As for letting the downhaul off, I've always just left it on and grabbed onto the dolphin striker near the lower hull, if the boat wants to tip over again then it has to drag me out of the water. Sure the whole rig flaps around like nobody's business when its up but its not too bad. Just a cautionary note, make sure to file the hard edge off the dolphin striker - the first time I did this in any wind my hand slid some way along it and cut the inside of my finger.



Just for the record, my mast came from the factory with two styrofoam plugs in it creating an air pocket between just above the hounds and the very top.



Cheers,

Andrew. :-)