I am 15 and i race my Hobie 14 turbo solo at the local yacht club. I recently found out after pitchpoling while on the wire in a 20 knot offshore wind that i am unable to right my boat!!!!!! i was hanging of the capsise line for ten minutes while the rescue boat gave me a chance to do it myself before they helped me out. I way 73 kilo's and it still wouldnt come. My arms were aching after this so I told the rescue boat that I retired and asked for assistance. I hung of the capsise rope while they picked up the mast and threw it up in the air. after numerous attempts the boat just continued to roll backwards and turtle. (I know that all the controll lines were uncleated) In the end we tied a line between my capsise line and the rescue boat and toed it over. I cant be compeditive in my boat with two people and i cant right it on my own so please can i have some suggestions to help me get my cat on its feet and me back in the race!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first suggestion would be a thorough inspection of the mast for leaks. A mast with water in the end will definately keep you from righting the boat.

My second suggestion is to review the "power righting" technique shown in the Murray's catalog, in which the boat is swam so the mast faces 45 degrees into the wind and then righted. The more wind, the more effective this is.

A friend of mine swears by cleating the jib down so it forces air under the main. I haven't tried this.

HobieGary sells the Solo~Right tool which doubles as a paddle. There are various models of this tool which will allow everything from 14'x7' to 21'x10' boats to be righted single-handedly. I do no have one yet, but it's on my wishlist. It is definately not class-legal, especially with Hobie Cat being the most anal Class Association out there.

I haven't yet... had the pleasure of a capsize, however to check your mast for leaks, take it off and put it in the water. Probably easier if you have some help. Assuming the mast is empty of water when you started, you should see bubbles at the places where there are leaks. Turn it around slowly and note where you see bubbles. Of course do this in the early morning when the water is quiet so you can see better.

(The other way is to seal it and when the sealant is dry try the aforementioned leakcheck.)

Then mark the spots with a waterproof marker.

Then take the mast out of the water and let it dry standing upright or upside down, whichever works best.

Then seal it with whatever sealant the next poster tells you to use. I will follow their advice also as I have to seal mine.

To increase your weight to lever the boat back upright, bring a large garbage bag with you and stow it where you can easily get at it when you're in the drink. Simply take it out and allow it to partly fill. Put it over your shoulder and then get up on the boat as per all of the instructions on the Hobie site or the above poster.
You now weigh 10 pounds per gallon of water (in the bag) more, so you have more leverage and your mast is lighter.

(I don't know if garbage bags are class legal.)

The other thing is to put a mast bob on. I'm probably gonna, as the water is cold where I live. I'll just tell everbody it's an autopilot or a radar or somethin high tech that I'm not allowed to talk about.

Hope it helps!

3M 5200 is an adhesive/sealant bedding compound. Works great for sealing leaks, provided you don't accidentaly glue anything together that you want to later take apart...

Is silicone sealant for exterior use any good? I just bought a tube for another purpose and figured it might work.

Any thoughts?

Its good short term, but it does break down if left in the sun.

What about a mast float (mastblimp)

FIRST things first. Whoever is having problems righting their boats, please go toss your mast in the water and sit on it or hang from it or do whatever you can to check it for leaks.

If it leaks, seal it. It needs to be sealed anyhow! You do it right once and it should be good for another decade or two.

If it doesn't leak, or if you've fixed it, and you're still having problems righting the boat even using the methods suggested above... you should really look into getting some lessons (practice makes perfect), or one of Gary's Solo~Rites