Shoooott...I've pitchpoled everything I've ever owned. It's not fun if you're not pushing it hard!

Jake, you are going to scare new sailors away talking like that. It's not like pitchpoling is inevitable, or is necessary in order to have fun. I've been racing on cats for 43 years and have never been involved in a pitchpole. We managed to have a lot of fun and win a few races along the way (maybe because we didn't pitchpole).

Rick has pitchpoled a couple times, but he never has when I am crewing, because I just plain don't let it happen. Of course, maybe that's why most guys don't race with women crews any more -- we just can't grasp the concept of "fun" and "pitchpole" being in the same sentence.

Yeah...well...I actually enjoyed seeing how deep (and for how long) we could drive the bows deep while reaching on the 5.2 knowing that capsize was inevitable. A small boat wake or puff would disrupt the sensitive balance we created and BOOOYOW! :-) The beauty of it all is if you are moving fast enough you get thrown clear!

All that aside, we do not tempt fate so closely while racing and I can only remember pitchpolling once during an actual race.

as long as I raise the leeward dagger board up 3/4 or more so the boat doesnt trip over itself, I havent pitched it yet... and Ive had this boat on an absolutely smokin reach! I keep the jib soft and pump the main for all its worth while trapped out at the back of the boat! YOWZZAHH!!! Got to love that famous NACRA bow splash you get when its about 1 inch under water and drivin hard in the GROOVE!!!

It's more like a bow 'sizzle' than a splash!

Well, as long as Bonnie is okay with that....

That's probably why she refuses to sail with me....hmmmmmm.

If anyone pushes the boat so hard that the foredeck goes under, they deserve to pitch!

In terms of pitchpoling (my personal PET PEEVE!), me and my long-time skipper NEVER pitched ourselves, only when it was another skipper! I mean, whatcha gonna do when it's blowing 30, your skipper CLEATS in the main, you and another crew are out on the wire, and your skipper falls off the wing??? You have only a second to try to get off the wing and try to uncleat the mainsheet. Actually, you have no time, because our H18sx pitched so hard that we came out black & blue from falling into the rigging.

The 2 of us are older now (total crew weight ca. 290-300), so we don't push it at all anymore and still have fun sailing our 4 boats (H16, H18sx, Nacra 5.8na). We like them all because they are so different.

I still say go with the Nacra 5.2.

It took me 9 years of sailing the Nacra 5.2 to finally pitchpole it. It happened very quickly but was not nearly as violent as when I pitchpoled my Prindle 16. I was not sailing with the bow submerged. I just hit a piece of chop wrong at high speed.

The boat did a cartwheel. Nothing Broke.

I righted the boat in less than 1 minute.

Most Important - check where your crew is before unhooking from the trap line in the water. The D-ring goes flying. I remembered, but I think that is the most dangerous part.

The pitchpole is not as violent as spinning out and catching the rail on a windsurfer.

We love the 5.2 - especially my Wife. It was the first sailboat she ever sailed.

See...you probably slowed down before you pitchpoled...if you were going faster you would have been thrown clear! (that's my theory anyway). I had dilegently checked the bow clearance before requesting the crew join me on the wire after round A mark for C in Charleston, SC. As soon as he popped out, we received a monster gust and pitchpoled my 6.0 so hard that the boat shot straight down and popped up backwards like a cork. As the boat was driving into the water and came to a screaching hault, my crew and I were skipping across the water out in front of the boat. The boat launched well clear of the water and landed about 12 feet downwind of where we pitchpoled. I do remember thinking how strange it was that I had to swim 10 feet downwind to get to the tip of the mast. Later that evening, the guy driving the RC boat poured me a beer and told me what happened and that it was the most spectacular thing he had ever seen! We were not being terribly serious during this race but the the gust really did catch us by surprise.

Disclamer: Don't try this at home.

Formula 17?....Have I missed something? I understand that Performance is making a a boat called F17 but is there an Formula 17 class?

I am very comfortable roll tacking the H16. I learned to do this on my Apollo 16 and it is a lot easier to do on the H16. The crew I usually sail with insists on backing the jib to pull the bows through the wind. I hate it because:
#1 we lose all our momentum and don't carry any forward motion into the next tack.
#2 I have seen it done properly and it is very efficient.

My main problem with the H16 is that with a combined crew weight of around 330 pounds, in a fresh breeze, we were constantly backing off to keep the lee bow from digging in. That is with me on the back rail and the crew on the wire at the rear corner casting. It sucked dumping wind. I might have the same problem on the N5.2, but from what I have read, it can be pushed quite a bit harder. I'm loving this thread... thanks to everyone for the input.
-Rob

When is the movie coming out? I wish there was this kind of momentum behind some of the other old classes. Maybe we can have an old boat of the week club. Skippers from around the globe can compile an updated view of older models that are being refurbished either with stock or recent innovations to keep it competative. This could also be a forum of its own....

If there was one...the the Nacra 5.2 would be the very first hands down. By the standards when it came out, it was a powerfull 2up catamaran. By today's standards, it's the perfect single hander with the ability to handle additional weight.

Im currently looking into either the Hobie 16 and the Nacra 5.2, is it possible to learn to sail on the Nacra? and I think one of the coolest things about the hobie is getting one of the hulls clean outta the water, is this possible and easy to do in the Nacra like the Hobie?

Oh Heck yeah!

do the thinner hulls make it easier to roll? and how much harder is it to learn on a Nacra than a hobie?

Flounder:

Nice, simple explanation. I agree with you on all points.

Wyatt

The 5.2 is a little more powerful than the Hobie 16 and probably has a slightly steeper learning curve. You have to deal with daggerboards on the 5.2 - raising and lowering them for beaching and sailing - but the upwind performance is a little better because of the boards. Outside of that, the sail systems are very similar. Parts for either boat are pretty easy to come by but there are more Hobie 16s around if you are looking for specific advise.

Borrowed from Frank who took my old Nacra 5.2 and created the first "Frankenboat 5.2"...Now does this look like fun or what!? :

There's that "BOW SIZZLE" we were talking about ! Now the boat has a nice I-17 spin pole up front! BTW, that picture was taken at the Daytona Summer Sizzler shortly after getting the boat.
P.S. somehow I feel violated having my picture spread around for other's enjoyment!