Where do I start...

Went out in our final winter series race today and things went from bad to worse. I had a bad start... up the first reach I somehow got tangled in my main sheet and while trying to get out of it I somehow brought the boat over on top of me... and you guessed it, as soon as the mast hit the water she went straight under (turtled).

I attempted to right the boat but I was alone and didn't have the leverage to pull it up so I got towed over... and retired from the race.

I keep reading that righting a turtled boat is 95% technique but no one divulges the info...

I just found this in the F16 forum, for what its worth...



I also found that my siliconed in foam plug at the top of my mast had blown out??? Hence a mast full of water..

Tony,

At our great training weekend (this weekend) I had a look at Tim's mast plug which has a cap on the top because I'm nearly ready <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> to plug the top of my new mast. The concensus was that there should be a physical cap on the top so the plug can't be dislodged and pushed further down the mast if the Mozzie is turtled and the top of the mast pushed into mud/sand etc. The only problem might be if your mast is already at maximum height in which case you'll probably need to cut a few mm off the top to allow for the cap thickness.

Tim,

Would you be able to post an image of your cap ?

Regards,

Peter

Peter

Sounds like you had a good weekend... Thanks for the tip on the mast plug.. I might cut a piece of 10mm ali plate to fit inside the top and chuck a few screws or rivets in to hold it in place.

Cheers

Here's the mast cap made from a thick plastic chopping board.
It's cut to the size of the mast, then it's filed down to fit inside the mast with a lip on the top so it can't be pushed in. This stuff is quick and easy to work with compared to metal.


You can also see how a Ronstan pulley can be fitted to our masts with just a pin to hold it in place. No need to rivet it.

Tim/Peter

Thanks for that.. I intend to do something very much like that this weekend.

Cheers

For anyone who's interested I found this series of pics showing how to right a turtle...






[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/86016-Turtle06.jpg[/img]
And away you go...

Hi all,

growing up on inland waters, sticking the mast in the bottom was always a problem. So I was taught to never climb on to a cat unless the hulls where downwind of the rig.

With a normal sideways tip over, the rig is downwind of the hulls.

So if the mast has not alredy gone down, I will swim up to the tip and hang on to it until the hulls blow around to be downwind of the rig, then work my way down the rig and climb on the hulls, following the procedure pictured.

If the mast is already down, I swim to the bows and swim the hulls around so they are downwind of the rig and then climb on and follow the procedure pictured.

The number one priority when capsized is avoiding digging the mast in further in shallow waters. Of course that is assuming your mast is sealed properly, which is the first priority for all cat sailors. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Good luck the next time you are over. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Regards Gary. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Gary

Thanks for those tips... perfectly obvious reading it but if you have never thought about those issues you are gonna get stuck at some point and I must admit I have never thought about it that way. I really feel the need now to go out on a calm day and deliberately turtle my cat to try these techniques out. It would have to be done with a support boat of course. Might wait till the water gets a little warmer though...brrrr, lol.

Thanks again Gary