Go with a tall kitchen trash bag INSIDE of a burlap or loose woven produce bag.

Hey now let's save those trash bags for the trash.. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

For heavier platforms Wet/dry bags work well (to a point). They are mass produced so relatively inexpensive, won't burst and make a mess, and can be easily clipped into the righting line. Wet bags come in various sizes. One liter water weighs roughly one kg. i.e one liter water = 1 kg.

How does the righting bag work. I assume it helps float the mast? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

No, to use it, one fills it with water. Then it is used to add weight to the person doing the righting. It could be attached to your righting line and flung over your shoulder or as the ATRS people do, simply put it in your lap.

That makes much more sense..

One of the problems I've had righting my Blade is when the mast comes up a foot or two but I've not enough ballast to finish the job and the Blade acts like a beach ball, spinning in the wind. The mast rotates away from the wind and soon the wind is hitting the bottom of the tramp, pushing the mast back into the water. Seems like the sea anchor off the bow would help, but then how do you retrieve it after you're back on your feet.
Oh, I'm 140 Lb. (64 KG) and 5 foot eight inches. A Murrays righting bag with block and tackle is what I use, but it's not quick.
Will

The sea anchor would need a trip line attached to its narrow end. Pull on this piece of cord and it reverses/collapses the anchor. Keep pulling and you have your anchor back.

Stealth F16's have Carbon Masts. Their tip wieght are equal to alu but could be at least 2.2kgs (5lbs) lighter. Thats why we don't carry trash bags with us? Wouter hasn't done the figures yet as he's not into anything but "raw materials". So a wing mast in carbon which can support a kite would be in my view very fast. Both upside down (sh*t happens) or the right way up.

Hey Mark,

That is not truthful !

I have done the numbers on the mast way in the past and I've always stated the difference between the two mast materials. One needs 10 to 15 kg less body weight to right a carbon masted F16. At 64 kg Will will never get the alu superwing mast up unaided, he is just too light. He may also be just be able to right a carbon masted F16 in no wind, no waves conditions.




It is more then that. Also the tip weights are not equal between alu and carbon. The Stealth masts should be right on minimum tip weight of 6 kg. The alu mast are around 7.5 kg depending on the fittings used.

A well designed carbon F16 mast should be about 4 kg lighter then a well designed and fitted alu mast.

Wouter

Managed to capsize the mighty SXL bows over stern yesterday on the beat ! was a bit windy , anyway due to bows going skywards actually managed at last to get boat to land upside down , as opposed to on its side with me trapped hanging off upside of tramp as at Grafham !

My point though is that I found I had to do nothing to get boat onto its side , it did itself , no traping off leeward stern as in old H5.9 days , infact it came up quicker than I wanted while I was guddling under tramp to realease mainsheet and traveller .all this due to the lightness of the carbon mast and its airtightness, it was very noticeable .

I also found on previous capsized at Grafham with boat on its side and me suspended mid air I couldn't get it to turtle and release myself when in the water .

My mast is a Stealth F 16 and the boat itself is similar but 1 1/2 foot longer and bit heavier .


I also noted that when on its side I was progressing downwind at a healthy 7Knots on the velocitek - which was very waterproof !

Six races over the weekend in the Long Beach, CA outer harbor hosted by the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. A number of A Cats, 4 F-18s and one F-16. All started together. I only turned over once, at the first mark, in the first race. The breeze was probably under 10 mph at that point.
Had a knotted righting line rigged similar to the string above but again unable to get the mast out of the water unaidded. Deployed the secret weapon, aka the ATRS. I could get the mast about a foot out of the water with the trash bag on my lap, but no further. Bag failed when I tried
to add more water (no I did'nt lose it). Accepted assistance from the picket boat, an open **** whaler. The guy, approximately 5'10", had to raise the mast with arm fully extended before I could then keep it from going
back down. I guess my options now are a water bag with block and tackle, or a righting pole. Anyone have a recommendation? The pole sounds more elegant if it will work for me.
John, at least I'm getting better, D.
P. S. don't ask about my finishing positions, I'll just say I was upright. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

They both suck, but the bag sucks less: (a) the bag won't snap in two when you pinch it against your dolphin striker and (b) the bag doesn't stick out the butt end of your boat.

The trash bag idea was pretty original though hardly optimal…. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I hate to write this down but at 78 kg and 1.70 mtr body length you should really be able to right the boat with good technique if you use a water bag.

Something went wrong, but I don't know what. Did you climb the rope when the mast came up ? If not then your buttock sink into the water and you are quickly losing weight. If you didn't climb up the rope and your buttocks didn't touch water at all then you weren't hanging low enough initially.

My advice now would be to take the boat out with a crew and do several righting efforts. The crew being there to hold the bow of the boat and help you out when righting fails. Try several things and see where the hang-up is. It may well be very educational to first try to right the boat together and see what works to speed up the righting itself. Most often these are the same points that will allow you to more easily right the boat singlehandedly. I think that experience does hep in righting.

Things I would try is.


-1- Unhook the mainsheet from the sail completely. Now the boom will point downward at the maximum angle and all shape will be gone.

-2- Hang lower, just above the water initially and when the mast comes up pull yourself up a little so you maintain your low position above water when the mast comes up. This trick seems to work well for me. Timing here is key. Wait to long and the mast stops. Climb to early and you may have to hang of the righting line longer then needed. If this is hard on your arms then use a small tackle

-3- Attached a proper bag (one that one rupture easily) to the righting line by its own line. Sits on hull hook on your trap harness and fill the bag. Then get into the water put the bag over your shoulder and push out again the hull. Now the bag is hanging off your shoulder and you've just doubled the leverage of the righting bag relatively to having it in your lap. Have a smaller line attach the bottom of the bag to the end of the righting line so you easy get the bag out of the water after righting.

-4- Also check if there is water inside your mast.

Again, somewhere something is going wrong and finding this is key. You should be able to right the boat.

Wouter

OK, thanks Wouter.
I'll follow your advice and practice this technique. I'll let you how it works.
John D.

You are hooking the righting line to your harness?
Silly question I guess but I had to ask.

Yes. I have the line knotted every foot or so as recommended by Phill in an earlier post. I'll get a water bag, try it out, and report how I fare.
John D.