Do you fear the turtle?

Just curious.

Do you?

The swimming or embarrassment is not so much of problem. Probable cost of damage to mast and sails and other rigging in water under 30' is.

Even an "unflippable" Farrier tri has.

Do you see a need for mast tip flotation when you are not racing?



Many monohull classes preach the need for mast flotation but cat sailors not as much that I can see.

Hobie's Bobs overrule any turtle worries, but they don't fit on all brands. Even though they appear on other brands...



The thought of mounting more hardware to the mast end seems messy.

Seal your mast and a "hobie bob" isn't necessary.

No Tad that is not correct. If you stick it hard in choppy seas going downwind you will turtle quickly regardless of how well your mast is sealed.

Putting your weight in the wrong place (intentionally or not) will also cause turtling.

I can't imagine why a Hobie Bob couldn't be made to fit on any mast of any boat, it should be just a matter of adapting a bracket.

Mike

It is also a positive safety issue to be able to invert the boat.

If there is a capsize and one of the crew gets separated from his boat that is now doing 5 knots on its side, the crew should force the turtle to allow him to swim to the boat.

It may also be preferable to be on a turtled boat in an extreme weather event like hailstones or lightening, or if one of the crew is badly injured or needs picking up from a chopper.

Always look on the bright side hey?

Paul

Are you a Turtle?

Maybe what you need is an easiy removable Hobie Bob. If you need to turtle, you can swim out to the mast head and remove it.

or that inflatable system that you can choose to deploy or not...

or one of these

"Bet your sweet a$$"

Willing to bet not many folks know about that one.
Rick

Only when its cold.

Only the "Snapping" varity ..... but they do make good soup!!!

Harry

Just the peeking variety.

I'll bite. How much of a turtle/terrapin were you?

So, J, dude, changed a few Huggies, eh?

Trogg yes. Turtle, no.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4PE93Y

My friend hit a turtle with his nacra 5.8 in northern QLD. split the bow wide open... good reason to fear the turtle!

Many years ago when racing a Prindle 16 a sailor named Jim Pate taught me a very good trick. We had gone over during a race (not a pitchpole) to the weather mark. He instructed me to help him turn the boat to a turtle position and continue to right the boat, actually doing a 360. The result was when the boat was righted we were going in the proper direction on the same tack as before the flip and did not lose as much time or distance as we would have if we turned the boat while it was on its side into the wind to right and then tack or gybe to head back toward the weather mark. I was surprised how easy and quick this worked. Not sure if it would work with the newer high tech cats. We were in the Pacific Ocean so we had plenty of water to accomplish this.

I'll buy you a beer Rick!

~~ You and I must be the only old ones on here!!!! ~~~~

Anybody remember all of the questions. Keeping in mind the answers are very sinless and innocent.

I remember one question was:
What does a man do standing, a lady does sitting down and a dog does on three legs?










Answer: Shake Hands


If you knew the answers to all the Turtle questions, and someone asks if you are a Turtle, the answer I gave earlier.
Rick

Doesn't this belong somewhere on "TEST" thread? I'd flunk this one too...

That inflatable mast float on that Farrier Tri is really cool. Someone should make an market one like that for cats that can be easily installed after market. It doesn't have to have a fancy CO2 inflator either. AN inflation hose of some type that either travels through the mast to a port at the bottom or attached to the outside of the mast somehow that can be inflated manually even with a small pump or something This would be more to help you get right after a turtle than to prevent one probably) The auto or selected CO2 inflation could be cool as well. But you would not have to have a big float on the top unless you needed it. It would need to be reusable of course not like an airbag that can't be repacked after use.

Good luck inflating a bag manually that is 28 to 30 feet down for the same reason that scuba divers have to have pressurized air.

Bushy tailed...

Ya got that right! The only thing that prevented our boat from
a full turtle was the fact that Mobile bay, where we ate it, is
only 8 feet deep. Even at that I had mud 2.5 feet up
(down?) my mast. Spi run, 4ft chop. . . my wife swears Mobile
Bay hates her

Yep, there is a kit and the Bob is "easily removed for racing".

Although, if sail's headboard mounts into the top of the mast as it does with the Tiger and others, then flotation fights sail for space. (Horizontal-mounted empty water cooler jugs are out in this situation.) And, you got to drill holes in the mast for brackets. Holes in mast not good. Really hesitate...

British company has an inflatable.



California moves... Most of time, pretty sure turtling more has to do with how well particular hulls will roll. Some boats roll quicker and turtle harder. The Hobie Wave for example stays turtled when no float.

Rest of the time, it is situation. Yes to float in shallow water or when you're just messing around. No when racing or in deep water for safety reasons...

Whether the mast by itself will hold you up or you need mast-end flotation -- and how much -- is just a matter of how quickly the boat will roll. Have heard different stories about water-tight masts providing enough flotation...

It's a riddle. Like these two turtles who get bored and decide to walk in a straight line for the rest of lives. First turtle travels 1/2 mile first day, 1/3 next, then 1/4, then 1/5, 1/6, 1/7 and on. Second walks 1/2 mile first day, 1/4 next, 1/8 next, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 and so on.

Which one walks only about a mile and the other forever?

heh, heh, expecting some riddle about the Titanic or crane?

The first turtle goes on forever, his travel is based on summation of the equasion y=1/x. The second approaches 1 mile, his travel is based on the summation of the equation y=1/(2^x).

But in reality, neither one walks on forever since they both eventually die.

sm

flipped my 14' weta tri yesterday while 2 sail reaching in the death zone

big blast sent the ama under

then the proder

then the bow

and over we went

with it's skinny, hollow, open mast it rolled straight over into a turtle

but popping an ama cover to flood it got the boat on it's side just like the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6S7o5nHiKU

was a little worried that the time taken would send it onto the rocks but when turtled there is very little windage and so very little drift

Whoooo, nice save, erice.

SRM, a formula!? Wow! Also can add the fractions. Different frequencies. Google or you heard it before?

Speaking of google, this turtle thing has been talked about a lot with same concerns, problems, and same range of answers in a lot of different places. Found the water jug pic from two years back.

Agreed. However, a sealed mast will put the boat by itself in the position mast/ sail on the surface again. I was surprised how fast this worked ...

After reading all the stuff on mast floats (via Google), my conclusion on turtles... is that all masts should have an eye strap or straps or some optional attachment point near the tip where a buoyancy bag or some flotation device can be fitted.

I am surprised that this attachment point is not a standard safety feature item. (It is with some, yes. Like the Wave that has to have one no matter what.)

With marginal swimmers on or when in locations where the water is shallower, then the float looks like a necessity. (Marginal swimmers also make it a necessity not to go out where turtling may be required unless there is a safety boat around.)

The Weta certainly does have a very slick righting concept...

A while back, Jeremy ran a "what-if" here on an TheMightyHobie18 that had to be turtled because of someone going overboard. It was a nice mental exercise (not for them, for the forum). Turtling was about the only option in that case. What those guys could have done better, IMO, was pre-think their boat to conditions before going out...

Anyway, it all seems to be personal preferences and I don't want to beat a turtle... that is already, like, dead.

Well every boat with a spinnaker setup is ready to hoist something appropriate once you have turtled - if you have something with you. I guess a dinghi PFD isn't enough however.

Good point I didn't think of that. Guess you would have to have some sort of CO2 inflation then.

Hmmm, maybe i will string a few 100 rubber duckies on my spin halyard and give it a try.

Quack