Going turtle with a righting pole.

Okay...I got ****.

Ever since I installed my power pole two years ago and found I could get my Hobie 18 magnum up by myself, I had this feeling of confidence. On Saturday at a race in Rochester, within thirty seconds of flipping it (with a 125 # woman on board), we turtled. This happened so fast; there was nothing I could do.

I took some of the excess line on the power pole and went to the stern of one of the hulls to get it over...Nothing moved. Nada.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, the race committee sent over a boat to try to help but they were unsuccessful (because of a current) in ever getting the powerboat exactly perpendicular to the boat to tow it back over.

After about forty minutes, one of the chase boat race monitors (thank you, Brian!) came on board and we finally had enough weight on the stern to get the mast out of the water (after about fifteen minutes of pulling).

When we did right the boat, there was absolutely no water in the mast...We jumped into the next race okay.

I think I need a Hobie Float, but they're expensive. Anyone have a used one for sale? Any advice? This happened so fast...

Wyatt

Really? I have purposely turtled my prindle 18 and the sealed mast brought it right up when I put my weight off center. Do you think the wings could be resisting the righting? Did you have a lot of water in you hulls? We had a guy with a hobie 18 with wings last year who had a problem with turtling and could not get his boat back up. He also chose to get the hobie bob.

How was the racing? I was out both days in Rochester and the wind seemed a little light, though I was able to trap out for about an hour on Saturday. Thursday was the best day of the year. The buoy said the wind gusted to 21.7 knts, it was awesome. A bunch of us non-hobies wanted to race, but obviously we couldn’t because the HCA excluded us. I was disappointed to miss out on the fun.

Matt

Here's a real inexpesive way to make a masthead float. Just get a few balloons, inflate them, and tie them to your masthead. A ballon with diameter of 8" will have a volume of about 250 in. ^3. This will provide bouyancy of about 9 pounds. Admittedly, the balloons aren't very aerodynamic, and they're only good for a day or two, but they're lightweight and cheap.

DHo
H19 1067

I'm terrified of turtling my Nacra. The aluminum mast is fairly heavy, and I don't think one person could even right the boat. Pretty scary when I am thinking of going solo next week.

Has that happened to any Nacra owners? Can a single person right a 5.5 uni? Should I consider a float to prevent turtling?

I own an old Nacra 5.2 and after flipping it several times on shore to do some maintenance and rigging stuff, I'm pretty confident that my 150# is not going to be enough to even think about solorighting. That mast is pretty darn heavy. I have yet to get knocked over in this boat, but since I usually sail solo or with my kids, I don't go out on heavy or even upper medium days unless someone else is out there with me. My son likes to fly the hull, but I usually don't get high enough for the daggerboards to come clean. Most of the times I end up lying to him and tell him "You're flying!" when we are actually just skipping the windward hull. He falls for it... I feel safe. We both win.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

Floatation can be sewn into the head of the sail just about any sail shop this is fairly common if you don't want the bob.
Best regards

Matt:
The racing in Rochester was pretty nice; I'm guessing about 10-12 on Saturday and they had five races. On Sunday everyone was still sitting around at 11 a.m. because of no wind, so we struck the boat and made it back towards home.

I was racing Hobie 18s, so I didn't have the wings on. I think I'm going to buy the Hobie Bob because after twenty years of sailing these things, I'm starting to get sensitive in my old age. The Hobie Bob comes with a bracket that I can rivet to the top of my comp tip, while Hobie Mama and the smallest one require you to fashion your own; I'm not a machinist.

It's been so many years since I turtled; I just thought I knew how to prevent it.. I just don't want to be upside down on a boat twelve miles from shore when no one is around....The $200 will be another insurance policy.

Wyatt

Wyatt,

In the off chance of turtling, my lightweight crew and I have always stood on the bottom (lacing) of the wing to get the mast moving toward horizontal. The wing provides plenty of leverage to get things started. Give it a try.

Troy Szabo
H18M w/chute
H Fleet 2!

I just blows my mind that it would so hard to de-turtle after it was so easy for me. Maybe the prindle has more air volume in the mast or something.

Glad to hear there was good wind for the racing. The weather has been terrific this year.

In addition to the 5.2, I race a MC Scow. Some people use a flotation aid on windy days that is made of foam and covered in vinal. It slips over the top of the sail prior to attaching the halyard. It would be more aerodynamic than baloons and would be a lot easier to remove than a BOB. There is a supplier for the Scow but it would be very easy to make.

Terry

Twenty seconds is a fair amount of time, next time you'll swim faster..

But seriously it's tricky to right a turtle cat first you need to work off the stern to pull the nose up and get the sail back on the surface from there it's cake. Leverage is everything!!! However most of those righting pulls are just not designed for a turtle so you’ll either need to re-rig the thing on the fly or have another system. Most people give very little thought to this until it happens so they get stuck.

Terry:

Thanks for the advice, but I ordered the Hobie Bob yesterday before I saw your note about the slip over foam. Some years ago, I tried using heavy velcro strips to attach pieces of closed cell foam to the top of the mast and it worked. Problem was that when I got the mast back up into the air, the water seperated the foam from the mast by getting under the glue on the foam.

Matt:

The reason the Hobie 18 turtles a lot easier than the Prindle or the Tiger is probably the Comp tip; it seems like a dead extension to the mast and seems to help drive the mast under water. The Hobie Bob will work...

Wyatt

I challenge you to find a cheaper mast float than mine..

That's a good one! I was just thinking what I could use for a penny-tech mast bob. I was thinking about a plastic gas can. That may not be the best idea because I think it is REALLY important that it does not leak. Maybe I should visit my local toy store!

I don´t bother attaching it to the mast, I just tie it to the main with a cord, the handles are just made for that. This way it comes up and down with the main, lasting longer (so it won´t hurt your budget having to replace it every year)

That type of float could provide some exciting tranportaion for land excursions during island hopping.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

Wyatt,

I installed the Hobie Bob on my 18 a couple of years back. I found that the rivets cracked the comptip material when you squeeze them to install the bob. I know that a capsize at any speed would break the bob right off. I ended up glassing mine in (the rod, that is) so that it is installed permanently. Of course you cannot take the rod off and I am sure it is not class legal, but in my case I don't care.

The Hobie Wave bobs are screwed on, not riveted, and we have never had that problem with the comptip cracking. (And we use Loctite on the screws.)

Terry,
I know this is an old topic, but I think this is exactly what I'm looking for... Any idea where to get one? Do you think it would fit on a standard 16 sail?
JRG

As I was thinking about it (I own a Hobie 18 Magnum with Spinnaker ) What about tying a small diameter line through two short swim noodles and running the line through the sail head plate and down to each side of the first batten grommets. A short swim noodle on each side of the sail. Removable for racing but good for single handling any catamaran.

Maybe I should patent it, cheap but functional.

The specific one I referenced is for an MC Scow. It would not fit the high aspect sail as on your cat. It would be very easy to make one. You could use rip-stop nylon which is available at most sewing centers if old sail material is not available. I would use closed cell foam. Check kids paddle boards available at Wal-Mart or such.

Terry

I have this problem with my strange multihull, it uses a biplane rig which means that rig is so short that it turtles straight away although it is fairly easy to right because of the very light rig and low centre of gravity.

I am considering having some inexpensive mast bobs made from the same material as swim noodles. Does anyone think their would be a demand for these?

Gareth
www.fourhulls.com

Another source of closed cell foam is those throwable seat cushions with two straps. The new ones I have encountered have a number of layers of thin (3/8" - 1/2") closed cell foam inside. Could be good for making a streamlined float for the sail top. I've seen something like that, probably commercially made, on a Flying Scott.