Anti Capsize / Damage and Sails

Fanie, I admire your design and tenacity. Please review what you will do in a capsize, just for safety's sake (like teaching your kids the fire drill at home - never happen - safety's sake), then if the self releasing cleat gives you the 5hits, You will remember to reduce sail & all the other appropriate responses a skipper is supposed to make.

When you catch a fish, release the main sheet or whatever necessary to luff up into the wind, while you retrieve dinner with minimum disruption.

 

Hello Masalai. When one does get a fish on the line you have to (almost) stop the boat, especially if it's a muscular fish. It is for this reason I'm looking at the aft mast setup... the sail can disappear in a second.

I think in a capsize I'll probably swear so bad the boat will self-right itself... since I have this tendancy to swear like a sailor I figured I could just as well become one too

Don't worry, all possible precautions etc etc will be thought through and if possible prepare for... I'm past the wreckless stage... barely but past.

 

Te-he... I can just see this capsize drill I'm going to get these fishing friends of mine do. Bootcamp in the army comes to mind

 

I hope that does not preclude still having some fun, or is that now restricted to the walking frame, Croquet &/or lawn bowls??? (No cheeky & smartass symbol? - that is this comments only value)

I just want to know how you righted it after deliberately capsizing for the exercise/fun of it?????????

 

We-heeeell, since all my boats parts always floats it may well be possible to disassembel and re-assemble everything in the water... but I'm not there yet. It may be more difficult to deliberately capsizing it.

 

Enjoy!

 

There are hydralic sheet releases that can be used on travelers as well. See cat Pantera.

 

Its a non issue for cruising multi hulls. If they go over its pitchpole not sideways. The the safety margin that cruising designs give you make this sort of device an irrelevancy, think about it, if it really mattered Ronstan would make it .

 

pitch poling is exactly what we're talking about. as a cat doesn't heel, and out at sea there are waves. so most cruising cats are done in because a squall hits and the wind speed goes from 15 knots to 40 knots instantly. the boat takes off like a rocket with the lee nose pressed way down. and if your cat has righting moment safety factor of 100% for your sail plan, then the lee nose would be just about underwater, and if there are swells, you're cat has just buried it's nose at maximum speed.

non - issue?
this is the single most important device i can think of.

seriously, the autohelm is always on from day 1 to finish, so are you really going to sit there day after day just holding the sheet? waiting for a sudden gust?

 

Fanie,

Have you read the Brian Eiland site about sailing catamarans and game fishing?
It's here below and I think it will answer most of the questions you seek to know about.

http://www.runningtideyachts.com/home/

Happy New Year,

Pericles

 

Actually here (for the lazy) near the bottom of the page - scroll down.

http://www.runningtideyachts.com/sail/

Thanks for the reminder Pericles, worth the re-read

 

DungBeetle in my experience you are wrong. Firstly the thread started talking about going over sideways. Secondly for a cruising cat to go over its bows it takes a lot more than one sudden gust. By the time the sea state is such that pitchpoling is a possibility you should be well and truly reefed and possibly trailing warps/sea brake or some such device. Thirdly yes if you are driving that hard in such a sea state that you risk pitch poling you should be on top of your helm and sheets. Fourthly if there where a simple, properly adjustable and reliable over time device that was going serve worth while purpose I suggest to you that the cruising multi-hull frat would be all over it and the likes of Harken and Ronstan would be charging a pretty $ for it. Best of luck with the idea but don't be surprised if it ends up being of limited interest to the rest of us.

 

Heinz, Brownie points to you, I couldn't have put it better.

In all probability I would have done my cool and failed to contribute so eloquently and concisely.

 

I have, thanks Pericles... a couple of times. Tomorrow (in a couple of hour's) I'll know if the aft mast is working or not.

Happy two thousant and great to you too

 

there was a recent thread about sheet releases to prevent capsizing, and again the issue of most capsizing in a muli-hull is from pitch-polling. This typically happens so quickly, and is completed because of the inertia of the boat, not likely a sheet release would stop all of them (though it may help, but consider there is a reason most do not use them).

there thread is here, scroll down about half way to see some rather dramatic pictures of pitch-pololing. The tread is worth a read.

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20534&page=2