what to do and what will happen

[EJO]

smallboatlover get some PVC (sewer) pipe at the Do-It-Yourself store, cut it to the length you can fit all you stuff in , glue-cap one end and use a "clean-out" type screw end on the other side. You can do this with 2" to 6" diameter pipe. Much cheaper solution than "dry bags" (with the exception of garbage bags) and you can then bungy/store it in one of the forward holes or latch it to the mast. After you do that you can enjoy the sailing as it should be done in a boat like yours. Like Don1500 said you have to find the edge which is so much fun in a smaller boat/sailing dinghy.
Go out have fun stop worrying.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Boasun

Stay close to shore on a hot day and deliberately plunk the boat over and right it. Just be sure that there is more water under the boat than the mast is long. Rotate all of your family through this drill as the person in charge.
This way you will see what comes loose and starts to float far far away from you.

NOOOOO!

Take a look at these pics. Mistral 16 sailboat for sale You can see that the boat has a cover over the aft compartment that is missing from this boat. Now I've not had Mistral a but I am familiar with the boat it's cloned from, the Wayfarer. The Wayfarer's aft compartment is crucial for buoyancy. In fact they won't let you race unless you have had a leak test done on the aft compartment.

I also believe that the forward compartment should have covers on the inspection holes and shouldn't have a hole drilled in it for a spinnaker pole unless it's a sealed tube! Again the forward compartment is partly for buoyancy. My Wayfarer had a couple of inflated beach balls in the forward compartment as a cheap buoyancy measure.

On later Mk II Wayfarers they added some foam between the floor and the hull giving them some intrinsic bouyancy but a notorious tendency to turtle. This Mistral looks like a Mk II clone. Most Mk IIs have added sailtop bouyancy, a small inflatable bladder in the top of the sail or similar. I added this to my Mk I.

So before deliberately capsizing it I would :

Investigate the designed buoyancy measures on your boat and restore compartment covers if they are indeed necessary.
Get sailtop floatation.

Even then I would do it first in a lake with a second boat standing by to assist.

[SlipperySkipper]

Originally Posted by CapnBilll

Westmarine sells a storage locker with a hinged door, has an O-ring seal and watertight latch.

+1 these are pretty sweet!

[smallboatlover]

thats what i thought about the aft compartments the look like they were put there after the boat was made. so i won't capsize the boat untill i get a water proof seal on the forward cubby and the spinnaker hole idk was to do about that.