I was trapped UNDER the boat

[The Regatta Queen]

The other day I was capsized.



Basically, we jibed right into the wind and I was trapped under the boat. Is there a way to prevent this in future? We were right between the two broad reaches. we were at Starboard Tack, across from No Sail Zone. As I understand, that is an ugly place to be at.



I was sailing with an inexperienced sailor and I am an inexperienced sailor myself, so that put us all in jeopardy. Do you think that we should have done a tack?



And, not to mention... It was a windy day too

[gstraub]

I think most of us that have sailed small boats have done that maneuver at one time or another, and probably several more times after that!! I did it once in a river that had just thawed....talk about cold!

The key is to let the boom out on the new leeward side as quickly as you can and don't let the boat round up. If the boat rounds up and heels, hike out, ease the sail, get her going downwind before that boom hits the water. If the boom hits the water, the sail can't go out any further so the force that the sail is generating turns into heeling and over you go!

If you are uncomfortable in the conditions, there is nothing wrong in doing a tack. I'll even do it in a keel boat if I'm uncomfortable. I affectionately call that a "chicken jibe", but the key is to keep sailing, not go swimming or buy a new mast, so I consider a chicken jibe to be prudent seamanship under certain conditions! I've tacked plenty of times when a sailor with more experience in heavy weather would probably have jibed.

Keep practicing and it will get easier and you'll be able to handle stronger winds.

Gerhard

[mattkab]

Chicken-gybe is a great solution.

...then there's the trick I used to use on my Hobie-16 -- I didn't have the weight to right the boat if it turtled, so any capsize was to be avoided:

On a run, preparing to gybe, I would sheet in to almost centerline, gybe, and ease the sheets.

Over time, you can get the timing down, and you can do this maneuver quickly. And you can ease the sheet during the gybe to keep the loss of speed to a minimum.

I still to it on my Catalina-30 in moderate conditions (anything worse than that, I'm at the dock with a drink in my hand ) -- It's clearly less stressful to the rig than a gybe where the boom swings a 180 degree arc.

Maybe this should be called the half-chicken gybe?

Thanks,
Matt B.

[The Regatta Queen]

Yeah... !

I guess I will try and go out again but this time be EXTREMELY CAREFUL. As it was going down I'm like, "S***! S***! No!" Thank God it's over. Of course I had to give myself away right after that! (Giggles)

But the sailing instructor came with the little motorboat-type-thing, and she rescued me! It almost gave me a heart attack! Not to mentoin, my stepmom lost her reading glasses! But that was my first time capsizing.

Now I know why there is such a thing as a life-jacket!

[duffer1960]

You know what I always tell people who are afraid of capsizing? I say "the only thing that is going to happen if you capsize is you are going to get wet!" Now that's not too scary.

[gstraub]

When you get really good at capsizing, you can step over the gunwale onto the centerboard before it goes completely over, grab the gunwale and pull real hard, then step back in the boat as it comes up. Depending on the boat, you might still be totally swamped, but you'll only get your feet wet!

Gerhard

[JeffC_]

Queen,

The so-called "chicken gybe" is another term for wearing sail, the manuever whereby an actual gybe is avoided by turing into the wind, across the eye of the wind, and then easing onto the new desired downwind course. You may find that it is necessary to haul in the sheets in order to drive the boat into the wind if you want enough boatspeed to accomplish the tack, then ease sheets after the tack.

Depending on your crew, your experience, and the particular boat, you can perform this manuever in one graceful turn: helmsman slowly bringing the bow into the wind and handling the mainsheet & crew on the jibsheets; or in stages, momentarily achieving a close reach, then going for the tack, since a lot is going on all at once.

In a dinghy, tacking from a close reach means that just when you get the bow across the wind, you will likely have lost most of your boatspeed, which has the effect of "pivoting" the boat through the tack, and keeps the acreage required to complete the manuever to a minimum. Of course, you still need enough inertia to accomplish the tack. A little practice will reveal the best procedure for you.

There is nothing unseaman-like about wearing sail. It's the right choice when the conditions out-gun your skills. Whenever I see it done I never think "chicken." I always admire the well-performed manuever and the prudent skipper.

Continue to practice gybes in light conditions, and eventually you will be able to gybe confidently when you used to choose to wear sail. Until then, wear sail, and stay dry.

[garyp]

The term I am familiar with is "wear ship" and it means pretty much the opposite: to turn away from the wind. It was difficult to tack a square rigger, they tended to get caught in stays coming through the eye of the wind, kinda like an Island Packet (just kidding) so they would bear off and jibe the ship to bring her around on the other tack. I believe you're talking about heading up and tacking in order to avoid a jibe, which may be just as dangerous when a heavy sea is running, due to the period you are beam on while heading up, and the danger of being caught in stays. Of course I believe you were talking about dinghys, and I'm being a pedant.
Its just that "wearing sail" reminds me of my grandmother's bathing costume.

[JeffC_]

The term is "wearing ship." Thank you for the correction.

I must be using the term incorrectly. The technique I'm describing tacks to avoid a gybe; you describe the opposite.

And I agree, sea conditions must be taken into consideration.

Fair Winds,
Jeff

[The Regatta Queen]

I just learned that, if you are capsizing on a sinking boat, NEVER hang on to anything. Because that allows the boat to cause further injury and drowning. But if the boat is like a small sail boat, it should have a good size air pocket, if I am right. That's what happened to me. Most boats should do that.