I've been toying around with the idea of a righting pole for my TheMightyHobie18 as well. I was lucky enough to score a broken windsurfing mast and am trying to put together something simple. My theory is if it isn't simple it's not worth it. When your boat is on its side it's not a great time to be untangling line and figuring out what goes where.

I cut the mast in half and put the top half inside the other so it is double strength for most of its length. I shoved a golf ball in the bottom end and drilled a hole through all for a rope "hinge". The rope is somewhat loosely tied around where the post meets the dolphin striker. I have one line with a clip that hooks to a loop positioned at the end of each crossbar. To deploy the pole I swing it out and clip it to whichever loop is higher in the air

I tried the pole out in light wind last weekend. There will have to be another test... I clearly need some kind of limiter line. I must have looked pretty funny swinging back and forth on the end of that pole! I was never perpendicular to the boat long enough to tell if it was coming up or not. I tried to MacGyver a limiter line but during my next attempt the loop on my crossbar broke. I righted the boat with some assistance from a passing PWC (imagine that!). I'll give it another try one of these days using a better top loop and a limiter line. I think a single line from the rear should be sufficient. It seemed that the tendancy was for me to swing forward. Any feedback here?

My bar ended up on the short end. It swings back just to the rear crossbar when stored. I should have made it a bit longer. I'm hoping my 190 lb load will make up for the lack of length...

Todd in MN