Hah ! They wish !

Texel handicap system measured the boat (R version with carbon mast but WITHOUT the spinnaker package) at 151 kg = 333 lbs

And it is the lightest I-17 version of the 4 different version ever measured by the Texel officials.
Follow the link and see for yourself.

Source : http://www.watersportverbond.nl/data/numdet1_23-07-05.pdf

During the racing last sunday (championship between us and 2 neighbouring cat clubs) I talked to an I-17 sailor while we both waited for the last boat to come in and restart. He told me that at 75 kg he couldn't right the boat without a righting aid. He said he carried a water bag and a pully system to increase leverage and right the boat. But despite that he felt that he was holding back in the stronger winds because even with the aids it was a hell of a job.

Naturally I mentioned that I use only a righting line and my body weight of 82 kg to right my F16 even when fully rigged for double handed sailing (Spi gear, jib and mainsail). No extra aids. Feels like even less weight will do the job as well.

Point of the story is that you either must get yourself some righting aids (waterbags, shroud extenders, righting pole or garys righting system) or get a boat that is better suited to singlehanded sailing and rigthing (for example an A-cat or a Formula 16).

One other trick is too make sure that your downhaul is fully detensioned before righting. A fully on downhaul makes righting noticeable more difficult. At least it does so on my Taipan F16. Also make sure that you fully run down the main traveller over running out the mainsheet itself.

You can try the power-righting technic where the wind blows on the trampoline from the mastside and thus helps to right the boat but this technic is not always applicable.

Pretty much, and forgive me for saying so, if you start out on a mediocre basis (heavy boat, heavy mast) then there is not that much you can do about it. But try the tricks to see if they work enough to get you back up. If not then trading in your boat for one that is more suited to singlehanding is a glaring preferred solution.

Wouter