I'm 185 lbs and 6'2' and I've righted my Taipan a considerable amount of times singlehandedly. I have never used anything else but a righting line.

It is true that it gets harder with decreasing winds. Most difficult is no wind and no waves. In these conditions I can lift my mast clear of the water and it will hover a foot above the water surface. Then a slight change in wind or a small wave will push it over its balancing point and the boat will come pretty quickly. I have a homebuild F16 that probably is a little heavier here and here.

The fact that I can balance the rig in mid air suggested to me that not weight was the problem but the aerodynamic behaviour of the rig. The is the only thing that can explain the sticking behaviour. Especially since the mast comes up really quickly after the it raises a little higher above the surface.

Come to think of it maybe mast rotation can have an influence as well. Anything that puts shape in the top can increase the sticking. After all. Only 1 kg (2 lbs) of aerodynamic lift downward will require an additional 8.5 kg (16 lbs) to be on the righting line. So getting rid of any of this is very important.

One more thing. I found that when the mast does stick then halve the time it helps just to hang there and wait. Of course you'll need to hook use your trap harness to the rightling line for this. In my case the mast has not stopped moving but the movement of the mast itself is creating a sailforce downward itself resisting a quick raising of the mast. However it stays in motion and slowly moves through this sticking zone like moving through a viscous fluid. Often after about 10 seconds it clears this zone and then it comes up quickly. Ofcourse the movement of the mast top in itself will be experienced by the top as wind coming from above, if the sail is only hooking slightly then it will produce downward lift then.

remember 10-15 seconds of hanging on the righting line feels like an incredibally long time but it really isn't.

In more wind and wave action this sticking action is more easily disrupted and here I don't nearly hang as much on the righting line as in no wind/no waves.

My best advice is to do several rightings on a afternoon with a crew nearby (in the water waiting) and trying several different things. See what the influence is. I suspect it may even be different for sailors using sails by different sailmakers.


To finish this post I would like to discuss a good trick. Another crew on the water (with boat of course) can easily help an F16 sailor by sailing to the mast tip (that is being balanced by the righting crew just at the surface or above it) and just push the tip up another 2 feet or give it some upward speed.

So if two F16 sailors are sailing singlehander and you want to help eachother then this is a trick that is good to learn. Additionally If you need outside help from a committee boat during racing then this is by far the most simple and fastest way they can help you. The force required at the tip is surprisingly small. The rescuers can do it with their little finger if they had too. Then they can go onto other duties. Remember this trick as it is easily explained even to non sailors and the risk of damage is by far the smallest. Surely beats any powerboat pulling.

Wouter