Your best bet, under normal wind conditions, is to have the mast pointing into the wind. That way, the breeze is working with you to help lift the sail. As the boat comes upright, it will start to rotate to where the bows are pointing into the wind anyway. In any event, you don't want the mast pointing downwind as you will battle until your arms are tired.

Sheldon

The older righting style was to point the mast into the wind, but the more recent way is to point the bows into the wind. Then the wind is more easily able to get under the sail and help with the righting process. And when the boat comes up, it will be pointed into the wind instead of in a reaching position where it wants to sail away -- or flip over again the other way.

P.S. Unless you use Bill Roberts' idea of a parachute anchor to hold the bows into the wind, it is difficult to get the bows closer than 45 degrees to the wind just by sitting or standing on the bows. But 45 degrees still works fine.

Bows into the wind is the ticket...trust me. Tie a line from the area between the beam and the mast(dolphin striker bolt) and toss it over the hull, Have your crew walk out to the tip of the lower bow until the cat weather vains into the wind, then rush back to you and sit in your lap, or, never mind, then get your weight as low as possible. Once you get the tip of the mast out of the water the wind will assist with the rest, if you have wind. If no wind, you may have to climb the rope in ordr to get momentum. Using this method we have righted a H-20 in under 1 minute.

I'm really not trying to drag this thread on, but I do have one more question (again) that's come up in reviewing the posts so far. Some say (and I have read in some books) to uncleat the main sheet , while others here are saying the center the traveller and sheet in tightly. I guess the difference comes down to whether a sheeted main hinders the righting process (perhaps by water caught on top of the mainsail?) or helps the righting process (by allowing wind to catch under the sail and provide upward force). From a professed newbie at righting: Which is it??

Thanks!
Kevin

Well, we all have our takes on a few points here but on this one I think we'll all agree: don't sheet in when righting the boat! Water is, what, 8 pounds per gallon? There's a pile of weight to try to overcome, regardless of the strength of the wind. Secondly, assume the wind helped you to raise the sail. In that case, if it's sheeted in, what stops the sail from coming up and the boat now going right over the other way? Additionally, assuiming the boat stayed upright, a sheeted in sail has power in it, and the boat can take off without you on it!

Sheldon

That's what I would have thought, although the first post by Marschassault (above) says differently. Are there really multiple ways to do everything when righting a cat? :-)

Kevin

Of course! There are different ways to skin a cat!
Some of the minor differences are there because we all sail in varying conditions, assorted boats, solo or with crew, etc. but I will state again that I would never right a boat with the mainsheet cleated hard. It just makes no sense to me.

Sheldon

Getting that mast 45 deg off the wind is not always so simple! Cost me the championship in the last H-17 CC's in Lk Carlyle! I really like the idea of the chute/sea anchor to get the bows into the wind! I also plan to experiment with the idea of letting the sail lift the mast. I'm thinking that leading the Mainsheet UNDER the floating hull will enable you to maintain the main sheeted tight AND in the full travelled-out position. With the "chute" keeping your bows closer to the wind, I can see the possible mechanism in this technique being a real winner! Can't wait to try it out! Anyone know if such a "chute"/sea anchor is readily available? One word of caution I would add...using a righting bag for add'l weight can be a real challenge, and potentially dangerous if the boat rights and gets powered up (yes it can & does happen!)...that bag can drag you under real quick. JOHN

Hey John!

<- Tad


Nice to see you made your way on here

In reality, your sail still helps you get the boat up even though it's not sheeted and centered. Watch the sail of a capsized boat being righted next time. You'll see the boat slowly coming up until enough of the mast is exposed for the wind to get under the sail. As soon as the sail fills with air underneath, it lifts off the water and makes 'the wing'. The boat pops up almost immediately. This is why it's so important to get the bows of the boat pointed into the wind. It's also the reason that if you capsize on a very light air day, righting will be much more difficult.

If you were to center sheet the mainsail while the boat was capsized, it would give it a head start - but we know what happens when it comes up with the main sheeted...it rolls back over the other way because the bows were never straight into the breeze to begin with. However!, if you have the sea anchor attached as Bill suggested, this should keep the bows pointed into the wind throughout righting so that when the boat is pointy side up, it is still pointed straight into the wind.

I have not tried the sea anchor but it sounds like a neat idea. And yes, they're readily available - try West Marine.

I've seen "drift anchors" advertised of fishermen (see attachment) I don't know what size we would need or how much they weigh. Actually John I like to see you flipped over.

Hello,
There is some great info in this thread.
How you flip is something to consider. If you go over sideways, it is pretty easy to point the bows or mast tip into the wind. Just the body weight of the crew positioned jusright is enough. i like to get every one in the water right away at the bow and swim that bugger around untill the wind holds the mast up. This is esspecially true if the capsize was an endo. the mast ends up facing downwind. Don't let anyone hang on up top. that drives the mast under water if the mast is facing downwind.
Bows to the wind is fairly unstable whilst drifting on your side because it could shift back to mast downwind with just a few degree change in configuration. If you can pull it back up that way, doit. I do mast to wind and keep a person in the water at the front beam holding on to the hull. If it's windy enough you don't even need a righting line. Just pull the dolfin spike and be ready to hold down what used to be the low hull after the sail catches the wind.
the boat should round up if everything was freed up before you rerighted. Get back up on the boat right away in front of the front beam.
The righting pole is a really cool invention, and i am dumbfounded that it took so long for someone to think of it. If you tip over in light wind, say from a trap hook breaking on a solo, you can reright with the pole.
If you can some how deploy a sea anchor from the bow, and somehow get the main up out of the water without it being full of water, and somehow get it to pop with the camber facing up, then boat would practicly self-right if it was windy enough. You would then need to stow the seaanchor. Sounds time consuming and maybe impossible to get the sail to pop the wrong way like that and get it to stay way in anything but a perfectly calm sea.
It is a good idea to carry a regular anchor in case you break down near a jagged shoreline, or to hold your ground in a strong current.

i think is really important to swim the bows around as soon as you flip. it can't turtle with the mast to wind, and i don't like testing the mast seal at sea.