Upside down

Being on an upside down Hartley TS 16

No one who sails Hartley TS 16 was to see it capsize and everyone wants to avoid it. I was one of those people but I have won the upside down trophy at the Saratoga sailing club two years in a row. This trophy is awarded to people who capsize their boat during racing events at the club. Like most people my first reaction to this award was one of embarrassment and shame. After all it is a reflection on your sailing skills if you can’t keep your boat upright. However, after examining the event, I looked at what I could do to prevent it and make my boat safer I decided that these sorts of things can happen to anyone no matter their skill level or preparation who is willing to challenge elements and sailing in winds over 25 kns. So I thought it might be useful for others who might find themselves in a similar situation.

The first time I capsized it was obvious that my boat did not have enough flotation to get the coaming is above the waterline. This is outlined in the document Safety Aspects of Flotation, Buoyancy and Techniques for Righting after Capsize created by Lyn Bradford which outlines the need for additional flotation especially in the stern of the boat. The first time I capsized I was able to write the boat with the help of some competent crew but I was not able to keep it up right without the assistance of the coastguard telling the boat forward. So after this event I was able together high density foam used in body boards cut up into small pieces and put it under the sealed cockpit area. I already had Styrofoam under all the floorboards inside the cabin which were tied down correctly and taking up all available space. However, without the extra flotation in the stern she would sit in a nose upright position allowing water to flow in over the stern.

After the additional flotation was out of unfortunately have the misfortune of going over again and it is during this experience that I want to relay to people the important steps of writing your boat and recovering the Hartley without too much assistance.

Pre-requisites to actually making a successful attempt to write your boat are as follows;

the centreboard must be tied down so that when the boat capsize is completely it does not fall back into the centre case
extra flotation must be present in the stern to keep the gunwale is above the waterline
access to an anchor must be possible or an anchor provided to you by assisting boat

The following suggestions is based on discussions with experience club racing officials and rescue staff who actively tried to assist me in my boat was difficulty. Things we have concluded include;

waterlogged Hartley is that of the fully capsized are too heavy aircraft to be assisted by anything less than a boat with dual engines over 80 h just can’t connect when looking for you to U-tube U-tube p each. This actually is beyond the capacity of most sailing club rescue craft and so it was decided that no assistance it was impractical to expect another craft to assist in the writing of the boat by attaching lines to the side stays.
A boat with sufficient buoyancy is actually quite easy to right and in fact has caused problems on the second occasion because if the sales are still up and the boat gets back to 90° it can actually write itself if the main salt gets wind but because the boat is overweight water as soon as it heals to one direction will capsize again usually about 200 m away.

Best suggested procedure for boats wishing to write themselves are;

ensure all crew are safely clear of the rigging and the craft
have one crew swim (forehand or skipper) to the towing eye and stay at the bow
the other crew go to the centreboard and try and climb up to hang on the centreboard the boat will slowly come up to 90° do not try and raise the boat any further by reducing the until the following is done.
1. Get an anchor on the bow is the boat needs to be to wind. Only secure anchor or a secured boat will allow the boat to turn head to win. The bow person must either attach an anchor given to him by someone else or if the anchor is accessible from outside attached their own income to the bow. Not many Hartley’s have access to the anchors from the bow, minor unfortunately has a hatch foredeck and the anchor is cooked to the roof allowing access to the situation. If access is not available, then you will have to wait for someone else to provide you with an anchor or secured boat to hang off
2. get the sails down. At 90% the halyard should be accessible at the bottom of the mast.

i.Release the halyard is at the bottom of the mast and before you leave make sure they are laid out in the water with no obvious tangles

ii. swim to the top of the mast and drag the main down the mast by pulling yourself along the mast.

iii.The jib should come down by itself due to water currents and waves

now the boat can be safely righted; by both crews go to the centreboard and start pulling down until the broke slowly starts to come up right. As the centreboard enters the water have both crew swim to the stern.
Only one crew to get onto the boat while this is much water in the boat. The other crew must stay in the water at the stern and be prepared to put weight on either side of the to make sure the boat does not capsize again due to water movement.
1. crew on the boat finds a bucket and starts bailing as quickly as possible
2. the crew at the start cannot help with the bailing a job is to simply apply pressure to the end stern to compensate for the weight of the water in the boat. This is essential otherwise just stepping in the wrong location will capsize the boat again.
Once the waters below cockpit floor is probably safe for the second crewmember go on board and help with the bailing but be careful about balancing your weight with the other crew.
As the boat becomes more stable one crew can now start recovering the boom, sails and reorganising and tidying up the halyard’s while the other continues bailing
when the water level inside the boat got to a manageable level. The mainsail can be hoisted. While the other crew asked to accompany anchor.
From there the boat can be sailed home under main only

After having the embarrassing event happen twice in one season I was decided to learn something so that it was not as strenuous or time-consuming in the future. Overall, there are a few things that are a waste of time and can damage your boat. Of course it depends on whether the boat is gone completely over or not. So here is a list of things not to do;

if boat is only 90° over and water has not entered the cockpit yet

do not try and write boat quickly with both crew in the water; one crew must be in the boat or hanging to the cockpit for a number crew starts pulling down on the centreboard. This will ensure that the boat does not become upright both crew in the water. The sails up, the boat will sail away without crew.

if boat is completely upside down

do not try and write the boat
do not let other boats attach minds to your shrouds or sides an attempt to put the boat upright
under no circumstances go under the boat to try and release halyards