Odds and Ends

[Robert]

Not sure if I am an odd or an end, but not belonging to a club where there are enough cats (or even any cats at all) to form a fleet at events can leave one a bit out on a limb. I have been fortunate to be taken under the wing of Carsington Sailing Club as an 'honorary' team member over the past few years, bearing in mind that I was only a member there for a year and thereafter just did day-sailing because of the distance of the club from where I live.

Being able to take part in the general rivalry, particularly against Draycote Water SC, has done a great deal to add to my enjoyment of sailing. After much deliberation I have now joined a monohull-only club near to where I live and so actually have a home club at last.

I liked the feeling of being 'adopted' and hope that I might still be able to continue the practice. It would be just an extension of the inclusive nature of our class and I'm wondering if other lone sailors might be interested in clubbing together to make up a team or joining in with a friendly team from a different location. Much depends on how people get on and it should only be an informal arrangement but maybe there could be a new team from the north and west, perhaps? I'm sure that there are many other 'loners' around and about.

It's just a thought and I'd be interested to know if anyone thinks it's OK.

[Bob Carter]

Hi Robert,
Sounds OK to me.
Cheers
Bob
PS Just one thing is bothering me. Will they let you sail a Cat at your new Club, do you have a monohull or do you just plan to go there for a pint?

[Robert]

Hi Bob

That's good enough for me!

Regarding my current club, I think you might have guessed that no, they don't allow me to sail my cat there, sadly, and are not likely to either. On the other hand they do seem to arrange excursions and cruises, even, at other locations where I can probably sail the cat, such as on the Welsh coast. Having been used to the challenge of 15 sailing, I've splashed out on an old RS300 to sail there. Well it's certainly a challenge..

Carsington was interesting yesterday. Race 1: lost a hatch and collected lots of extra ballast. Race 2: gusted on tacking and capsized, recovered and sailed the complete 5 laps only to be informed that I had been finished on lap 4 using 'average lap time' doh, I could have done with the rest! Race 3: powered up before going out on the wire and was savagely gusted whilst in the crouch. The result was I was thrown full length onto the sail (no damage to the sail, thankfully) but I did right the boat. Unfortunately I lacked the remaining strength to haul my bulk back onto the tramp.

I think I might be a little out of practice

[George Stephen]

Robert,

After all those capsizes on a stable multihull on Saturday, are you sure about sailing one of those tippy monohull dinghies?

[Robert]

Just practising being thrown into the water George!

[George Stephen]

Robert,

It sounded from your earlier report that you had difficulty getting back aboard your righted Sprint 15.

How are you going to get up on a nice smooth upturned hull of your RS300 to reach the dagger board? You have to do this to right it.......

[capella]

The 300 wont sail off very far without you though

[Andrew Hannah]

Robert,

If I ever see you in an RS 300, I promise not to laugh. Well, not much anyway!

[Robert]

Was it you who once had one, Andrew?

George: so far I have put one foot on the mast and swung my legs over the hull and righting was easy, especially with the nice little lip on the coaming to rest my toes on whilst the hull is approaching vertical. As for when it is inverted I have yet to discover, but the lines under the lips should help.

I agree though it all sounds a bit comical. Righting the cat wasn't too difficult but a bit more involved. Getting on board is a different matter but I don't particularly want more practice!

[Jim Coleman]

They are easy to right from turtle. I had one. Stand on daggerboard and pull it up onto its side. They float in that position. Then go to the back and swim on.

[Robert]

Thanks for that, Jim. I'm sure I'll need the advice soon! So if legover doesn't work, it's swim-on yes? I think the problem is if you are in the water and the hull is on its side then the dagger board is a long way above the swimmer. I guess it's a matter of swimming round and encouraging it to turn turtle. More news in due course...

[Martin Searle]

Thanks for that, Jim. I'm sure I'll need the advice soon! So if legover doesn't work, it's swim-on yes? I think the problem is if you are in the water and the hull is on its side then the dagger board is a long way above the swimmer. I guess it's a matter of swimming round and encouraging it to turn turtle. More news in due course...

Robert,

The way I right my laser from a similar situation all I do is reach up grab daggerboard and then plant a foot on a gunwale and pull down with the arms, once the mast breaks free of the water it should just come straight up. Dinghies are way easier to right than cats but then you've probably found that out!

Martin S.

[Robert]

Er - yes

trouble is the dagger board is usually well out of reach (or so I understand )

[Jim Coleman]

From the turtle position you stand on the dagger board and use the righting lines to pull the boat up onto its side. If you can't get your leg over (a fairly normal occurrence for any man at times) you continue pulling while falling into the water until the boat is the right way up. Then using the righting line to keep some control over the boat's position you have to manoeuvre yourself to the back of the boat. When you get there you tip the boat onto one of its wings using your full weight. The wing sinks slightly below the surface and you can slide on.
By the way I adjusted my righting lines so that they dangled freely below the gunwale low enough for me to reach while in the water.
Another tip. If you want a rest from the tippiness while waiting, eg, for a start, let the sail right out on one side and stand/kneel on the wing on the other side. The 300 is very stable in that position.

[Robert]

Thanks Jim. That all sounds very useful, especially the bit about having a rest! One idea of getting a 300 was to try and keep myself fit enough to do Fifteen events which don't occur as frequently as I would like to sail. As you've probably guessed it's not quite working out like that because
a) the 300 is more scary and demanding than the Fifteen
b) I have to remember which boat I am sailing and I'm a bit less fluid than if I were just sailing one type at all times (not that I was particularly fluid at any time anyway)