Wednesday 21 December 2016

Capsizing and recovering quickly.

How to capsize
And more specifically how to get back upright again after a ‘death roll’. Sailing Lasers (and Toppers) it is a common hazard, and if you are not falling over occasionally when sailing on a run then you are probably sailing too safely downwind. When the inevitably does happen though, it is possible to be back up and sailing in under 30 seconds, however to do this there is definitely a right and wrong technique.
Providing the water is deep enough to invert the boat it is normally a lot quicker to complete a vertical 360 degree turn than try to right the boat the same way it went over.

When you get to this point it seems quickest to scramble to the centre-board and pull the boat up, unfortunately with the wind blowing into the sail and the momentum from the capsize the boat is trying to invert. It is a struggle to get up and when you do, the boat is prone to a second capsize.

 



It is actually faster to hang onto the gunwhale, and pull the boat on top of yourself, then scramble onto the bottom of the boat.
 
 
Keep it moving and the boat will quickly come up on the new side.
 
 
Do a normal dry capsize recovery and get going again.
 
 
Not convinced? Try it next time you fall in on a run. I recently watched a sailor at my home club capsize to windward on a run. The sailor tried to right the boat the same way it had just gone over. 2 capsizes later he was tired and frustrated at loosing 2-3 minutes and 10 or so places. In contrast a few weeks ago in a tightly contested race at Queen Mary SC I rounded the windward mark in second, inches behind the boat in first, I went for the bear away a bit too much and ended up capsizing. Righting the boat probably took 20 seconds, in which time I just slipped down to 4th, by the leeward mark I was back up to second where I finished. While capsizing possibly cost me a chance of fighting for the win I felt surprisingly satisfied about how I had lost so little. Knowing a capsize isn't going to finish your race is a great confidence boost when trying to sail fast on a run. I hope this helps.