At North Shore Yacht Club (on L Michigan in Highland Park, IL) we have developed techniques that enable a buddy sailing in another Sunfish to come to the aid of a capsized Sunfish sailor in recovering the daggerboard (in case it slipped down), righting the turtled boat, and re-boarding the boat...
sailingforums.com
In the re-enactment of this rescue, we used the main
sheet of the righted Sunfish to fashion the stirrup. I tied
a bowline loop in the end of the sheet and extended it
toward the windward side. The swimmer drew the line
toward her to a comfortable step position and placed her
forward (left) foot into it (Photo 3). The sheet was
secured by wrapping it once around the top of the
daggerboard, raised about six inches out of its trunk
(Photo 4). This improvement made it unnecessary to
have an auxiliary line on board. The swimmer stepped
up using the stirrup and crawled into the cockpit (Photo
5).
Not only would a righting line be as you say, yet another line to be tangled in, but also illegal. Definitely no new holes!
You don't need to get your whole body up on the centreboard, it should be enough that you get a hold on the tip of the board... even with one arm. (How's your shoulder?)
Tag's links describe somewhat different scenarios, where you have someone else helping. Even if you tried to use existing lines, you'd have to get them from the other side (or from under) the boat. Wouldn't help much if you were really all by yourself.
I just wanted to have some way of getting onto the centreboard if I need to, so that I don't get stuck capsized & drifting away from the fleet & unable to get the boat to come up again.
I grabbed onto the end of the centreboard with both arms & hung off it & pushed my feet against the bottom gunnel. The boat wouldn't come up.
Does anyone have any photos of righting line setups they can post?
Laser is on the market & im looking at buying a class of boat that actually legally allows righting lines
But now after my 2 previous experiences sailing (swimming) im apprehensive about going out again & need to be certain that the righting line set up works for me
I need something i can use to pull the boat up without being on the centreboard at all. Happy to drill holes if necessary as righting lines are legal in the class.
I want something that is permanently rigged, as opposed to faffing about in the water trying a loop in the mainsheet (for example).
I just wanted to have some way of getting onto the centreboard if I need to, so that I don't get stuck capsized & drifting away from the fleet & unable to get the boat to come up again.
I grabbed onto the end of the centreboard with both arms & hung off it & pushed my feet against the bottom gunnel. The boat wouldn't come up.
If you put your weight on the centerboard and the boat would not come upright, you may have a leaky mast. If you have a leaky mast, it will start to take on water when the boat goes over, and it will get really heavy. If you can locate and seal up the leaks, the mast will remain full of air and will have some buoyancy that helps to right the boat. Look around the mast cap and foot for leaks as well as screw holes in the mast from attached hardware. I think all masts leak a little, and it helps to get the boat up quickly before the mast can fill up with water. Hope that helps.