Turtle

mixmkr

Well-Known Member
So it seems most times when I capsize, the boat turtles. That isn't an issue except when in a shallower cove ...and our lake is mostly a thick mud bottom...which is good and bad. The "bad" is when I'm up and going again, I might have a huge glob of mud at the top, of course dive bombing the deck, slobbering down the sail. So...pool noodle at the top and look like a summer camper... Or just quit flipping!!
So who else gets a mud bath?
 
Bit strange, should stay on it's side long enough to pull it upright. Might
need to reseal the mast caps. Should not capsize too often if you let
the sheet slip through you hand when the boat heels over too far. Sail
adjustment is a moment-by-moment process with weight shift. More
like staying upright on a bicycle then set it and forget it on a keel boat.
 
I'm sailing in really shifty coves sometimes and 90 degree shifts aren't uncommon when you sail by a cove finger. In 15 kt winds, to go close hauled to close hauled without time to shift body weight...... Well over you go. Plus a good way to cool off . Spars do have a couple of pin holes but they don't take on water all that fast.
Basically with the hull broadside to the wind (now on its side) ....after a couple seconds will start to turtle with the wind pushing the bottom of hull helping out to turtle
 
I think you're going to need stay on a broad reach and not
close hauled so much. It will take a bit more time to get there
but is still faster than the capsize process. 90 degree shifts on
close haul are going to knock you down every time.

Seal up all the pin holes, every little bit helps. I'd just tie on
a milk jug, used to see it done in races when I was young. Down
and dirty does the job.
 
I appreciate the suggestions. Sometimes my launch point is upwind and broad reaches don't get me back home.
I was kinda more interested if others turtle as fast or if they use the "summer camp" method for flotation? I'll see what a pool noodle does this weekend as the "jug" is enough ..........well unsightly..........:)

Btw....the capsizing isn't a problem....part of the fun and "taking chances!" At 64 I'm going to enjoy that I can still pull myself back aboard in a timely fashion
 
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Take your mast and put it in the water and see if water is getting in.

I sealed the caps with 3M 4200
 
A little is. I can see the pin holes when it drains. But it is VERY little getting in. Maybe a pint or two with the spars floating in the water for 20 minutes. My caps are sealed too. This is a 69 rig. Cork long gone as well.

I'll tape up the pin holes too....cover all bases.
 
I was thinking about using a Minifish sail and found as thread where you asked
the same in 2013. I think it's a valid idea as I found Kevane Sails is selling them
new for $149. It might put the Sunfish back into its intended performance envelope
for your local weather conditions.

As far as I can tell, the cork was there because the factory pinned but did not seal the caps.
 
At 1 minute, 30 seconds in this video is footage of exactly what I do when I can't recover from a big heel from a gust and know the boat is about to lay the mast and sail in the water. Type "Laser Dry Capsize" into YouTube.

I bail early from my attempt to save the boat and use that time to stand up on the cockpit rim, throw my leg over the gunnel and straddle the boat with one foot on the daggerboard. Most of the time, because I've gotten to the gunnel quickly (from bailing early on any further attempts to prevent the capsize), I rarely have to stand with both feet on the daggerboard. Usually, I just lean my upper body out towards the daggerboard while straddling the gunnel and the boat will start to right itself.

The gustiest winds, with good velocity to boot, that I've sailed in are on the Russian River, downwind and in the rotor from the Willow Creek ridge. Big helicopter blasts of air with rapid 180 degree shifts. Yet using the above technique, I never end up in the water and never turtle.

Cheers,

- Andy
 
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Capsizes in general can be avoided by rigging the sail so the clew is high enough so it doesn't catch in a swell--especially when it's combined with the natural roll of the Sunfish. Once the clew gets "secured" by the water's surface, over you go! :confused:

Unsightly milk bottle?

Remove the wrapping from an empty transparent 2-liter bottle. A Canadian firm may still make a screw-on cap (with an eye) for attaching the bottle to the top of the spar. (I'd made mention of it--with a pic--here a few years ago).

As far as I can tell, the cork was there because the factory pinned but did not seal the caps.
Early Sunfish--and some Clonefish--masts had a block at the mast-head, and ran a thin bolt through two holes in the mast.
 
The advice on this forum to use racketballs as a replacement for missing or damaged mast corks worked out well for me.
 
The advice on this forum to use racketballs as a replacement for missing or damaged mast corks worked out well for me.
There's no need to replace the cork, if it ever was there, with anything. Air works just fine for buoyancy.
 
Capsizes in general can be avoided by rigging the sail so the clew is high enough so it doesn't catch in a swell--especially when it's combined with the natural roll of the Sunfish. Once the clew gets "secured" by the water's surface, over you go!

A higher rig will push you over more readily in a gust...
 
The clew can be raised in one inch increments at the gooseneck. There's a minimal increase "penalty" in rig height.

Where I sail, powerboaters leave huge wakes. On ideal sailing days of 10-knot wind and waves, they can combine with swells to dip the clew into the water. Raising the clew by 1 inch still gives some harrowing near-misses. :confused:
 
There's no need to replace the cork, if it ever was there, with anything. Air works just fine for buoyancy.
There was only one cork at each end of the mast. They were about 1.5 inches long and they made the interior air tight since the end caps were not water tight. A racketball in each end of the mast does the same job.
 
This is day sailing: racers set the clew very high, probably to catch winds--rather than waves. ;)
 
I have never adjusted my rig to set the clew, I adjust goose neck and halyard location. The clew ends up where it ends up. If it's getting buried in the waves, sail flatter, flat is fast.
 
The "geometric effect" is unavoidable for today's racing setups.

For day sailing, the gooseneck can be set putting the boom about 11 inches above the deck. For sailors without a window in their sail, it's a good compromise. Adjusting for clew height above the waves in the tricky winds experienced by mixmkr should reduce his capsizes.
Btw....the capsizing isn't a problem....part of the fun and "taking chances!" At 64 I'm going to enjoy that I can still pull myself back aboard in a timely fashion.
Not to worry about getting back on board, later in life. With your fiberglassing skills, I can see a doorway installed in the side of your Sunfish. :cool:

(A doorway such as that found in advertised seniors' replacement bathtubs).
 
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Mr Wind...you crack me up. Btw, big gelcoat order today. I've found mixing 2002-2006 white SeaRay and AquaFinn gelcoat in almost a 50:50 ratio is so darn close to my 69 fish, it's almost a perfect match.

btw...my capsizes happen when I'm close hauled and the wind shifts enough to put me on the opposite tack. However, the wind shifts quicker than I can scramble to the high side, and my weight and wind combined make for splash.
I have had the rare instance of my life jacket catching on the boom, even with a zillion mainsheet hangers, and that usually makes the situation a little wetter too. But like I said, I don't really care....at least at this point until I need to make that boarding ramp and the side entry doorway!
 
I turtled for the first time in my Sunfish tonight during our weekly races. Not only for the first time, but the second time too. The wind was blowing around 15 knots, and for a new sailor like me it was a complete blast!

I wasn't thinking about corking the boom, buoyancy, or anything like that. The boat was very easy to turn back over using the traditional yank on the centerboard technique, and I was able to rejoin at least one of the races and managed to finish respectfully.

My perspective is to not over think the problem. Just watch the water drain out as you get back under way.....
 
i have two sunfish, one hull was waterlogged and heavy and the extra weight instantly made the boat turtle. i rigged up a radon fan and dryer vent into hull and left the fan plugged in all winter and now the hull is light and the boat takes a few minutes before it turtles, i think your hull is heavy and making it turtle. also if anyone wants to try the radon fan buy one off ebay their cheep and work great, they are made for constant running so they dont burn out, hope this helps
 
Well, I think a lot of my turtling last week was due to 15 mph winds and heavy water in racing conditions. My boat is 132 pounds, and I don't think that's overly heavy. I didn't have gentle picturesque rollovers. They were smack downs....
 
Well, I think a lot of my turtling last week was due to 15 mph winds and heavy water in racing conditions. My boat is 132 pounds, and I don't think that's overly heavy. I didn't have gentle picturesque rollovers. They were smack downs....
Same here. Light and dry hull. 20 knt winds and waves accelerate things a bit
 

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