You are all going to laugh!!!

Sunray

New Member
Ok..I like the Forum here so I'll keep on posting, even though I have a Force 5.... Here is my first day out in 25 years!!!

My brother and I spent a couple of hours (with diagrams) rigging up the boats and finally launched them at our storage facility ( U.S Olympic Sainig Center in Coconut Grove ).. Beautiful day here in Miami...80 degrees and a 10 Kt.breeze.....I was really anxious to get going and, after a few botched attempts at leaving the dock, I did it!!!! I was away first and had a few crappy tacks under my belt. I watched my brother leave the dock and he did a better job..well my boat was not in HIS way..

My tiller extension kept popping off the tiller-end ( rectangular piece did not want to snap into position...no matter how much stength I used (I will screw the thing down next time somehow.....) A few more upwind tries..tacks...OK....everything cool. Then, on a more aggressive tack the extension popped out and I lost control of my rudder...I did not release the mainsheet in the confusion, and I did a beautiful deathroll to leeward...

My brother had lots of sailboarding experience and, fortunately, hopped out of his boat, and, because we were in 2 feet of water, he showed me how to 'walk' the mast (pointed into the wind) towards the boat...He had it upright in seconds...impressive...

He suggested we do our first 'minirace' to the intracoastal marker..he had a better position at the start, but as he saw me floundering around with my tacks he decided to go on a downwind test...we'll call that one even, OK?

I decided to try the downwind thing for the first time too...Man!! I seemed to be going great! The boat really smokes downwind..I was on a reach and seemed to be going fine, then I decided to GYBE (what I did who KNOWS what you'd call it) and I literally was flung out of the boat...and the boat ended up just like the first time...broadside to the water....

After flailing around in the water, trying to lift a sail and a boom and a 3-piece mast out of what is now maybe 8 feet of ocean...and my brother sailing by this way and that shouting advice from his identical Force 5, I decided to give it one valiant attempt. I went around to the centerboard and tried to climb on, pulling as hard as I could. After a few seconds, I felt the boat slowly come around...AHHH!! I had just righted my new (old) boat....ummmmm.......isn't there supposed to be a 3-piece mast, a boom, and a sail attached somewhere??

Yep, I managed to save the lower section of the mast (the most expensive, no doubt, lol), but I lost all the rest. My brother gave me a tow most of the way back to the dock, and everything after that went quite smoothly.

A bummer, for sure, but an experience too. I just got off the phone (in the middle of typing this), with Jock, the manager of the center, and he has arranged for both of us to go back out on a large inflateable to look for ( and hopefully salvage ) something of the boats' rigging....

All in all I had a blast for the 15 minutes or so I actually sailed, and the next time i will confine myself to the 3 feet and under sections until I have a better grasp of how to turn out of a downwind position. Upwind is fairly straight ahead, I have sailed before, and the technique came back to me ( funny, I never ever remember sailing downwind in my life!!!). I will post a couple of threads asking how to gybe properly ( although I have a great dvd Lasercoach 2000 which I have lent to my brother...I now want the darn thing back, please...., and how to right a capsized boat in more than 6 feet of water...

Hope you all enjoyed my first attempt here....will keep all up to date..

Ray
Miami Beach

I'll be more carefull next time, armed with more info
 
Sunray said:
isn't there supposed to be a 3-piece mast, a boom, and a sail attached somewhere??

Yep, I managed to save the lower section of the mast (the most expensive, no doubt, lol), but I lost all the rest. A bummer, for sure, but an experience too. I just got off the phone (in the middle of typing this), with Jock, the manager of the center, and he has arranged for both of us to go back out on a large inflateable to look for ( and hopefully salvage ) something of the boats' rigging....
...I now want the darn thing back, please...., and how to right a capsized boat in more than 6 feet of water...
Ray
Miami Beach

Oh no! Isn't there a mast and sail retention system for the boat? Hope you get it back, or this could be a most expensive lesson. See some of the currents threads about capsizes and downwind sailing for ideas, and good luck getting your equipment back. Keep us posted.
 
Sunray said:
Ok..I like the Forum here so I'll keep on posting, even though I have a Force 5.... Here is my first day out in 25 years!!!

My brother and I spent a couple of hours (with diagrams) rigging up the boats and finally launched them at our storage facility ( U.S Olympic Sainig Center in Coconut Grove ).. Beautiful day here in Miami...80 degrees and a 10 Kt.breeze.....I was really anxious to get going and, after a few botched attempts at leaving the dock, I did it!!!! I was away first and had a few crappy tacks under my belt. I watched my brother leave the dock and he did a better job..well my boat was not in HIS way..

My tiller extension kept popping off the tiller-end ( rectangular piece did not want to snap into position...no matter how much stength I used (I will screw the thing down next time somehow.....) A few more upwind tries..tacks...OK....everything cool. Then, on a more aggressive tack the extension popped out and I lost control of my rudder...I did not release the mainsheet in the confusion, and I did a beautiful deathroll to leeward...

My brother had lots of sailboarding experience and, fortunately, hopped out of his boat, and, because we were in 2 feet of water, he showed me how to 'walk' the mast (pointed into the wind) towards the boat...He had it upright in seconds...impressive...

He suggested we do our first 'minirace' to the intracoastal marker..he had a better position at the start, but as he saw me floundering around with my tacks he decided to go on a downwind test...we'll call that one even, OK?

I decided to try the downwind thing for the first time too...Man!! I seemed to be going great! The boat really smokes downwind..I was on a reach and seemed to be going fine, then I decided to GYBE (what I did who KNOWS what you'd call it) and I literally was flung out of the boat...and the boat ended up just like the first time...broadside to the water....

After flailing around in the water, trying to lift a sail and a boom and a 3-piece mast out of what is now maybe 8 feet of ocean...and my brother sailing by this way and that shouting advice from his identical Force 5, I decided to give it one valiant attempt. I went around to the centerboard and tried to climb on, pulling as hard as I could. After a few seconds, I felt the boat slowly come around...AHHH!! I had just righted my new (old) boat....ummmmm.......isn't there supposed to be a 3-piece mast, a boom, and a sail attached somewhere??

Yep, I managed to save the lower section of the mast (the most expensive, no doubt, lol), but I lost all the rest. My brother gave me a tow most of the way back to the dock, and everything after that went quite smoothly.

A bummer, for sure, but an experience too. I just got off the phone (in the middle of typing this), with Jock, the manager of the center, and he has arranged for both of us to go back out on a large inflateable to look for ( and hopefully salvage ) something of the boats' rigging....

All in all I had a blast for the 15 minutes or so I actually sailed, and the next time i will confine myself to the 3 feet and under sections until I have a better grasp of how to turn out of a downwind position. Upwind is fairly straight ahead, I have sailed before, and the technique came back to me ( funny, I never ever remember sailing downwind in my life!!!). I will post a couple of threads asking how to gybe properly ( although I have a great dvd Lasercoach 2000 which I have lent to my brother...I now want the darn thing back, please...., and how to right a capsized boat in more than 6 feet of water...

Hope you all enjoyed my first attempt here....will keep all up to date..

Ray
Miami Beach

I'll be more carefull next time, armed with more info

A kindred spirit.
 

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