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125 Discussion Forum
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Return to the Forum List  Capsizing newbie tassie |  hey there! I recently completed a "restoration" and refit of a beautiful timber 125 I found for sale here in Tas. $750 with dreams of flying around and maybe some sail camping to nearby islands.
the last two days have been the first two in the water and the wind has been far too strong I admit but through trial and error I'm usually able to pick up most things and guidance is invaluable! I capsized the boat yesterday and after scrambling on the hull the mast sunk real low in the water and fortunately the boat did not turn completely upside down. I was waiting to be blown ashore as the wind was easy 20 knots when a couple blokes in a motorboat asked if i wanted a tow back to the ramp. we eventually got. the boat upright and I started bailing...
but I have to ask, how do 125 crew usually do this on their own?
kind regards!
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| | Re: Capsizing newbie tassie | Hi Shaun,
If you find yourself in the water after a capsize you should be able to reach up out of the water and grab the end of the centreboard. pulling yourself up will also start to right the boat, they will generally right without having to physically climb on the board. As the boat starts to right reach up and grab the gunnel, this will bring the boat to fully upright. Reach in and grab the thwart and use this to pull yourself in the boat.
If you find yourself having to climb on the board, as the boat starts to right you can 'step' back into the boat as it starts to right.
Single handed in 20 knots would have been a bit of a handful
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| | Re: Capsizing newbie tassie | Hi Shaun,
We've turtled/inverted a few times and yes especially the lighter and more buoyant hulls that float high up in the water will go upside down fairly quickly. When sailing 2-up the immediate priority we've found is the lighter crew to grab the mast, and swim to its end to hold it to give time for the other person to swim around to the centreboard. It's a lot quicker to get back upright to do this first.
I'm not very heavy, but I found the usual turtle recovery procedure worked fine. There is a lip on the bottom of the gunwhale that can be used for standing on when inverted, and then once standing on this, grab the tip of the centreboard,and sort of squat/lean outwards to hang your weight out as far as possible, and the boat will slowly rotate back to 90 degrees. It rotates slowly because of the drag of the sails and rigging in the water. Don't forget to uncleat your jib first otherwise this just fills with water and slows everything down!
Others have rigged righting lines attached to the thwart in easy reach underneath the gunwhale to get more leverage and that probably helps if find it difficult to to get standing on the gunwhale and possibly would be a boon if sailing single handed.
I have found in 15 knots+ though, that the hull if lying abeam to the wind in the water has a very high amount of windage. In these conditions I could get the boat to about 45 degrees up by pulling down on the centreboard from the water, but could not reach up from the water (by "bouncing" in my buoyancy vest to jump up from the water) high enough to grab the gunwhale and the wind would just push on the hull with enough force to put the boat back on its side again. In these conditions I had to either hoist myself onto the upmost part of the centreboard just where it exits the hull slot, so I could be high enough to grab the gunwhale, and the boat would then come back up just be holding onto the centreboard and the gunwale. Alternatively either the crew holding the mast tip, or by yourself grab nose to swim the boat around to point nearly just into the wind first to reduce the hull windage force.
I've also had crew struggle to get back into the boat from the water. I haven't found this to be an issue personally as old Laser sailor used to having to get back into boats :) One of our club members gets his crew to swim inside to the seat before righting to be in the boat as it comes back up and I've also found getting the crew or yourself to come back onboard from the rear transom can work better in some situations in not unbalancing the boat during recovery as much from weight transfer and the top of the transom is closer to the water.
But agree with Pete, 20 knots single handed in a 125 could be a challenge!
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| | Re: Capsizing newbie tassie | Another thing to check is whether the mast is properly sealed or not.
The rules require the mast to be completely sealed (with a small drain hole at the base).
Once the mast fills with water it's really difficult to get the boat up!
It's easy to check if it's sealed in a lake on a calm day (or swimming pool)- just put the mast fully under water and look for bubbles.
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