Maxprop wrote:
"Jeff" wrote in message
. ..
Ellen MacArthur wrote:
"Jeff" wrote
Why do you say that? What's wrong with pitchpoling?
Pitchpoling is dangerous. You could break your neck. Did you see
some of those
people flying off the hull? They were standing way back on the back and
the bow still
sunk into the water and it was end over end. I think they should
re-design the hull so
it has more reserve buoyancy at the front.
Sailing close to the edge has its risks - if they weren't flipping then
the boat was undersailed or not pushed hard enough. Anyone who has sailed
high performance dinghies will flip on a regular basis. I'm not sure I
ever survived a day on a Hobie 16 without flipping. And capsizing dinks
like a 505 was just as common.

Hmm. After a couple of decades of racing all sorts of dinghies--Snipes,
Thistles, Lightnings, Lasers, Ensigns, MC Scows, and Hobie 16s--without ever
flipping one, I take issue with your contention. I can recall only two
capsizes in two-man boats and very few more in the Laser or MC (when racing
solo), yet I won my share of hardware. A capsize or flip is essentially a
DNF in most boats. Doesn't exactly make sense to be sailing so "close to
the edge" if it means not finishing or finishing near the back of the pack.

First of all, I was talking about "high performance" dinghies. I
really don't think Snipes, Thistles, Lightnings, Ensigns, or MC Scows
count as "high performance." I've sailed all of them a number of
times (except the scow) and while they're all fine boats, I think it's
more than a stretch to call a Alberg designed keel boat a "high
performance dinghy." 505's weigh 280 pounds, the thistle and
lightning weigh in at 515 and 700 respectively, with about the same
sail area.

Secondly, I'll agree that capsizing in a race is not a good thing. In
fact, I'm not sure I ever did it, but I moved up to keel boats pretty
soon after my college days so I didn't spend much time in what was
considered "high performance" at the time (470's, 505's).

On the other hand, when not racing, we frequently pushed the limits in
stronger wind and capsizes were common. On the windiest days we would
do gybing drills, testing how many we could do in a mile run. How
else to you learn how to jibe the chute in 25+ knots? If you can't
flip a few times on a windy day, what fun is it? In the case of Hobie
16's, I never raced but had access to a one at a club and generally
took out recreational sailors with no high performance or racing
experience to give them a little thrill. The dock crew would always
joke about warming up the crash boat.

Also - I worked and volunteered in collegiate sailing for a dozen
years or so, and I can say equivocally that capsizes were common in
certain boats. In fact, I can remember races when every boat went
down! Of course, the better skippers flipped less often than novices,
but during practices it was no big deal. (And college racers don't
use chutes.)

And one more thing - we well understood the meaning of staying up when
it counted. The same boat that the owner and I flipped a number of
times while playing was used of coastal cruising - stuff a few
sleeping bags and a pack under the bow and head off to the islands!
Capsizing in this situation wold not have been a good idea.