Getting Back Into the Boat

When I capsize, the weather is usually a bit windier... Besides, Sunfish is always easy to board because it's so close to the water!
 
The video got me to thinking: suppose I drill a small hole at the tip of the daggerboard, and hook a 30-inch "stirrup" made of 1/8-inch line to start the Sunfish to upright from a capsize?

The "stirrup" could be carried in a PFD pocket (if it has one), or interlaced with a PFD's straps. :)
 
AQBill said:
When I capsize, the weather is usually a bit windier...!
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That's what I was thinking when I saw that, not to mention waves. When I go over it's usually for a reason, and a lot more dramatic. Wrapping a line around my foot wouldn't be the first choice, especially in conditions where the boat might continue right on over on top of me (how many overweight oafs like me have had that happen!)

Seriously, one of the best ideas that an octogenarian I sail with is wearing a waterski belt (in appropriately tame conditions) so he can get back on board easily when upper body strength fails. These aren't Coast Guard approved of course, but just a regular pfd leaves him up to his neck in the water while a ski belt raises the body out more.
 
The 'system' shown in the video may work for a high-freeboard boat, but offers no advantage for the unlucky soul having to recover from a Sunfish capsize. In fact, extra line that one might get tangled in can be dangerous. More so in waves and high wind.
The first paragraph in the post above (minifish2) states the same thoughts, it seems to me.
 
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There was a debate a few years ago here on the Forum about rigs to reenter a Sunfish after it was righted from a capsize.
The standard method was grabbing the inside of the cockpit lip, pulling and executing a strong frog kick at the same time. Drag yourself into the deck/cockpit, square away the lines, tiller and get sailing again - easy when you are 17 - not so easy when you are 75+. One suggested method was attaching a line to the hiking strap with a loop at the end to use as a stirup to get back in the boat -- I like this idea more than wrapping a line around your foot.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
I tried the rope stirrup idea on an O'Day Mariner I had and it failed miserably. Obviously a big difference in the freeboard on a Sunfish, but my problem was that as you pushed down on the stirrup it simply would swing under the boat rather than allow you to step up with it. I was about sixty at the time, but my son who is younger and much stronger couldn't do it either.
 
imported_Andy said:
Obviously a big difference in the freeboard on a Sunfish, but my problem was that as you pushed down on the stirrup it simply would swing under the boat rather than allow you to step up with it.
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I see that my idea (above) wouldn't work for that very reason. :confused:
 
I'm thinking it might work with Alan Glos' idea of stirrup loop but on a long enough rope (a couple feet shy of the
full length of your body) so you can bend your leg out behind you just a little, away from the boat. Then, while you're straightening your leg out behind you and coming up out of the water, you're actually moving toward the boat. All you need
is a 1 - 1.5 ft. lift for the extra help. I'm also talking totally theory here- I've not tried it yet- in any conditions. I do however, really believe it can be done with a certain technique.
 
minifish2 said:
Seriously, one of the best ideas that an octogenarian I sail with is wearing a waterski belt (in appropriately tame conditions) so he can get back on board easily when upper body strength fails. These aren't Coast Guard approved of course, but just a regular pfd leaves him up to his neck in the water while a ski belt raises the body out more.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't he be helped more with a strap around the crotch—front to back on a regular PFD?
 
I'm a semi-dumpy middle-aged guy, and I don't have any problem at all getting back into my boat after a capsize. At this point in life, it's not too difficult.... but I must admit that my technique is not terribly graceful: I sort of belly-flop into the cockpit like some kind of deranged Walrus, using the cockpit lip as a grasping point.

BUT.... I like the idea of a stirrup of some sort for helping older sailors get back into their boats. It wouldn't have to be complicated..... just a loop of rope attached to the cockpit somewhere that an older guy (or gal) could put his foot into for a little help. PLUS, If it was the right length, it could serve double-duty as an impromptu form of hiking gear when nobody was looking! (wait... I didn't say that. It wasn't ME you saw hiking waaaay out at the last regatta.... I'm pretty sure it was one of those Pensacola guys. ;) )
 
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