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from sailing to kiting
http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=44500
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Author:  psail [ Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:11 pm ]
Post subject:  from sailing to kiting

I am a proud new member of the Hobie community. I got my Wave two weeks ago, have had it out about 6 times. That is my only experience with a sailboat (I have many years of windsurfing experience from about 20 years ago).

Yesterday, the wind forecast was 20mph with gusts up to 30mph. I and my wife went to Lake Waconia, MN, which is one of the biggest lakes around the Twin Cities (to my excuse I can say that we tried a smaller lake first, but the boat access was temporarily closed). We did not regret, we had a lot of fun sailing on the edge and hiking out all the way. After my wife wanted to take a break, I went out solo and continued to have fun until I capsized. I had practiced righting before, so there was nothing to be afraid of. So I wanted to swim around the rear of the boat to get the bottom side of the boat. There was a point when I was holding just the rudder and that's when I lost the boat. The rudder blade was just too thin and slippery for me to hold it, it just slipped off from my hands and the boat started to drift away real fast, no way could I catch it. It looked like a long swim for me and I was really worried about what would have happened when the boat hit the shore. Then a good Samaritan turned up, and he came on a KITE. A nice gentlemen on a kiteboard first asked me if I was ok and then gave me a ride to my boat. He dropped his board and with me holding on to his equipment body-dragged both of us down the wind. It took us a while to reach the boat as I had to let go a couple of times when I was loosing my pants or skin on my hands. But he was really skillful and we reached the boat in time. I was exhausted but very happy and thankful to the guy who sacrificed good 20 minutes of good ride to help me.

I have learned from this experience that a much better way to swim around the boat would have been around the front, even though the sail was in the way, and grab the righting line as soon as possible. Also, it is a good idea to have some knots on the righting line (sure enough, I had to make one on the water, as I forgot to do it before), otherwise the wet rope is too slippery.

Here is my question. Thanks if some of you care to answer: If a boat hits the shore or an obstacle, hull first (the sail got eventually on the windward side of the boat), possibly turning the bow against the wind, should I be worried about the sail flipping over and hitting whatever comes to its way on the land?

Peter

Author:  srm [ Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: from sailing to kiting

If the boat ever makes landfall, on it's side, and you are not connected to it, yes you should be concerned. Really makes no difference what orientation it is, the boat is going to get broken if it is driven onto a shore by the wind and waves.

In the future, when you capsize, your number one priority should be to stay with the boat. As you found out, it will drift much faster than you can swim. This is one of the fundamental rules of catamaran sailing.

sm

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