A sad but excellent example of how this could happen, thanks for sharing Henry. We gotta remember, boats are moving forward, often as fast as they are able, in a windy situation that might cause a knock-down, and seas are rough. When the parts of the boat that aren't supposed to hit the water do hit the water (and the keel and rudder come out of the water), unpredictable stuff happens - the boat may skew sideways, plunge, spin, etc., depending also on the seas at the moment. The mast becomes a foil...which way is it pulling? And if the keel isn't locked down, on a swing keel boat...! cheers, John S. On 06/24/2015 09:14 PM, Henry Rodriguez wrote:
My 23' Venture Newport Chiquita was knocked down by a microburst over 20 years ago. I couldn't release the sheets quickly enough before I tumbled into the lake. The sails managed to scoop up a ton of water; we were going at hull speed. The 600lb swing keel could not right the boat with the sails full of water. Water poured in the open hatches, she turned turtle, and sank in about three minutes.
Henry M17 #310 Monita
http://macgregor.sailboatowners.com/index.php?option=com_kb&Itemid=256&cat_i...
On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 10:51 PM, Bob Eeg <montgomeryboats@hotmail.com> wrote:
Pictures or it didn't happen. ;-)
So you're saying the Mast was pointing straight down.? The boat was bottom up level?
Did you fall onto the sail ?
Any boat can be knocked down in high winds, but when the sails lay flat and dumps the wind, the ballast (40%) should right the boat.
It was turtled for 1/2 hour? Yeah..........
:-)
Sent from my iPad
On Jun 24, 2015, at 4:16 PM, Robert Hall <bert.hall@bell.net> wrote:
Hello All,Unfortunately at 1600 today while sailing alone in blustery wind on the Ottawa River with a reefed jib and full main I learned the answer to a question many of us have asked ourselves.” If knocked down, will the M 15 continue heeling and finally turn turtle?” The answer “yes”. In my case when the gust hit there was no time to steer off, cast off sheets or to take any other remedial action.I was in the water . Possibly had the drop boards been in place the disaster might have been lessened, but I do not know.Any way over I went with both sails set. Fortunately fellow boaters arrived within half an hour and two of us righted the boat as one would a dinghy,bailed a little and got towed back to our club. Drying out will take a while and the teasing will take even longer to fade. This 84 year old has come safely through a nasty experience and henceforth will at least keep the drop boards in place when sailing in gusty weather. A word to the wise.Cheers . RTH.
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com