This Fall my M15 was "knocked down" buy a very heavy gust of wind. The mast was horizontal in the water, the jib and mainsail were floating in the water and the outboard was also horizontal. All the gear stored in the cockpit lockers under the seats were tipped out into the water, and what didn't float, went to the bottom. Believe me it did not right itself. Only when one of the two of us stood on the keel, did the boat easily righted itself. Then came the struggle to get back into the boat. To my surprise, no water had poured through the companionway. It was bone dry in the cabin. The boat apparently had enough buoyancy and the hatch was high enough above the water line to keep the water out. Murray.
Wild tale!! This should be a permanent post on the site Kerry murray wrote:
This Fall my M15 was "knocked down" buy a very heavy gust of wind. The mast was horizontal in the water, the jib and mainsail were floating in the water and the outboard was also horizontal. All the gear stored in the cockpit lockers under the seats were tipped out into the water, and what didn't float, went to the bottom. Believe me it did not right itself. Only when one of the two of us stood on the keel, did the boat easily righted itself. Then came the struggle to get back into the boat. To my surprise, no water had poured through the companionway. It was bone dry in the cabin. The boat apparently had enough buoyancy and the hatch was high enough above the water line to keep the water out. Murray.
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I had a close call last year. I didn't go as far as Murray, but was worried. I had reefed earlier, and then hove to and changed to the storm jib. I had just sheeted in and cleated the main, and was tending to something when I was hit. Wasn't paying attention to the wind on the water. The mast went right down, and it took me a second or two to get to the mainsheet. She came right up, but it the mast must have been down to 75 or 80 degrees. I only took a gallon or two over the rail. Other than inattentiveness, the other learning is that this is much more likely to happen when the boat doesn't have any way on. If Storm Petrel were moving, I feel sure she would have healed a lot, then headed up and spilled the wind, even if the main remained sheeted. But with no momentum, the wind just pushed her over. From now on, I will be extra careful in gusty conditions, especially when not moving. Having the mast in the water, with the water level washing the cabin top maybe 12-18" below the base of the mast, indicates a knockdown of over 90 degrees. Maybe 100? Bill Riker M-15 #184 Storm Petrel -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-admin@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of murray Sent: January 16, 2003 12:51 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Self Righting This Fall my M15 was "knocked down" buy a very heavy gust of wind. The mast was horizontal in the water, the jib and mainsail were floating in the water and the outboard was also horizontal. All the gear stored in the cockpit lockers under the seats were tipped out into the water, and what didn't float, went to the bottom. Believe me it did not right itself. Only when one of the two of us stood on the keel, did the boat easily righted itself. Then came the struggle to get back into the boat. To my surprise, no water had poured through the companionway. It was bone dry in the cabin. The boat apparently had enough buoyancy and the hatch was high enough above the water line to keep the water out. Murray. _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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Bill Riker -
Kerry Swart -
murray