Old Man’s Tips when Capsizing

ATTENTION SNIPE SAILORS!

(From the SCIRA archives)

IMPORTANT SAFETY TIPS FOR NEW SNIPE SAILORS

by Gonzalo “Old Man” Diaz

1. Do not go out in the Snipe unless it is blowing less than 15 mph. To venture out in higher winds, please, wait until you have a year of experience under your belt and an experienced crew.

2. Be sure to tie in your board with the safety rope every time you go out! The rope has to be doing the job before you sail away from the dock. And make sure that the rope is adjusted so that the board will not come out of the centerboard trunk when lifted and tilted (forward and aft).

To read the rest of The Old Man’s tips, download the attached PDF.

Additional updates:

The McLaughlins, Chubascos, Phoenix and Eclipse boats will not be stable after a capsize and will tend to roll over again. The reason is that they take a lot of water in the cockpit and they do not have enough air tanks. So, when bringing them up is important to keep one sailor in the water to hang on to the deck and try to stop the boat from rolling over again. But those boats are easier to get on the centerboard as they do not sit so high on their sides when capsized.

The Perssons and Jibetechs have less tendency to roll over, so they can be brought up without having to keep someone in the water. However, it is important to jump on the centerboard in the process of flipping because it is very difficult to climb up onto the board once they are capsized. The board is very high out of the water.

Since my instructions are for capsizing in shallow waters, maybe you should get a volunteer to write what has to be done in deep waters when the boat goes upside down. Needless to say it is even more important to have the centerboard tied down with a safety line!

SNIPE_TIPS_WHEN_CAPSIZING_IN_BISCAYNE_BAY-1.pdf