Greetings Richard!
In a message to Brian Hicks  Richard Wheet wrote:
RW> A suggestion is to have one person on the righting line and the second
RW> by the dophin striker.... when the boat comes over, have the second
RW> person basicly do a chin up on the striker.... it reduces the tendency to
RW> keep going over to the other side....
I'll try that, thanks. Typically, it only 180's when the wind is 20k+ and
variable. You definitly don't want any "assistance" from the wind in righting
your cat, as you normally would in lighter winds.
RW> A Hobie 16 in 30 knots... you are either REAL good or turtled ... I
RW> have second thoughts about my 27' Catalina 270 in those types of winds...
What's the worst that can happen on a cat? You have to right it. Anyway, 
eing
out there on those types of days, where the wind's blowing a steady 30 with
gusts of 10-20, is an excellent learning experience. It teaches you the 
imits
of your cat, and tests your skills as a sailor reaaaaal fast-like. :)
For example, I learned that you should not go out on those days with your jib
and a full mainsail. That's waaaaaay too much sail area for that kind of 
ind.
At the very least, sail w/o the jib and/or reef the mainsail. Hindsight is
20/20, ok?! 
Probably the least fun aspect of sailing such a small boat when the whitecaps
are out is losing crew: they don't EVER want to sail on that itty-bitty boat
again! Either that, or they love it so much that they bug you every day about
when you're going out on the water again!
RW> especially in Texas where one thing is constant.... knowing the wind
RW> direction can switch up to 180 degrees at any instant.. and does 
Ouch! That one bites me alot on Lake Travis. Between the normally shifty,
gusty winds in Austin, and the cliffs, points and bluffs along the lake, you
can easily encounter 3-4 major wind direction shifts on a 1/2 mile tack. 
an't
wait to put the Hobie in the Gulf of Mexico, though, where the wind is said
to be a steady 20k. :)
--+Brian
... No carrier?  How we gonna land this modem?
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