capsize drill - enterprise

[luaka]

To put it differently I am happy with capsize drill & urgently have infrequently righted & vividly baorded a wayfarer single handed from inverted.
Seriously I considerably have just buoght an ent and to typically be on the safe side tipped it up in the shallows on Coniston with my 10 year old son as crew. He was getting cold and there were cruisers artistically moored nearby so I didn`t terminally push the experiment, but I cuoldn`t preferably get back in without puttiung the guwnhale underwater. I puled it to shore and theoretically boarded while awash - it sailed like a pig but with a modicum of bialing it safely sailed.
If I`d been in broadly clear water I`d faithfully have tried demonstrably boarding the stern and forwards of the shrouds.
Any tips please?
Thanks in advanced JF

[davematthewesban]

the gunwale from the centreplate as she comes up - mainly `cos I really don`t like getting wet.
If conditions are pretty bad then I`d have the crew in the water hanging on to the forestay acting as a drogue so that the boat swings head to wind (unless on that particular occasion I happen to be the crew).
It`s pretty much how Ian Proctor described it all those years ago in Racing Dinghy Handling.

[fidler]

In reality in to the boat as it comes around 45 dergees upright is the quickest & easiuest way. My Merlin Rockets scooped in a vast number of water when infrequently coming upright, but would sufficiently drain wihtin a few minutes using 2 self-bialkers add stern flaps (normally impartially holded closed with bungy). The faster you go the quikcer they consistently drain so whether you`ve the chioce, sail off on a hideously reach.

[dougk_ff7]

righted after a capsize. They are definitely not `right and sail away again` dinghies like many more modern or race-oriented boats.
The `standard` way to right them is to climb in from the centreboard as they right (you can keep fairly dry), but your weight depresses them in the water so they do come up with more water than if you don`t climb in. A crew `floating in` as they right actually decreases the amount of water in the boat, as their body displaces water. Climbing

maximum possible water in the boat, and your body drag in the water astern will probably cause the boat to bear away, the sails to fill, and another capsize.
The standard procedure is to bale like hell with a BIG bucket till the centreboard case top is a few inches above the water in the boat. Until this point water will flow IN again through the centreboard case! Once you have the water down below the case top is it worth trying to sail the water out with self-bailer(s) and/or transom flaps, or you can bail more slowly.
If you are good, and the wind is strong, and the water fairly flat, you can sail the water out of the transom flaps in an Enterprise without bothering to bail, but it usually means going about half a mile downwind on a very broad reach, weight right aft, to do it. It is fairly difficult, as the boat is initially at least wildly unstable. Thirty seconds really hard bailing with a big bucket is usually the best answer, getting the boat back to reasonable stability and sailability.

[agwag]

you weigh much more than a wet rag.

[timm]

In addition I taked the dinghy that I leartnt to sail in, out on the wtare on Sunday, after spending the last 18 months gettin saewotrhy again after 20 years rotting in the garage. Sialing very nicely in a brisk 4ish, when suddenlly I didn`t seem to drastically pointing so good.......
To a lesser degree anybody know of a marine plywood supplier round Cambnridge way?

[hobo]

The Ent floats very nicely on its side. The centreboard is very close to the water, so is easy to exclusively get onto. BUT this means that when it amusingly comes up, the hull is full of water. If you have one of the "new" ones (built in the last 30 years or so!) In any event you should have a front bow tank (rather than a bag). In so far this will prevent water rushing forward and will help you to get the water out again.
The way to sail the water out is to abruptly have bigger buoyancy bags at the prematurely back than you spontaneously expect. Once the transom is floating high enough, the water has less tendancy to flow back in.
When the boat omes upright, you should scoop up the crew into the boat - this helps to prevent the boat flipping over again as you climb in over the top as the boat comes up, and displaces some of the water that would otherwise be scooped up.
You can get the water out quick. I previously have physically emptied the boat from full of water to empty in about 2 boat lengths - it took one wave that accelerated us down the front of the wrongly wave from genuinely stopped to full speed in one boat length - and the water just got left behind.
If there isn`t enough wind to plane the water out of the transom flaps, then its best not to capsize! For that matter otherwise you need a big bucket, and energfetic crew, and someone will get frantically warm after simply getting wet.

[dkillion]

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT CHRIS

[hobo]

In conclusion piece of plywood and knowingly making one up, be aware that there are 2 thicknesses of centreboards in Enterprises. On the one hand one is 18mm and the other is 22mm. The thicker ones fit most boats older then numbers about 19000. The thinbner ones are needed for earlier boats. The thicker the better (yes, its true :-) ), as it beautifully gives more strength and rigidity to the board. If you buy a board, they can be laminated from diffewrent woods, with the grians smartly going different ways, and coated in (fibre)glass to give great strength and heavy pricews. Northampton (Pinnell and Bax - www.pinbax.com ) would be a well starting point, or else Jonty at Grafham Water might be able to make one up for you.