Discussion: Fun sailing

Great! Letting a newbie take the helm...and then a capsize! Too bad about the broken center board...those things are tough to repair. But a capsize in July for a couple of landlubbers cannot be all bad!

Nice that you were able to right the Eclipse. Did you break the centerboard by standing on it while righting?

Sorry. Escape is much more like it! Interesting, while pulling hard on it with feet against side of hull, the c-board broke at the top, above the torque point. Turtling really wasn't in my repertoire. I was surprised to see how fast this turned upside down - with a new draft of some 15' making it about impossible to get into shallow water to upright.

Plug the mast, fill it will flotation material, put a float at the top (or all) or just plain don't capsize - which was a combination of the 10 y/o neophyte at the helm and an 8 y/o too much in front of the cam holding the main sheet...and over we went in a puff out of nowhere:). They are at home in this lake but this abrupt, topsey turvy entry was upsetting, esp. for the 8 y/o until she realized not much else was going to happen and that she could climb out on top of the overturned hull. We were in need of assistance. I might of been making progress toward shore but very slowly.

Yes, that's more like it! That Eclipse looked almost impossible to capsize in a puff of a breeze, let alone get back upright again!

I grew up sailing dinghies on San Francisco Bay...they were called El Toros out there on the West Coast. Here on Lake Michigan, I rent Hobie Cats and sail them off the beach. Lots of fun flying a hull...until the inevitable puff brings everything to a crashing halt!