During this season my faithful old Mirror, Katy, has continued to sail resolutely upright despite my resolve to investigate recovery procedures. However, two incidents in my sailing area were to act as timely reminders.

The first occurred on a day when most of us decided that a gusty F5 was not for us and headed off home but for two seasoned sailors who considered that a reefed GP14 could cope with the conditions. All went well until a gust bowled them over and no amount of coaxing would keep the GP upright once waterlogged. Fortunately some club members were still around and an inflatable was pressed into service to render assistance. The second incident happened to an another experienced sailor who I have witnessed righting boats without difficulty. He went out in his Laser 2 on a breezy weekday with a less experienced colleague and without accompanying boats. It is not difficult to tip a Laser as I know from experience and this soon happened. Try as they might, they could not get the boat to remain upright and they became more tired with each attempt. Eventually their plight was realised by someone on the shore and the local lifeboat called out. Both were wearing wetsuits and buoyancy aids; it was the middle of summer and yet after about three-quarters of an hour in the water they found they had difficulty even standing up when landed safely ashore. Both were taken to hospital suffering from mild hypothermia. The moral of this is to realise how essential it is to recover the boat as soon as possible and that this may take practice and preparation.

I have deliberately avoided using the 'C' word as it seems to make the eyes of the dinghy cruiser glaze over then hastily move to another article in an effort to avoid considering the unthinkable which can happen despite all precautions.

Reluctantly, although suitably prepared and accompanied by numerous other boats, I did the deed with a casual gybe whilst remaining firmly seated on what became the wrong side of the boat. First thing of note was the speed with which Katy tipped once the support of the single chine was overcome. Next was the ease with which I got caught up in the mainsheet. Although the Mirror floats high in the water it is quite slow to invert so there is time to catch the rudder to prevent this process then to grab that wonderful handhold on the skeg. Now comes the difficult bit which requires a couple of swimming strokes in order to reach the centreboard. It is my intention to fit short skids at the outer midway point that will also serve as handholds to enable me to remain in contact with the boat as it would be easy to become separated at this point. It is always possible to tie on to the mainsheet but this takes up precious time. The Mirror centreboard is quite thin and my 12 stone bulk could easily break it so I held it midway and used my feet to lever on the underside of the gunwale to good effect. It was satisfying to see how little water was on board and the storage area remained dry.

However this is only half the battle and as no doubt you will have noticed, all books on the subject assume there are two people in a dinghy whenever it capsizes. My first attempt at climbing back over the side succeeded due to the sails filling and compensating for my weight. Alas the second attempt brought the boat back on top of me so this approach was abandoned in favour of the transom. Recovery of the now inverted craft was effected in the same manner despite the tip of the gaff reaching down into the mud. Those of you familiar with the Mirror will know there is not much room at the transom beside the rudder, which could always be removed but this is risky. By brute strength I got myself back aboard hindered somewhat by a bulky lifejacket.

Attempt number three was much more difficult as I was becoming weaker and there is nothing to hold on to beyond the transom as the Mirror rear tanks are quite smooth. This will be rectified by fitting a horizontal strip of wood along the top of the vertical side of the rear tank as a handhold as I now know that, if tired, I am unable to clamber back aboard. I did try making a rope step with the mainsheet but only succeeded in pivoting myself under the rear of the boat due to the lack of a suitable handhold. Some difficulty was encountered by me wearing a fully buoyant lifejacket but I am reluctant to swap for modern editions which either have to be inflated or do not support the head of a dazed or unconscious swimmer. I was nearly able to test my lifejacket's abilities as, when de-rigging Katy after several hours enthusiastic sailing, I noticed that the gaff halyard had almost parted due to the strain of being stuck in the mud during recovery. The gaff set-up will also be the subject of some modifications over the winter as I intend to be much better prepared for a CAPSIZE (too late now) whilst sailing Katy in interesting conditions during the new millennium.