Anne and Denis Kell Wayfarer MkI (wooden) Emma Peter Small Wayfarer MkII (GRP) Lutino Slade Penoyre Inflatable Canoe Werner Cook Dave Weinstock

Venue:- The center is based on a large reservoir that had sufficient depth to allow total inversion without fear of damaging masts. The facilities included rescue boat cover, cafe, immaculate changing facilities and very helpful staff that gave us the freedom to experiment (and we did)! Sincere thanks to Roy Whittle and his staff for their support.

Weather:- Easterly F4. Overcast in the morning and then sunny in the afternoon as forecast.

Saturday Informal briefing. Boat righting including: - Standard righting drill with full sail. Standard righting drill double reefed. Step over drill full sail. Step over drill double reefed. Totally inverted hull using two crew. Totally inverted hull single-handed. Lunch Air bag hauling as per Slade Penoyre, including fender hauling. Post experience analysis session.

Sunday Morning sail (Pete, Slade and Dave only) in Peter's Wayfarer, Levington Marina past Felixstowe to the sea then back to Pin Mill and Levington. Very enjoyable sail, and no more capsizing practice!

Comparisons between Mk I and Mk II Wayfarers

The wooden Mk I was unloaded and had no sail head buoyancy. The Mk 2 had all it's cruising equipment, with the exception of the outboard, stowed in buoyancy chambers and in sealed (well almost) bottles fastened around the cockpit.

We had expected the Mk I design to float low in the water, which would discourage the tendency to invert and need more bailing when righted. In practice the Mk II's centreboard was closer to the water when lying on its side and didn't show any tendency to invert. Peter and his crew had to actively force down the mast to start the inversion. While the sail head buoyancy was certainly an influence, the level that the boat floated at was also a major contributor. The Mk I's centreboard was a good 6 inches higher above the water when lying on her side, producing a natural tendency to invert slowly. This did result in a dryer boat when righted.

Conclusions

We learned a lot and came away with some practical applications. We have also got some rethinking to do, which should then be put to the test.

While we understand that there are limits to the benefit that can be gained from righting practice under such controlled and gentle conditions, we all felt that the event had been well worthwhile and that it should be repeated, perhaps annually at the start of the season. It seems a pity that only two dinghies came to this rally, both owned and crewed by very experienced members; it would have been nice to see more boats and inexperienced people too.

Successes

Sail head buoyancy was very effective at preventing a total inversion. It was easier to invert the boat when the crew reefed the sail, but still required persuasion. Everyone involved agreed that this was well worth having.

Nothing floated away or fell out (except Peter's watch from his wrist), fortunately because in such deep water anything which sinks is gone for good. Peter takes a lot of trouble to tie all his gear to the boat, and this work clearly paid off. Sealed bottles were held in position by shock cord as well as being tethered. The shock cord held them in place with very few exceptions.

A righting line was fixed to the bottom of the shroud and led round the stern of the boat to the shroud on the other side (as per DCA Bulletin 167, pages 28 and 31). It remained in this stowed position until required. It was easily accessible from the water and used to right the boat when it was lying on its side, or to climb on to the bottom of the hull of an inverted boat. It was available for use on either side without the need to throw lines to windward over the hull.

Anne and Denis have foot straps permanently fixed to the bottom of their shrouds to assist boarding from deep water when the boat has been turned upright. This would be particularly valuable when sailing single-handed.

At the suggestion of Roy (centre manager), crews were encouraged to duck under the side decks of the inverted hull into the air pocket created by cockpit. The fibreglass allowed significant amounts of light and it was possible to pull out the centreboard or retrieve necessary equipment. Contact was maintained by talking through the centreboard case.

Slade had designed a technique for righting multi-hulls that involved an inflated bag hauled up to the masthead. We tried it on Peter's Wayfarer and found it so much easier that he installed it permanently. The bag used was 100 litres, but 50 litres was sufficient for a Wayfarer.

Failures

Hauling lines must be the right thickness and length. They are unlikely to be too thick, but if too thin cuts the users hands and saps their strength. Lines should be of sufficient length, but no more. Peter's hauling lines were also used as spring warps. Their length made them at risk of being tangled and was only 6 mm. He now has a dedicated 10 mm line made to measure.

Peter's flares were stored in the waterproof bottle provided for the purpose. Not only do you have to make sure that storage containers claiming to be waterproof are what they claim, the tops need to be put on correctly each time they are opened. This container had no rubber seal at all. One other container leaked as well.

When we tried using fenders for hoisting to the masthead we found that there was no significant benefit at all. To work they need to be of substantial volume. Boat rollers may work, as they are larger and lighter than the cruiser type fenders.

Other observations

The weight of the cruising equipment, which was substantial, caused the Mk II to float a lot lower in the water which resulted in less tendency to invert.

Despite what the books say there was no evidence of suction on either of the inverted Wayfarer hulls however loaded. It was found to be comparatively easy to turn the hull 15 degrees when the gunwale lifted above the water There was a lot of difficulty, however, in turning the hull from there to 60 degrees. A single-handed crew could still do this, but they need to pull on the tip of the centreboard and it still took a very long time.

We were experimenting in sheltered waters with excellent facilities close by. Ideally we should extend this by also practising in progressively more difficult conditions to be as close to the real thing as is practically possible, but of course it is hard to arrange this safely. However this practice in easy conditions was very useful, and it was interesting to see how even these very experienced crews gained confidence during the day. The DCA Safety Recommendations now say that 'Testing oneself and one's boat in sheltered conditions is strongly advised' - very sensible, but how many of us have actually done this? It may be possible next season to arrange righting practice in tidal waters.

Mk II Wayfarer inverted Photographs by David Weinstock

Mk II Wayfarer being recovered

Mk I Wayfarer capsized