Frank, its been done in much, much worse conditions than this, but the owner of that boat had done a number of test capsizes in light to moderate conditions, as you see above, and with that practice was able to right the boat and get back aboard without any trouble. Just to put it in context, that capsize was deep in the Southern Ocean archipelago in Tierra del Fuego and was caused by catabatic gusts called "tromba marina". We'd call them waterspouts or tornadoes.I strongly encourage tests such as these, assessment and practice can save lives. Finding out that its not possible to get the boat back up and get back aboard when out there alone is not a good thing.
Thank you for reminding us that a capsize on a calm day is unlikely. However, learning/practicing what to do when your boat does capsize on a blustery day is the first step to self-rescue in more demanding situations.
Yes, SCAMPs take on very little water when capsizing. One of the very few improvement to the original design in this regard is to build the cuddy opening (e.g. bulkhead 4) narrower, in such a way that water does not ingress into the cuddy when SCAMP lies on her side in a capsize. With this modification, there is even less water that remains in the boat when righted.
Side board or off-center-board :) And in answer to your question, no, I see no difference between the two sides, she sails equally well on port or starboard tack. In fact on a port tack, with the boom and sail pushed against the mast, she seems to point slightly higher by 1-2 degrees. The addition of a "bleater" on the boom helped her regain those extra degrees on a starboard tack. I'd definitely recommend adding one to a SCAMP rig.
Thank you! That's a big reason of why I put it out there... it's a setup that doesn't require a lot of "making", just knowing the parts exist is 90% of the solution.
Amazing....just sit on the hull and call the water police/ coast guard if turtled. My Scamp CLARE (hull #407) has never even looked liked going over even in a strong breeze. Stay away from Cape Horn and Bass Strait Australia and I'd say a full Turtle of a Scamp is highly unlikely!
You are right that a SCAMP capsize is unlikely; they're fantastic little boats. But -- respectfully, "just sit on the hull and call the water police/ coast guard if turtled" seems like a risky plan. It's important to address these risks, especially since this is a public forum: 1. It assumes you are able to place that call. Unless you sail with your waterproof phone or VHF radio tethered to your person, AND it's with you after the capsize, AND (in the case of phone) the touchscreen is operational with wet or gloved fingers, it's easy to imagine a scenario where you have nothing to call with. 2. It assumes the water police / coast guard is able to quickly reach you. It takes less than 2 minutes to right a turtled SCAMP. Extremely rare would be the scenario where the coast guard or a vessel of opportunity can reach you in under 10-15 minutes. Those are some long minutes sitting exposed on a turtled boat, doubly so if the water temperatures are anything but tropical and the sea state anything but calm. 3. It takes resources away from other potentially more serious incidents. To dispatch a coast guard vessel to a turtled SCAMP that could easily be righted with minimal practice means that rescue vessel is not available for other potentially more serious issues. Relying on external rescue for a capsize, no matter how unlikely that event, is not something that I can recommend. But I do respect your right to sail as you wish. Fair winds to you.
One should, wherever possible, prepare for the worst case scenario and not depend on government entities to rescue you putting them at risk or taking them away from somebody who really needs immediate help.
We have on some of the boats epoxied a "pull out cord" in the tip of the offcentreboard, that, about 75mm back from the leading edge, about 300mm long with a knot in the end enables someone in the water to pull the board back out in case of a full rollover. Note though, it does require that the 'board uphaul is not cleated off.
This year I've added a releasable cleat (same as for the rudder downhaul) to lock the centreboard in the extended position. I've got "add a pull out cord" to the to-do list this winter. Always good to have plans B and C.
Good observation. There's 20 pounds of lead at the foot of the centreboard, which is enough to keep it where it needs to be when sailing. After this test I added "rig a centreboard downhaul line" to my to-do list. The work is coming up this spring, I'll see if I can post an update. The downhaul line will keep the centreboard nice and deployed in future capsizes, but will have an auto-release cleat to keep the centreboard retractable if it hits something in the shallows.
@@kootenaymountainboats right...is there also anything to hold it in the "up" position as well? or is it just hinged and does what it likes? i'd be very interested to see how this centreboard downhaul works, i might add it into mine as well.
@@TheKetamineSquid Yes there's a centreboard uphaul that all SCAMPs have to retract the centreboard (e.g. when approaching a beach). I don't have a diagram but it's basically a 1/4" line that runs forward from the aft end of the centreboard, above the pivot, such that when you pull that line forward the effect is to rotate the centreboard on its pin, into the centreboard case. The line can then be cleated and the centreboard held secure retracted in its case.
Yes, great to see a turtle in action, thanks, 2 questions please, how did you get it to go full turtle, and putting it politely, would someone ( a friend of mine 😉) near 18 stones of weight be an advantage?
I got her to turtle by putting some of my weight on the port cockpit coaming when she was on her side. Left to her own devices, she'd had stayed on her side all day (per the other capsize video). As for the second question, I'm not sure I understand -- advantage for... turtling her? Probably not since it wasn't really an effort for me at 150lbs, just had to sit on the coaming for a few seconds. If you mean an advantage to keep the boat upright, I'd say yes -- Ursa is definitely able to withstand more breeze with two people as ballast to windward than when it's just me.
