HOBIE 16 capsize righting SOLO is it possible? 

And that folks is why I go sailing with 2 people and have a floater on the top of the mast!

Thanks for showing the failures too

I just re-acquired my childhood Hobie 16 after I sold it 15 years ago when I went away to University. So excited to get it up and going! I almost always sailed single handed. I was about 170 pounds at the time, fitter and a water polo player then. I used a water bag. Never had much trouble getting upright but those on the shore, annoyingly, always thought it was some sort of an emergency. For me the nervous bit was after righting it: collecting up all the lines, getting reorganized and getting unstalled and out of irons without being flattened again! By far my favorite memory was taking my dad, then about 71 out. His job, trapeze, run the jib and function as moveable ballast! He had a grin ear-to-ear while on the hook. Then the pitch-pole and a trip around the forestay for him!

When I had my 16 (52209), I used to single hand every now and then, Low wind? no risk of capsize. High wind, found not too tough to right it. But I never knew about "stand on bow to bring the bow into the wind" procedure. Interesting! My strategy was to let the sheets out, and let the mast point straight into the wind. This makes life exciting when the boat comes up (and 1/2 the time goes right over to capsize on the other side!) but full wind on the tramp brings it up pretty easily -- at least in my case. I weighed about 165 lbs at the time (I think I could right one easier now :-0 ). But as you say, with the sails catching when it comes up in that mode I had to be very quick to get on board and get control of the boat pronto!

is anyone else jumping along with him? I know I am!

Ha ha ha, you got help!! When I ran Hobie 16 schools in Kos and Portugal we had a "Fat Bastard" Badge for those instructors who could bring back up the Hobie by themselves. It is all technique....

Good work getting the bows to weather. One very important issue here regarding getting the bows into the wind. If the mainsail is in the water in very heavy conditions, it will act as a sea anchor which will weather vane the mast head into the wind as the boat is blown across the surface. I was once capsized in the Santa Barbara Channel 10 miles out in very heavy conditions. My crew and I could not get the bows to weather, so resorted to righting the boat with the mast head to weather, resulting in a reverse capsize. After about 8 of these frantic attempts, I sat back, took my time, and observed what was going on. I sheeted the main out of the water which allowed us to pivot the boat bows to wind. I then unsheeted the main and quickly righted the boat. Lesson learned: I won't die on a catamaran on it's side, no matter how far out to sea I am. Take the time to figure out why something is not working.

Very impressive ! On each video we learn so much !!

Thanks to your knowledge sharing my life is growing as a Marine veteran struggling thru it all. Very grateful for your constant training and inspirational videos!

Great video... You are in good shape to go to 6 “takes” and keep the level of energy you had. I’ve capsized my H18 a few times but always had a second person to get it back up. I added a homemade righting pole but haven’t used it yet. Need to give it a try!!! Thanks for the video.

This video is very much interesting and real. Thanks to Joseph for the very professional and technical videos .I have tried to right my Hobie 16 alone(85Kg) but without any success, perhaps because of the low wind. I have also tried with a more than 60 kgs bag, but no success once more. I must try again putting the 60 kilos bag more external from the centre for having a longer arm and impement the righting- moment. It's a great video !!

I was exhausted just watching that. Well done.

Great Video, very informativ and very educational! Thanks a lot for the effort you put into this! 👍👍👍

I forgot about seeing this video. So I watched it again. Always enjoyable. I'm looking forward to your using a water bag showing us how that works. I'm still thinking two people or, a water bag because... I was getting tired just watching you.

On my last H16 I installed side stay extenders. By pulling a fast pin,on the high side, the stay extends about 9 inches. This allows the high hull to go over center. This way one persons weight is enough to rite the cat. When upright bring the extended stay to leeward and use the fast pin to shorten the stay. Worked great.

Absolutely great video! I've got to practice this. I've got a heavy-duty dry bag that I think will make a nice righting bag with some water in it.

Very very useful, thanks. Shows why most people should consider having a mast float, and a righting bag unless they are as good a sailor as you. Or sail something suitable for solo righting. I am going to look at your other videos now. This sort of video really helps clarify what is possible or isn't. Thanks

I used to work at a resort with this same boat. When we solo'ed and capsized, I was glad I was out of hearing range of our guests, because this is a pain in the butt!!

Even failed experiments are good experiments. You can learn a lot from them ! Thank you Joe, great video as usual !!! :-)

That is amazing boat handling.

Excellent summary for new hobbies, thank you very much.

Your videos are amazing great job keep it up

Ah, thanks for the good memories. In mid 1970s I owned a Hobie 16 (sail no. 23023) that I sailed out of Pearl Harbor. Most of the time I had no problem finding someone that wanted to go sailing that would crew for me. But a couple of times when no one volunteered to crew, and winds were light I sailed the boat solo. Managed to become capsized once, first time, when approaching the yacht basin to call it a day, where the wind becomes shifty and caught me off guard. The water there is shallow and the top of the mast came up with a bit of mud on it. Anyway, it took me a while to get the boat up righted. Probably would have been easier if I were a taller and heavier person, 5' 7" ~ 165# at that time. But entirely possible, and easier to do once you figure out the best approach. Get the boat turned with mast pointing mostly to windward, and lifted a bit clear of the water surface, then time your maximum effort to right the boat when wind picks up a bit. It was easier and quicker to right the boat the next time. But I think I only capsized the H16 2x while sailing solo.

Excellent video. Not a failure. This information is very useful. I believe there is another way to route the righting lines using fused bungies that is helpful as well. Great video!!

Thank you for upload this video!

Well worth watching, thanks for the share

This is a great video its not just about a "technique"...one really gets a feel for the mechanics involved

Thank you another great video

This was super stressful!!!! Thank you for showing the good and the bad!!

Wow, that was educational. I am about to buy a project Tornado inspired by your channel, but did wonder about the occasional solo days… this taught me I must devise an aid or solution to this. 😎🤘

I found myself leaning way back in my chair to try to help! Looks like a beautiful place to sail!

"Less chance of the circus being in town!" Awesome. Last time I was out practicing solo righting the whole clown show came to town. Really appreciate you doing this, I was the one who asked for a solo righting tutorial after seeing the solo 16 video. I never have anyone else out on the water where I sail so until I can get the self righting/rescue down I'm always with crew. I have the righting bag and will practice some more, it's unlikely I'll ever be out solo in anything over 15 knots so will need to get my technique down. That and only going out solo on onshore days.

So that’s what causes waves in the ocean

Very skillful sailor you are! Looks like a fun location too.

Good video. i could right my hobie getaway solo. no way i could sink the front of the hull to drag the front into the wind, too buoyant, so used a sea anchor . Mast float was a big help as well, kept the mast up so wind could get underneath sail easier. Pitch-poled the getaway once, that caused some excitement. Got a little bravo now, too easy

Great Video Philipe from Brazil

Looks exhausting :D Good job doe. These boats looks fun.

My 1978 Hobie had the Hawaiian righting system installed. I sailed single handed most of the time and never had a problem righting it solo. I was taught to release the sails as soon as you knew you were going over.

I take an over the shoulder empty duffle bag with me. After capsize, get in the water and fill the duffle bag with water. That will increase your weight substantially. That's like having another person on the hull while leaning out. It provides the necessary additional leverage (weight) to bring the Hobie back up. Try it!

Eight thumbs up for each take,like always very usefull, thanks

Joe, thanks so much. Turtling is something I've always been scared of. I've never done it. I'm glad to know it's not the end of the world if it does happen.

Great channel, and fantastic videos. Joined the Patreon movement. Was only right for how much you give this channel.

👍🏼good job... normal sometime to have a difficulty! The weight of a person is of its importance!

muito bom,aqui no Brasil os hobbies tem uma legião de fãs!

Thanks for the video I dont feel so bad for capsizing the Nacra 18 on low wind and had to get some help to righten the boat

Joe, thanks for your great videos. I've watched this video several times trying to catch what brand boots you are wearing. It sounds like you are saying Crew Sabre, but I have had no luck searching those and ended up with O'Neill Reactor Reef Boots. But thought you might want to do a video on your favorite sailing gear. Thanks again love your videos...

I feel like an inflatable cushion on the masthead would help a lot by getting the mast up out of the water so the wind can get under the sails.

it is possible to right that boat alone. i have done it but you should consider your size and the conditions. i think he would be able to get it up without help if he had tried a little more. but nice video, shows the struggle of righting a cat

Hello Joseph, I sail on a lake. Unfortunately we do not have as much wind here as you do at Wild Wind. It happened to me that I capsized alone on the HC16. Unfortunately I did not have a water bag with me. My solution was to open the Cunnigham to unhook the halyard and pull the sail down about a meter. So I was able to raise the boat alone. Everything else was exactly like you did. The setting of the main-sail wasn´t fun, but I made it despite the wind. Best regards from Northern Germany.

In the old days, you could take a trash bag half full of water slung over your shoulder for sufficient weight to right it solo.

I flipped a Hobie 14 turbo and when i got it up..it sailed away. Forgot to unhook the main. And what was worse..as it sailed away i caught the main sheet and as it dragged me through the water, it tightened the main. It beached itself right between two docks..didn't hit anything! Phew! I got picked up by a boater..he couldn't stop laughing..after i found the boat undamaged..i laughed too!! LOVE SAILING!!!

I got a sort of bar under my trampoline that I can deploy if I’m alone, very useful thing

"Less of a chance the circus comes around" lol. Thank you so much for taking the time to experiment and post that even though the results are disappointing. I often sail solo on a 16 and hold back or stay close to shore for fear of a never righting situation. I'm sure you have tried several options but am wondering if using the main halyard as the righting rope or at least assisting the main righting rope would be enough to unglue the main sail from the surface.

You deserve a beer after that!!

Hey Joseph, great video to show how difficult is it to bring the Hobie back upright for us single handed sailors. Can you do a capsize righting solo test with a mast head BOB and righting bag. It is one of the safety systems I am looking into.

Great video again Joseph. This one was a real eye opener as I'm also about 85 kilos. I tend to sail in lighter winds (so that I don't capsize!) and haven't tried to solo right the cat in light winds like that. Having see this, I now realize I couldn't do it. Do you equip your 16s with righting bags? If so, a video of solo righting with a bag would be the bees knees!

The early 16’s had a reefing point in the main and I found I could right it by myself (75 kg) if the sail was reefed as there was less weight at the top of the mast and the main didn’t hold as much water. There was always 15 knots + as capsizes only occurred when there was wind.

I see why you use just a righting line, great video!!

The best!

8:08. Your telltales show that the wind is blowing from the stern to the bows. Exact opposite of what you want.

Good thing I didn't see this before I went out sailing with my two sons, on Shuswap Lake, BC, Canada, on the May long weekend. We accidentally turned turtle, and the while we were about 2 km from shore and no one knew we had gone over. Boy, the water was cold and we had no choice but to try to upright the boat, which we did manage to do and sail home. If I had watched this video before I probably would have thought it futile to attempt to right the boat and we could have died from hypothermia ! If there had only been two of us on board we wouldn't have had enough weight to upright it.

(*Special note: Joseph Bennett is an excellent sailor and I know is completely aware of my capsized righting tips below. His videos here are simply experiments in various ways to achieve a goal with a hobie cat. My comments below are to hopefully help a new hobie sailor, wanting to learn hobie cat sailing techniques and to hopefully remove any fear about capsizing, Capsizing a hobie is part of the fun. ) I really enjoy watching your videos. Best way to enjoy sailing and become better at it - is to learn tricks and skills from everyone who has ideas. You never stop learning. I have sailed hobie cat 16’s since 1985. Learned many things over the years. Always enjoyed sailing with 2 people, but also loved solo sailing. I have sailed solo in very light winds to very heavy winds. Love flying the hull, but have flipped the hobie so many times, I can no longer count how many. In heavy winds and light winds, it is always possible to right a hobie by yourself. Some tricks take more work than others. It is always good to learn these tricks, but if you want mostly worry free solo sailing, please take my advice. 1st - always makes sure you have a good righting line [rope] on your hobie cat. I have had several versions on my hobies. But probably the simplest and easiest is to tie your righting line to one of the back pylons, then stretch the line along one side of the hull and partly around the front pylon on that hull. Then continue to stretch the righting line to the back center of the hobie trampoline. Use another small piece of rope (about 12 to 18 inches / or a bit less than 1/2 meter) and tie that part of the righting line to the back of the trampoline ( on one of the laces.) Then from the tied off point of the righting line at the middle back end of the trampoline, continue to stretch the righting line towards the front end of the hobie cat and partly around the other front pylon on the boat. Then continue to stretch the righting line along the other hull to the back pylon, and tie it off. If looking at the righting line from a top view, it would resemble an “M” shape. And I should mention that this righting line is running underneath the trampoline. When the boat capsizes, just un-tie the small piece of rope at the back middle part of the boat and let the rope slack fall freely. You can then pull the slack over the higher side of the hull that is above your head, which will give you plenty of rope available to grab and lean back with. And since the rope is sort of looped ( one end tied to the back pylon and the other going up and over the front pylon area, it is easier to grip the righting line as you are leaning back. 2nd. Invest in a righting bag. They are easy to store on the boat. They make righting a hobie cat easy as pie. Get one. They give a solo sailor all the freedom in the world, and takes all the worry away ( unless you are very close to the surf at the ocean.) 3rd. Light winds, point mast directly into the wind, with all main sheet lines and jib sheet lined completely loose. Heavy winds - point mast 45 to 90 degrees into the wind ( the heavier the wind, the further away you would want to be pointing your mast into the wind. But the front of the mast should always be in the direction facing the wind, so that the wind will always catch the front of the sails 1st. Main sheet and jib sheet lines also very loose. (Also, since the water bag is full of water and heavy, even in the water, it prevents the boat from sailing away without you once you rightened the hobie, since it is attached to the righting line and creates a heavy drag.) This works great, even when your boat turtles. The trick I was taught is that, when your boat turtles, stand on the hull of your hobie that’s opposite the wind with righting line in hand and start leaning back pulling the hull that is facing the wind 1st up and out of the water. The wind will then catch up under the trampoline and help lift it. Again....main and jib sheets very loose. You don’t want to try and pull up a bunch of water with the sails. If your mast is air tight, it should come up easily. Use clear silicone glue and put it all around any point on your mast that water may enter. If having trouble getting water out of your mast, drill a small 1/4inch hole near bottom of the mast, and a 2nd hole also near the bottom of the mast but 1/2 way around the other side of the mast. Tilt mast so water comes to the bottom. Blow into one of the holes, the air pressure will push the water out the other hole. Silicone glue the 2 holes once the water is out. An air tight mast will float so much better. A mast that fills with water will turtle your boat every time.

I got tangled up in a Hobie on a loch in Scotland after pitchpoling it solo. I remember thinking how stupid it was that I might die on that boat then. I got free and stood on the inverted tramp for quite some time until a rescue boat helped me right it. I would have been 16 at the time. I was an experienced dinghy sailor but the fastest thing I'd crewed on was a Fireball. Fastest Dinghy I'd helmed would have been an enterprise. Since then I've crewed a Dart 18 and helmed a 420 then a Laser 4000 for many years. Pitchpoling never even occurred to me as a nieve single hull racer. I was very aware of it in the Dart 18 after that.

I used to right my capsized hobie 16 by myself when I was 15 years old and weighed 145 pounds.

I’m 100kg and I can just right the Hobie 16. Couple of tips, 1). Attach a rope to you so Hobie does not take off once you right it and leave you behind. 2). Quickly once you feel it coming over jump across to the opposite hull and drape you’re weight over it so it doesn’t flip strait back over which it would do 90% of the time. Capsizes are great fun 👍👍

I was really surprised at how difficult that was. I've capsized my Dart 18 several times solo. I'm 200 lbs and have little trouble getting the mast out of the water

I did it hundreds of time when i was about 25 and 64 kg, but a couple of years ago i really had to struggle a lot to right a hobie 16 on my own, and i weight 84 kg... I think the trouble is i tried to sink the hull standing on the back of it and not in front. I will train again this summer....

"Give it the beans" ha ha too funny.... The water here where I live is too cold for that kind of sailing I think. { Western Canada ] the lakes are fed from mountain ice and snow run off. And the pacific ocean is cold off the coast of Vancouver. But fun to watch you.

Thanks

you can get a righting frame, mine had one fitted. I never used it but it looked like it would make life easier. It was rectangular and the hinges were attached to the underside of the front beam.

This is both extremely helpful and terrifying! I will be ordering a righting bag/bucket immediately. Question - do you think it helps at all to have a mast float? Yes, it keeps the mast out of the water, but it also adds extra weight.

I always did that alone on purpose to practice, i can right up the boat in any situation especially in low wind by locking the main sail towards the water, but dont forget to hold thr mainsail for quick release once the boat is up, dont point the boat towards the wind it must be 2 or 3 oclock to the wind, and if you picked up some wind move at the rear to help the boat. Im only 5"7 medium built, and i noticed that you didnt wrap around the righting line on the other side of the boat which i always do that helps me a lot, but if my buddy is around i never do that since we can easily right it up,

Bravo

Hi Joseph, i'm your colleague from the Netherlands. If skilled, you can try to tighten the main. Preferably with the boom rotating on top of the mast and the end of the boom half way up the traveller. By doing so you reduce the amount of water on the main to zero. Every liter equals a kilo. when almost upright make sure you swing you leg over the hull to prevent it from capsizing again or sailing away. Please let us know if this works for you.

Good job now you have soaked your sails

Now I know why they installed an upper mast flotation on later models........in high winds I'll sail with two people with righting rig at the ready .....thanks for the video

I use a peice of wood as a lever that fits in the groove on the hull on my P16. the other end of the fodd has a fitting so I can pass a rope to both ends of the hull in the air. Then I just climb on the lever and it's back sailing again. The peice of wood is long enough so I can strap it to both hulls just in front of the mast. Sounds complicated, but my weight isn't enough even with a bag of water. I'm not the biggest sailor around here. Anyways, thanks for the vids !

When I was sailing in Gulf of Mexico we flipped a Flying Scott ( not easy to do)...Well the top of the mast got stuck in the mud below. This was in Mississippi Sound water so it was not clear at all. It took us at least 2 hours from getting it "unstuck". We had one brave soul shimmy down the mast to try to dislodge it. We tied a rope to him to stay safer. An incoming tide and some help from bigger waves got us unstuck....nearly 3 hours of this. NEVER want to experience this again!

Im about 100 kilo and can write my 16 about every time solo but, i wouldn't sail it solo in 25knots! Love the videos

Excellent Video...What you don't say, is that repeated attempts to right the boat can be quite exhausting...(Or perhaps I'm really out of shape). I was able to right my Hobie 16 quite easily in a similar wind...I had a righting pole, and I'm pretty sure that my mast-head Bob helped to get some wind under the tip of the mast. Keeping the boat from doing "flippy-flippy" as you call it, is almost as important as righting the boat...(learned the hard way...)

I can right a 16 solo, but I have the advantage of being a beefy 220 lbs. Even then I don't count on being able to do it solo - very difficult in light winds. I have a bag that I keep clipped under the tramp. It's in a zippered bag, and rigged with a line and a pulley and a carabiner. Throw the line over the upper hull, fill with water, haul it up using the pully, tie it off, then get it behind your shoulder and lean back and up she comes.

Point the bow dead into the wind. Even if you are exhausted, just grab the bow and the boat will drift downwind. I weighed 145 lbs, so the wind is what lifts the sail. The rocking/bouncing that you did was completely unnecessary. A slightly thicker righting line with a knot in just the right spot. Just lean back and as the tip of the mast breaks the water, the wind pushes up on the mainsail. Your video was exhausting to watch. It's really very easy. Also with the bow heading into the wind you don't have to worry about the boat flipping back over as you do when you point the mast into the wind.

When we had a Hobie 14 Had to have some one with me wasn't heavy enough to right it by myself

Great content, love your videos. Do you think having a rope attached to the tip of the mast would provide better torque rather than the righting line at the base?

Great vid, thanks for sharing. How much benefit is there for having a small float attached to top of mast.

As a sailor this video is my nightmare and my sleep paralysis demon

Awesome video as always! Do you think maybe your mast was not water tight and that might made it more difficult?

Might have been good for newbs to explain how you were orienting the boat by using your weight on the hull? Or maybe i missed that part? Thank you for the video though!!

Нужно иметь 10ть 10 литровых мягких(из бризента) емкостей для воды. Если перевернулся. Подвешиваешь их к верхнему поплавку, они дополнительно давят на нижний и центр ияжести опускается ниже = будет проще перевернуть катамаран solo. Еще можно натянуть кусок паруса на каркас и создать дополнительную силу для переворота. Все это мало займет места и веса.

Hi Joe, thanks for the video, is it not a concession to all the mesh trampolins that the wind exerts less power than on a full canvas device? I am struggling hard with me cause my old tarp trampolin is finally worn out.

give it the beans

That was a phenomenal video, well done and thank you. Just a quick question: If there is a second person, do they lift the mast (like the person in the boat did), from inside the sea ? Or do they both stand on the float ? Which is better apporoach ?

There is a much easier way..used to right mine at 120lbs as a kid all the time..1) fix permanant righting line, with availability of enough slack that runs bow to stern from tramp strut to strut.2) drape line over outside of hull that youre lifting ( it should form a bow that you can hold onto while standing on inside of lower hull)3) release all sheets 4) orientate tramp so wind is pushing tramp in righting direction..( you seem to be fighting wind in this video) 5) hike out standing middle of hull using weight...it will come back to you easily...did it all the time as a 14 year old 120lb kid...

A bit more dangerous but desperate meassure could be to climb and eventually stand on the upper bow while holding the “tipping rope”, by doing this you will create a much bigger leverage what makes the job much easier, be careful to not fall on the boat though

Everyone on the Bay is like uhh should we help this guy lol....??

Bravissimo

Righting a topper is well easeyer

It seems that pulling a jib to the other side was causing it to help you instead of acting as counterweight, filled by water.

Just keep a watertight bag on the boat and a pulley i weigh 80 kg and add about 20 liters of water in the bag pull it up with a pulley and put it over my shoulder works for me.

I carried a canvas bag for extra weight(ballast)