New Sailors Join In Racing

There were several new sailors aboard Lightnings in Sunday's racing - and they did well.

John Kelstoe came out to check LSC out and Blaine Severin talked him into crewing. They posted an excellent 2-3-2 day. Junior Sailor Matt Hurth was aboard "Wind Dancer" for his initial Lightning race experience and helped sail the boat to second and first place finishes in the last two races.

Don Baron brought along a new face for his initial racing of 2006 in the person of Mark Polsdofer. Susanna Tellschow also sailed with someone new to LSC racing, Megan DeShelter, who is leaving soon for Notre Dame where she hopes to get involved with the Sailing Team.

One Way a Mast Gets Stuck in the Muck

After a capsize, the mast and sail lie on the water If the mast and sail are to leeward of the hull and begin to get under the water, the wind and waves drive the mast down Once the mast gets to the lake bottom, wind and wave action force it into the muck

When a boat capsizes and the mast is lying downwind of the hull, the potential for getting the masthead stuck in the muck increases.

If a little of the masthead and sail begin to get under the water surface, wind and wave pressure on the hull can force the mast down - and it easily gets stuck.

To unstick the masthead, pull the hull to leeward of the masthead so the wind and waves are blowing the hull away from where the mast is stuck. Now the wind and waves are working for you instead of against you and the mast will come free.

Crawfords Looking for Laser

The Crawford family, LSC Associate Members, are looking for a clean, late model, laser sailboat in good condition and reasonably priced. Contact Marg or Mike Crawford at 517-327-5800.

Lessons Learned from Capsizing

Harrison crew heads to windward before capsizing

Neil Harrison and his crew of Kim Harrison and John Quenson were finding their way upwind in the final race of the day when a blast of wind unexpectedly appeared and capsized them.

Everyone got over onto the centerboard and the boat came upright, but as it did, it spun around and capsized again. This time however, the crew couldn't get on the centerboard fast enough and the mast got underwater with the wind pushing on the hull bottom and drove the boat into almost a turtle position with the mast stuck in the muck. Then the centerboard collapsed back into the centerboard well - leaving nothing to stand on.

This is one of the toughest capsize situations to recover from. The boat has to be turned so that the hull is somewhat downwind of the tip of the mast - this enables the mast to come unstuck from the bottom of the lake (See article "One Way a Mast Gets Stuck in the Muck").

It is also helpful for Lightning sailors to make sure their centerboard preventer line runs all the way to the back of the boat where it can be reached through the transom window and used to pull the centerboard into the "down" position.

Some sailors cleat the centerboard preventer to help assure the centerboard doesn't collapse into the centerboard well after a capsize - but even this good practice doesn't help when there is a capsize going downwind and the board is up.

Another thing that is helpful is for the Safety Boat to be following the fleet so it can respond quickly to capsize situations.

When driving the Safety Boat be careful to avoid catching a line with the propeller. Be sure all lines on board the Safety Boat are secure and watch for lines that may be lying in the water.

The Safety Boat should always carry a line that can be used to assist other boats. The Club has several 100 foot lines for this purpose and one should be kept aboard. In a pinch, the anchor line can be used for this purpose - but having a "rescue" line aboard is best. Check for this before leaving the dock.

Unfortunately we don't see a lot of capsizes so there isn't much opportunity to practice recovering from them. And, even knowing the principles involved, getting a boat upright on a windy day can be a challenge.

Hopefully this information about yesterday's capsize recovery effort will be instructive to everyone else. And, thanks to Mike Moody, Gil Chesbro and Mike Middlewood for their assistance to the Harrison-Harrison-Quensen team.