capsize practice

We are new owners of a sunfish and Ive read that it is a good idea to practice righting the boat in case of tipping by intentionally capsizing the boat. How is it best to go about doing this?? I imagine strong winds and a certain manuver??

Fun in the sun boats like these rely on the crew’s balance for stability. A spill now and then is all part of the experience. Peruse the You Tube sailing vids and you’ll notice everybody sailing small boats shares in the fun. Doesn’t take much to practice righting and it’s easy to master. Pick a day and a place you won’t mind getting wet. A calm day is better for practice. Push out to chest deep water and lean off the boat. The AMF pamphlet, Fun of Sailing, shows how in it’s Learn to Sail a Sunfish in 3 Days segment. You can read it at the MSOG web ( {24 MB .pdf file} http://www.msogphotosite.com/MSOG/pdfpage/funofsailing.pdf ). Sunfish Sailors has the 10 page article available all by itself. They have some other Sunfish sailing guides you can pick up, check their whole download library ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor ).

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Dan, thanks for the info. I did find the "learn to sail in 3 days" article and it has a picture of this in shallow water. I cannot seem to find the library downloads on the Sunfish Sailor site that you mentioned....Id like to read about this. Where are they located within the site?

I was just logged in at that group and noticed you received a comprehensive reply to this question from the members at Sunfish Sailors. Did that satisfy your needs? They are really the ones to ask directions when it comes to navigating their web site.

I would add one note to this and that is, righting this boat in water where your feet are on solid ground is not the same as in water where your feet are kicking just to keep your head out of water. Practice in water over your head once you have the basics understood. This little note "I have dumped twice before, its no big deal, except I have great difficulty reaching the centerboard after a capsize." tells why. I would say in this case you could get a grab hold at either end and work your way to the middle where hopefully the center board is still protruding. At 6'4" this is not an issue for me(ducking as the boom passes is) but I started sailing at age 7 and at that time my arms were considerably shorter.