Re: Heel! Heel!
Gordon (hlg@pacbell.net)
Sun, 23 Aug 1998 16:21:39 -0700
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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> Hello: First I'd like to thank everyone for your responses to my
>heeling question. I have received a lot of good information and advice.
>I still have this strange desire to put my poor Potter to its limits, so
>I plan to intentionaly capsize it. (In fresh water, without the engine,
>etc.) I plan to do this on a calm day by just jumping in the lake and
>slowly pulling on the boat. According to those who know much more about
>the technical side of getting wet, this experiment will only loosely
>relate to real capsizing condtions. (Wet sails, hard wind, two people
>leaning over the railing, center board position, etc.) Anyway, it will
>probably be about a week before I am able to do this. I first have to
>convince one of my sailing buddies, get it to a lake (I have never sailed
>except in the Puget Sound) get a warm day and build up my nerve.
>However, I'll let everyone know the results. Thanks again! Doug P14
>588 Olympia, WA "Sputnik"
Doug-
Many years ago, the Potter Yachters conducted a similar experiment on two
Potters - a gunter rig and a Mk I, as I recall. In calm water, alongside a
dock, the mast of each empty and open Potter was pulled down until it was
parallel with the water, then released. Both boats righted themselves,
taking in little or no water. That is probably why the Potters are
advertised as being self righting. But, as you say, the results can be
quite different, depending on sea, wind, boat loading, and whether the boat
was closed up and the centerboard down and secured. There have been many
accounts of Potters turning turtle, and the boat is quite stable in the
inverted position apparently. There are a few "turtle tales" on the Potter
Yachter web page at <http://songbird.com/py/story/Turtles.htm>.
Looking forward to reading your test results. Be sure the water is deep
enough that your mast won't stick in the mud in the event you do manage to
go inverted. And tie your CB so that it doesn't fall into the cockpit. My
guess is that the boat is unlikely to turn turtle with the CB tied down and
hatch secured.
Harry