Re: Potter Capsize

RSKARAM@aol.com
Mon, 22 Mar 1999 15:31:49 EST


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Dear Michael -
I have managed to turn a P-15 turtle, but in took several bad occurrences to
come about at the same time to accomplish such a disaster. For instance, the
centerboard was not secured in the down position; the hatch was open; a 200
pound skipper was standing up on the centerboard well when he became entangled
in the vang; a sudden strong gust of wind; and an aging non athletic skipper..
After turning turtle, I was able to pull the centerboard out and cause the
boat to be on its side. I was unable to bail out the boat in that the stern
was below water and the bow high above the water.
The P-15 only weight 475 pounds. When a 200 pound man stands on the deck, he
can easily cause the boat to capsize or even turn turtle. You can't expect a
14 foot boat weighing 475 pounds to safeguard a 200 pound man's potential
detrimental effect on the boat.
All of us intelligent, responsible and mature sailors sail on bodies of water
that are consistent with our experience and physical capabilities (it's nice
to be young and strong). If capsizing in Lake Michigan will cost you your
life, you need to first endeavor to become an excellent skipper and in the
process become so familiar with your boat that you can rely on your own
experience rather than our dear friends in our Web gang.
The P-15 is a great little boat, but a 200 pound skipper is a lot of ballast
to be moving around. That 200 pound of skipper ballast is the variable that
is difficult to quantify when it come to having a "safe" 14 foot boat.
I believe that these pictures of swamped boats sailing level with the water
are a little misleading. When the boat capsizes, all of the water tends to
come into the stern because that is where all of the human ballast is located.
The boat can take on enough water in the stern portion to submerge the
transom. The bow will remain well above water because of the excellent
flotation. In this situation it is tough to correct the problem. This is why
many dinghies I'm familiar with have all of the flotation in the decks, in
order for the boat to be level after a capsize.
If the boat does not capsize, but is in trouble because of a hole in the
hull, the water is more likely to distribute itself more evenly between the
bow and stern and the boat could float level. This is when the boat
manufacturers take their brochure pictures.
In either event, it is tough to bail out a P-15 while in the water because
you must go inside the cockpit to bail out the bilge. A swamped open 14 foot
dinghy is a completely different situation to a swamped 14 foot cabin cruiser
with an inaccessible bilge.
Richard S. Karam
P-15 #2098 Oops
Oklahoma City