perhaps the most fundamental issue is balancing the capsize risk against circumstances.
Absolutely agree! When cruising, I'm in less of a hurry and take a belt and braces approach to safety. When racing with safety boats nearby, I'll adopt a riskier approach and have to accept the consequences if it goes wrong.
At Mylor, I had thought that there was no risk at all before I was unceremoniously dumped into the river. I had shaken out my reef and was getting so hot in the windless conditions that I even took off my buoyancy vest. When turtler no. 1 went in on the corner, that should have alerted me to unusual conditions, especially given who it was. But since I wasn't aware of the risk of downdrafts, I became turtler no. 2. Now that I'm aware of this as a risk in steep-sided valleys, it might not happen next time and I'll be even more careful about securing loose objects.
I was flipped over so fast and with such force that I think only an ugly buoyancy device right at the top of the yard would have stopped me going on to turtle. I'm less confident that a device lower down at the top of the mast would have helped because by the time that the mast had hit the water and before the port tanks flooded, I was probably already 20-30° below horizontal and with significant continuing downward momentum. Considering how much stress the yard is safely subjected to in high winds, I'm not sure that an inflated buoyancy device at the top of the yard when under water represents a great deal of additional stress. Additional weight and windage aloft is a different matter. And I'm fairly sure that because I was unaware of the downdraft risk, I would not have had a buoyancy device in position in any case.
Stress on the yard caused by harpooning the bottom probably carries a greater risk of damage and I'm surprised and pleased that when it happened to me, the boat was completely unscathed. By the way, getting back onto the hull and subsequently into the boat over the stern (twice) must have been an absolute doddle because I don't even remember doing it.
I also have an electric Rule pump, kept loose in the starboard locker. I connect it to my battery with a cigar lighter plug, chuck it into the main ballast tank inspection hatch, stick the outflow hose into the outboard well and through the lamellae (to get a bit of a syphon effect going) and my tank empties completely in less than 15 minutes. It's really only for use in port and needs quite a big battery - mine's a lightweight but powerful LiFePO4. If I'm underway, then I empty through the bungs into the sump and from there through the self bailers (the externally-mounted Andersen New Large is excellent). If I'm doing less than four knots, I use my Whale Urchin pump. A big bucket-shaped hand bailer is also effective, as I found when I had to empty my flooded port locker.
So, the first race at Mylor was a big learning experience and apart from the cost of an elderly iPhone and camera (which will be properly secured from now on), not something that I regret at all. Whether I would want to practice doing it again, as John suggests, is doubtful.
Steve's quick reefing idea is interesting. With two reefing positions on a standard gunter mainsail compared to one on his smaller sail, it might involve quite a lot of string, unless you just do it for one reefing position. My reduced mainsail (for cruising) doesn't have a yard and is held against the mast by parrel bead strops. Reefing is therefore just a matter of dropping the halyard to the only reefing position, dealing with the outhaul and downhaul, then bundling up the excess sail. No doubt BRe owners are highly amused by all these complications.
Sorry to hear about your ribs Steve. Was that on the first morning too?
