Hmm. Try and find the problem here.

woodster · Aug 17, 2014

where is the ballast or dagger board

Roadking Larry · Aug 17, 2014

My 8 year old grand son went through the youth sailing program at my sailing club this summer.
One of the first things they did with the boats was have the kids capsize them and learn to righ the boat. The boat inthe video isn't much bigger than the Sunfish boats the kids were using. I'm thinking that if a couple of 8 year olds can right a Sunfish those "adults" should have been able to right that boat.

DougM · Aug 17, 2014

Fairly common capsize for a small boat. Not really a big deal normally. It looks as though the boat hat no floatation in it ( either foam or airbags). From the video it's hard to tell whether the boat had the centerboard in it or lost it. Usually,if a boat like that flips, it can be righted if the crew quickly goes over the high side and stands on the centerboard. Too slow and the boat would turtle.

dlochner · Aug 17, 2014

Carry a Sat phone on a day sailor on an inland lake?

He failed to mention getting some lessons or having someone teach you how to sail a boat.

Joe · Aug 17, 2014

Sailing lessons are your best safety precaution. Sailing schools that use dinghies, catamarans, sailboards, etc.... all teach capsize recovery. It's one of the reasons why learning to sail on a dinghy or other small boat is so valuable.... it teaches confidence and self reliance.....

dparilla · Aug 17, 2014

Definitely bull crap, not noteworthy or newsworthy. The boat simply capsized, they went swimming, and did not have a bailing sponge, bucket or bilge pump on board. Next time...take lessons.

finding41 · Aug 17, 2014

She sat on the mast! That's what made it turtle.
It said the wind gust took the tiller out of his hand. He should have had hold of the main sheet so he could dump air.

Bob Cronin · Aug 18, 2014

Overpowered

A weather eye is a necessity. 20 knots of wind is abit much for a sinkable day sailer. A hand on the main sheet ready to dump wind is the mark of a competent helmsman.

31seahorse · Aug 18, 2014

Don't we all take "selfies" when we sail? Both seemed a bit too calm and in slow motion to be experiencing a knockdown or to have lost control of the tiller. I vote "stunt to get on TV" or perhaps a way to drum up business for a local sailing instructor. Best use of the video would be at a summer camp with a continuation of action to show righting the boat.

I beg pardon from all "homebuilders", but that boat looks like an old kit boat (Luger?). If the flotation was not there in the hull it should have been.

Parsons · Aug 18, 2014

My first impression was a sense of longing or nostalgia. Did anyone else, with your big keeled boats, get the urge to be in that boat with them? I think most of us learned to sail on some form of open dingy or board boat. I miss the fun of playing "Captain Capsize" and dumping a crew of laughing friends in warm lake water. Anyhow, thanks for some fond memories, even if the "news" storry was silly.

Windependent · Aug 18, 2014

I used to own property at Grove Point in Maryland. I saw a small...about 22 to 25 foot sailboat at the mouth of the Sassafras. A storm blew up and the boat went over.........dumped the Captain out ..and sunk in a couple of seconds. I am a life-long sailor. I was amazed. I did not think this could happen. The captain had no time to "right the boat" or to do anything. The Captain swam for his life, and luckily a boat came by and picked him up.
This happened in the 80"s.

cephius (Dave) · Aug 18, 2014

I saw a couple of teens turtle their sailing dingy in the middle of the lake in order to use the bottom as a swim and sunning platform. After a while, they righted the boat and sailed off.

These young girls had a high level of confidence in their abilities and their boat. They were also having a great time.

We old timers were at anchor, comfortable in the shade of our bimini, having lunch and enjoying a good bottle of wine.

Patrick Boylan · Aug 18, 2014

I also wonder where's the dagger board, I didn't see it in the trailered, recovered boat in the yard. It's possible it fell out during the capsize, and I agree that's all that we see in the video, a capsizing, not evidence of sinking.

However I tragically got reminded it's possible for a boat to sink quickly enough that nobody can get vests on. Jul 2 2014 Philadelphia my club lost a member who was one of 5 aboard returning to the club from a neighboring race, sails down, motor on, heavy storm coming in. I had been at the mooring doing minor repairs and cleanup, not planning to sail because I had seen the weather report.
My buddy wanted to continue working, I said no, look at the sky. I'm pretty sure we made it to the top of the dock's stairs before the rain, but not necessarily to the club's covered porch.
While sitting on the porch, and commenting that the rain was so hard we couldn't even see the river, when we got news of the capsize AND SINKING less than 2 miles away, and missing crew member. None of the 5 had vests on, from what I've heard they say it all happened too quickly to get to their vests.

hwpratt · Aug 18, 2014

Chris Patterson said:
Sailboat goes under in mere seconds http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/08/15/pkg-sinking-sailboat.wfrv.html

Several problems with this clip. Go ahead, guess..

** I think he said the tiller was pulled out of his hand ... so he surrendered control of the boat to the wind.

Brian S · Aug 18, 2014

Awww, for crap's sake. Don't ask the newbies what others should do! Ask an experienced person or ASA instructor as an expert! He would have told them DON'T hang on the boat, swim around quickly, and get on the centerboard to right it before it turtles. And also to have safety equipment like floatation for boat and PFDs for people.

This is why I used to teach kayaking classes. I used to teach people how to capsize, and self rescue, and we'd discuss things like dressing for immersion in the water (temperature-wise.)

These guys would have had no problem if they'd ever taken a small boat sailing course… My small boat sailing course was my Grandfather

Boatsailor · Aug 18, 2014

Kind of astonished by the conclusion-jumping and negative judgments and comments. Years ago, a couple of experienced sailing friends of mine were racing a old +20 foot boat on Lake Erie with a boat that had a retractable centerboard with little or no ballast. I was told the boat broached in rough weather, then the cockpit filled with water, as did the cabin and it went under. As they were racing other boats, they were rescued. Many years ago, I had a 15' boat out in some rough weather & after a tack, the outhaul gave way, the mainsail billowed ou& hit the water & the boat went over. That boat had a hatch in the stern, which flipped open when the boat capsized, and it filled with water, which resulted in the boat capsizing. FYI when a boat like that capsizes, the centerboard often falls back into the trunk, as happened in my case, so it cannot be used to stand on to right the boat. With the stern filled with water and the centerboard gone, it was nearly impossible to right. Luckily the bow of the boat was air & water tight, otherwise it could have filled with water too & the boat likely would have sunk, or at least gone a few feet below the surface depending on floatation and trapped air pockets. From what I could see of this boat, it likely had similar problems. Most, if not all, modern small boats are designed & engineered to avoid these issues - comparison with much older boats (as this one obviously was) is not fair or wise.

TimFromLI · Aug 18, 2014

Tell your girlfriend you are about to tack and move to the other, and no matter what do not hold onto the mast.

Rug7236 · Aug 18, 2014

Guess my knock downs in my Holder 14 are news worthy, who knew. Release the sheets, stand on the center/danger board, right the boat, climb back in and press on, go home