...what, do you think, is the most common reason for laying one of these boats down? - Mainsheet in cam cleat when a strong gust hits?
HD
On a close tack with gusts and the mainsheet in a cam cleat, soon or later you're going "over" unless you're able to quickly uncleat and dump the wind.
When I did my demo ride on my boat, I was "hot" to go. However, we probably should have postponed the demo. The wind was so strong we only had the jib flying and more than a couple of times, I thought we were going over when gusts hit the jib.
I was very happy to get back to the dock without getting "wet". I gave the matter some thought before laying out the long green and I didn't want a squirrelly boat.
However, my main reason for buying the boat was to sail in light winds on our 10 mile long lake and for that, it's done a great job. I only sailed it for a month last year and all solo. I'm thinking with a couple more bodies on board on the upwind side, the boat may be less likely to heel over to an uncomfortable angle with moderate winds with gusts.
I saw a 170 knock down on what appeared to be an early model. I was standing on a dock and the boat went down maybe 200' away. When it turtled, the center board appeared to be retracted. I assume it slid up when the boat went over. Without the board down, it was impossible to right the boat in the water. Another boat towed it to the dock where the boat was righted. I then looked in the cockpit and DIDN'T see a lockdown strap for the center board although the 2 guys on the boat insisted they did. All I know is the center board was retracted fully into the hull when the boat turtled.
I love sailing my 170, but I question whether this boat is a good one for a family, especially with kids in anything other than light air. I bought my used 170 from a dealer who took it back after the buyer only had the boat about a month or so. I suspect either "stepping" the mast or the performance in windy conditions was the reason for the quick return.
I now have strong reason to believe that the previous owner turtled the boat and in doing so, stuck the mast into a shallow bottom. I just had the mast cap replace and the old one was full of sand which ended up jamming the 2 top sleeves. Rather than try to repair it, I bought a brand new mast cap from Hunter for $35.