Boarding your Cat

[Charles]

Hi All

I recently went on a safety boat course & thoroughly recommend it, particularly if you can teach the instructor a bit about cats!!

One thing I questioned was the RYA recommended cat boarding method of going under the tramp & climbing in between the rear beam & con bar. This technique was ably shown by 2 youths who each probably weight about the same as one of my legs and in a wind speed of about 2 knots !

Has anyone ever successfully boarded over the rear beam in a wind worth sailing in?? I know I haven't. Some of you might even have seen my patent method of flicking myself round the main beam as the boat come up to avoid going in the water again (while swearing at you under my breath as you pass me!).

It also seems to me being a sea anchor at the front of a cat is a pretty good thing, but at the rear of a cat (as she pivots onto a broad reach and you practice water skiing) is a pretty bad thing.

Thinking about this, I even consulted the Oracle & while his book points out you need to hang on tight, this is the method suggested.

Any thoughts about whether I'm missing an obvious point here?

[Kevin Dutch]

The stern of the cat is lower so therfore easier to climb aboard. Plus you also have the conbar just above your head so you can push that whichever way to keep you head to wind so you can climb aboard. It is the safest and easiest way to get on if your lacking in strength because you've been unable to get on at the front beam.

[Robert]

But if you have a jib and the sheet is not free you are stuffed because the boat will bear away and you'd better hang on tight. Have climbed over the rear beam with una rig but prefer to loop the righting line over the windward hull and round the shroud to make a step and then pull myself aboard. Knots in the righting line help.

[Steve Willis]

There have been a number of times over the years, at the colder ends of the season, that helms have, after being in the water for some time, lost strength to pull themselves over the front beam and have gone to the stern.

A key thing we have covered at the training weekends in the past is that you need a line from mast foot to rear beam along the centre line under the tramp to do it safely. It is not possible to hold one of the front tramp handles underneath and reach the rear one. Consequently most of our helms at SSC have an extended traveller line that is tied off round the mast foot and is knotted either side of the centre 'eye' on the rear beam before passing through the traveller car. That way you can hand yourself back to the rear beam without losing a hold on the boat ay any time. Even more useful on a Dart 18 that is several inches higher at the front beam.

The best way is to use a knotted righting line around the mast foot, once the boat is righted you keep the righting line in a loop to put your foot in - again taught at the training weekend. Some people have made a foot loop in the righting line with a length of plastic pipe to keep it open for your foot - just need to get it in the right place by capsize practice in shallow water.

One of our ex members even had a short rope ladder coiled by the back beam - guess what, on the day he really needed it after being in the water for 15-20mins in a November capsize he had got so cold he forgot he had it and was plucked from the water by another helm.

[Robert]

The best way is to use a knotted righting line around the mast foot, once the boat is righted you keep the righting line in a loop to put your foot in - again taught at the training weekend. Some people have made a foot loop in the righting line with a length of plastic pipe to keep it open for your foot - just need to get it in the right place by capsize practice in shallow water.

just to be clear, Steve, if you are talking about the front beam; do these loops just hang down near the mast ball? I've never got that right. The foot in the loop disappears under the trampoline and I find myself hanging backwards, unable to pull myself up onto it.

I find the knotted righting line draped over the side of the windward hull, forward of the shroud and just pulled around the shroud once is better. You can get the height of the loop right easily, your knee on the side of the boat braces your weight and the knots help you reach forward and pull until you reach the toe strap lanyard.

You just take a bight of the righting line around the shroud and if there is a knot there too, perchance, that helps to hold it.

[Steve Willis]

I'm with you Robert, but slightly different.

I use the knotted righting line from the mast foot over the hull to right the boat. My righting line has a knot in the right place for me to then pass it under the toestrap and hold it in place with one hand while I put my foot on the righting line to climb back on - most of the time I just haul myself on but if tired or cold I use the knot - only capsize once or twice a year (only once this year, on the 18) so little used.

Some of the others have been experimenting with a loop in the righting line - not from the mast foot.

[Wayne]

I probably capsize more than most here at NDYC 7 times this year 13 last year 15 before that. I know it looks like im getting better but thats statistics for you!!
Because you may be tired and cold once you have got you boat upright, it makes sense to use the biggest muscles in your body, the legs.
I have a rope attached to the foot of my mast and its only purpose is to get me back on-board. At the end is a loop with a piece of old hose pipe about the width of my foot.The length has been adjusted to suite me and you would need to adjust it for your leg length.I place my foot in the loop and put my arms on the opposite hull, then I just straighten my leg and it pushes me up onto the hull. I have also found it easier to then role onto the trampoline. Using this method doesn't require the use of your upper body muscles.