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The Pitchpoling Myth

I read it everywhere: If you make a catamaran wider it will pitch pole

Now where is the evidence to back that up? It seems to me that this is something someone wrote once years ago and since then everyone has just blindly repeated the dogma.

Probably they do so because at first sight it sounds logical. If a catamaran is made wider it becomes more stable sideways. Thus proportionately it must become less stable fore and aft, all other factors being equal.

But A) is that true? B) how many (besides me) have tried making a catamaran wider to see what happened?

The original writer was, I suspect, a promoter of early narrow English boats (like Prout and Sailcraft) worried about newer, wider designs. So it is ironic that one of the first pitchpoles was of a very narrow, low freeboard Prout 27 in Germany.

In practice catamarans tend to capsize diagonally, not cartwheel end over end. Indeed if they did go end over end then obviously the hull spacing would be irrelevant.

So it is the diagonal distance from windward stern to lee bow that is important. Clearly then, as a boat is made wider this distance increases and so it becomes more stable overall.

My 24ft Strider design has a 22ft WL and normal hull CL spacing of 10.6ft giving an overall beam of about 14ft (so when it was designed over 25 years ago it was considered wide).

In 1986 I built an experimental Strider with a 14ft CL spacing. Compared to it's WL length that is wide! In fact it looks scarily so on paper, still wide in the boatyard but looks great on the water.

A number of these extra wide versions have been built since then. None have pitchpoled or capsized. Indeed I have always thought that these wider boats sailed better and were more stable than the narrower ones.

I guess if there was any truth in the rumour that wide boats pitchpole then catamarans would gradually be getting narrower. Instead they are getting wider. Even the last generation of Prouts were wider than earlier versions.

So I say it again.

It is a myth to say that just making a catamaran wider means it will pitchpole. There are many more important factors that determine whether a boat will pitchpole or not than just the hull spacing.

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How to survive a knock down

With the right sail-set up and an eye to windward, it’s unlikely, but a sudden squall can be all it takes to throw you into a knock down. here’s expert sailing instructor and writer duncan wells on how to avoid being flattened..

Knock downs

K nock downs can be caused by the wind when the boat may broach or get caught in a Chinese gybe or if the boat gets caught out by a sudden squall.

Sometimes a boat running before a sea can be given a shove by a wave – and the wind does the rest. A knock down here will be to 90° or less.

Knock downs caused by waves occur when the boat goes beam on to a big sea because a rogue wave catches the helm out and here the knock down will vary and is likely to be greater than 90°.

With the mast well underwater, the boat may right herself, or invert for a time, or indeed roll through 360°.

In the most extreme situations, you can be pitchpoled – turned end over end – but it’s worth saying, before anyone gets put off, that the average weekend cruising is usually a more placid affair!

How to prevent knock downs?

1 Sail smart – in the correct seasons. Ocean Passages for the World (Admiralty) gives you the percentage chance of storms by month.

2 Concentrate when helming. On the crest of a breaking wave, flow of water over the rudder can be reversed leading to loss of control.

3 Don’t allow the boat to become over-pressed. Reef early.

4 Do not allow the boat to go beam on to a sea.

There are a number of techniques for managing in storms and big seas. Heaving to should put your boat at 45° to the wind and thus you will take the seas on the shoulder.

Lin and Larry Pardey have their para-anchor, which seems to work well on long-keel boats, where you heave to and set a para-anchor on a bridle from the bow and drift downwind in your own ‘slick’.

For those who do not have a long keel or for those who like to run off there is the Jordan Series drogue, deployed from the stern – which will slow you down – 200ft or so of line with 100 small drogues.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, in his non-stop round the world voyage aboard Suhaili , deployed 2in (16mm) rope in bights trailed off the stern. This helped to slow him down.

PPL Photo Agency. Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo non-stop around the World, aboard his 32ft 5in yacht Suhaili. Credit: Bill Rowntree/PPL

Then with the storm jib only, sheeted both sides to keep it centred, he kept the bow dead downwind and the stern to the waves and managed to avoid going beam on to the seas.

Of course if you get caught by a rogue wave, there is very little that you can do.

Or you may avoid knock downs only to be caught out as you come screaming down the face of a wave to the bottom of the trough and find yourself turned end over end – pitchpoled.

In the case of the most famous pitchpole of all time, caught out by a rogue wave as they approached Cape Horn, Tzu Hang – the Smeeton’s boat – was pitchpoled, dismasted and damaged.

Beryl Smeeton was thrown overboard. She swam back to the boat and managed to get back on board. They effected temporary repairs and under jury rig made their way to port – unaided.

Whatever happens; broach, rolled or pitchpoled, things fly about on deck and inside. It’s worse if the boat is at any point upside down.

Knock downs: Reducing the extent of the damage

Have as little on deck as possible and that which is there should be lashed down securely
Cockpit lockers need to have latches. The button press type of latches can come undone and so need a securing pin/lanyard to prevent this
Washboards need to be able to be secured in place, with a latch or lanyard
The companionway hatch needs to be able to be latched
Tie up the bunt of a reefed sail so that it cannot fill with water
Keep winch handles below decks
Safety gear: singlehanded, stow below, if crewed or short-handed keep the essentials, lifebuoys, Oscar sling, Danbuoy firmly secured.
Take the outboard motor below decks, wrapped up, tied down, cushioned, or in a locked cockpit locker
Masts, rigging etc, are likely to come down. The design of a boat makes a difference to how we fare
Anything that can trap water on deck is dangerous
Scuppers need plentiful run offs and slots to allow the water to drain away quickly
Cockpits need to be able to drain quickly with suitable sized drains

Inside the boat, everything will go flying, whether you suffer a knock down, 360° roll or a pitchpole.

This is where you can make the difference; you should always ‘stow for sea’ but above that we can do the following:

Floorboards. Boards on the cabin sole need to be able to be locked down with latches. Screwing them down is a faff, latches are best, if more expensive
Cookers need to be able to stay in their mountings with the boat inverted. There needs to be a bar across the gimbal to stop the cooker from jumping out
Cupboards need to be lockable or need gaffer tape across them in a diagonal or cross shape
The head needs to have both inlet and outlet valves shut off in case the force of any slamming allows water through the valves and into the head. Joker valves can be quite leaky
Bookshelves need covers so books don’t fall out – nets work for this. Beds and anything else that could come adrift if the boat were inverted need to have lock down catches on.

If you have been knocked down or rolled and there is water inside, damage on deck and a rig or part of it to cut away, you need to assess which is life threatening and deal with that first.

Remember that the head can be used as a pump to remove water, assuming the level is over the rim of the lavatory bowl. If the level of water has risen above the batteries then the electrics will be out. You need to send any Mayday on the ship radio before this happens.

Cutting the rig away so it doesn’t damage the boat is important. Bolt cutters are useful here. A screwdriver may be even more useful. If you know you’re going to encounter lightning, then be sure to put all portable electric equipment, handheld VHF, GPS, beacons/locator equipment, laptop, tablet, and so on, into the oven and lock it shut.This acts as a Faraday cage in the event of a lightning strike and protects them.

At the very least, disconnect aerials from VHF radios and GPS.

Thanks to Alex Whitworth, circumnavigator, for his help and to Dave and Angie Jeffs and their tips from 60,000 ocean miles in a Hallberg Rassy 43

For more essential cruising and racing advice by the best writers out there, read Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting magazine every month. Try a single issue here .

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35th America's Cup Glossary Of Sailing Terms

Glossary of America’s Cup Sailing Terms

By: Pat Reynolds Learn To Sail , Sailing Fun

The America’s Cup is the absolute premier sailboat race in the world. It’s the sailor’s Superbowl. For the new sailors who are checking it out for the first time we have created this glossary to help you understand what the announcers are talking about so that you can better enjoy the coverage.

Some of these terms you’ll recognize from your 101 classes and text.

Anemometer A wind gauge that measure wind speed and direction.
Pressure From the onboard mics we hear skippers and tacticians talking about “pressure” which is simply areas where there is more breeze.
Squall In the semi finals between the British team and the New Zealand team the announcers made mention of an impending squall. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology a squall is a “sudden, sharp increase in wind speed that is usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers or thunderstorms.” For the America’s Cup sailors it’s a curveball to contend with.
Daggerboard or “boards” Catamarans don’t have keels; instead they have daggerboards which allow them to make forward progress in the same way keels do.
Foils Foils are defined in different ways in the sport of sailing, but in this year’s America’s Cup, when the term is used, it refers to “L” shaped carbon fiber daggerboards that facilitate the entire boat rising up out of the water to essentially fly.
Stuffing It or Splash Down Basically when the boat drops off the foils and the hulls hit the water, usually in a very dramatic fashion that soaks the sailors.
Pitch pole The Kiwi team can tell us what this means. A pitchpole is when a boat capsizes stern over bow. It is usually the result of being extremely overpowered.
Turtling When a boat capsizes completely. When a boat “turtles” the boat is 100% upside down with mast pointing straight down to the sea floor.
Fly Time The amount of time the boat spends foiling – Team Emirates New Zealand was the first to sail around the course with 100% fly time, which means their hulls never touched the water!
Layline The angle required in order for the boat to successfully reach and go around a mark.
Starboard tack The tack where the wind is blowing FROM the starboard side of the boat. The port tack boat must give way to the starboard tack boat.
Port tack The tack where the wind is blowing FROM the port side of the boat. The port tack boat must give way to the starboard tack boat.
Boundary The edge of the official race course – sailing across the boundary will result in a penalty.

Laylines shown in yellow in the Virtual Eye Replay.

Pre-start The pre-start is an important part of a sailboat race. It is a time sequence where boats jockey for position and attempt to win the start. It employs many of the devices, rules and tactics that are involved in sailboat racing in a short amount of time.
Over early penalty If a boat crosses the line early there is a two-boat length penalty. It is marked by a blue light that is mounted on the stern of the boat that will illuminate upon any infraction.
Dialing Up Dialing up is mostly a starting tactic. It’s when one boat forces their competitor uncomfortably far up wind, which leaves them rather helpless and at a disadvantage.
Dialing Down Dialing down usually happens during crossing situations – the idea is to force the opponent downwind, driving them away from where they want to be.
Hunting When two boats are converging, but instead of holding course the starboard tack boat changes course directly towards the port tack boat forcing them to take action to avoid collision. This aggressive tactic is predominantly a match racing strategy.
Black-flagged The disqualification of a boat.
Split and Cover Around the marks at the top or bottom of course if the boats choose opposite directions it’s often referred to as a split, if they choose the same marks it’s a cover.
One & In Refers to the fact that a boat only has to make one more tack/jibe in order to make the next mark.

Splitting At The Top Mark © ACEA 2017 / Photo Ricardo Pinto

Sailing higher When you hear that a boat is “sailing higher” they are heading farther up towards the wind direction.
Speed build Typically the boat is sailing more off the wind than it should in order to build speed – something that is critical to make sure the boat gets up on the foils.
Wingwash When sailboats sail close to each other, one can affect the other’s quality of wind. The result of this change is sometimes called “wingwash.”
Gapping off Creating separation between boats, usually windward-leeward scenarios. Often employed during starting sequences.
“Bloody good!” What Ben Ainsle says when he wins…

2024-05-online-class-rules-you-need-to-know-around-the=race-course-main-800×800

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There’s a World of Danger Awaiting Solo Sailor : Pitchpoling and Broaching Are Scary, but Don’t Bother to Wear a Life Jacket

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Here are the chief risks faced by the solo sailors in the BOC Challenge: COLLISION

Being run down by a merchant ship is an ever-present hazard.

Sailboats are hard to spot at night. The merchant ship’s radar is usually scanning 25 miles ahead. A sailboat’s blip is easy to miss at that distance, and once inside that 25-mile radar radius, a sailboat can be run down without the merchantman’s crew even knowing it hit something.

Other collision risks include whales, which have been known to sink sailboats in retaliation for rude bumps; boxcar-sized steel containers that have fallen off merchant vessels and float level with the ocean’s surface; icebergs, and huge trees borne out to sea by rivers such as the Amazon.

This occurs when a sailboat is thrown sideways to the thrust of the waves.

It is hard to describe the scale of the waves in the Southern Ocean, the waters of the Indian Ocean south of Australia. Photographs tend to flatten them. Aerial views fail to show their true height.

The great waves of the roaring forties and furious fifties of south latitude can be near-mountains with quarter-mile-long slopes. They are benign if that slope is 30 degrees or less. Any steeper and they are dangerous.

A sailboat appears at the crest of such a watery cliff and starts down. The wind is driving the 60-foot boat at 12 knots or more. Just past the crest, gravity contributes its force and the boat starts to careen down the slope at a perilous speed. The knotmeter pegs at 20, but the boat continues accelerating.

It begins to sound like a runaway freight car--a metallic thing that is vibrating and screaming from mechanical stress on all its parts and rigging.

It is then that a broach is likely. The boat loses its directional stability. Now it is broadside to the wave, which, if it breaks then, will roll the boat. Or the boat slides broadside into the bottom of the trough and is rolled there--90 degrees, 130, 180. It is upside down, its mast pointing straight down at the ocean floor 2,500 fathoms below. Tremendous forces try to snap the mast.

Finally, the keel, weighing five tons or more, levers the boat upright. If the sailor is lucky, his mast isn’t broken.

France’s Jacques de Roux was not lucky.

In the first race, his Skoiern III broached, rolled and came back up with the mast down and banging against the side of his aluminum boat. A foot-long slice was cut into the hull below the waterline. The boat was doomed.

De Roux was taken off his sinking boat three days later by another competitor. He had bailed three out of every four hours for those three days.

De Roux was below when he rolled. Fellow Frenchman Guy Bernardin, aboard his boat, Ratso, was above in the cockpit when he was knocked upside down in the Southern Ocean. Unlike De Roux, he was incredibly lucky.

“I wrapped my arms around the winch when I saw it going over,” Guy said.

Then he felt the force of the solid water hit him. “It pulled me away from the winch like I was a baby. Then I was under water. I couldn’t see anything.”

As Bernardin flailed his arms, his hand closed on a running backstay, a cable that helps support the mast.

The boat came back right side up. Bernardin found himself hanging from the stay, several feet above the cockpit. He let go and dropped into the cockpit and safety.

Had his hand missed the backstay, Bernardin’s disappearance would have remained a mystery forever. “Overdue. Presumed lost.” The sailor’s terse epitaph.

PITCHPOLING

A pitchpole occurs in the same circumstance as a broach. The boat careens down the face of a huge wave. But instead of turning broadside to, it buries its bow in the opposite wall of water in the trough. The boat then cartwheels, or pitchpoles, end over end.

In the Indian Ocean in the first race, American Tony Lush experienced a combination roll and pitchpole, which he described as a sort of a “half gainer.” The force of the violent episode broke the keel loose on his boat, Lady Pepperell, and forced him to conclude that he had to abandon ship.

At this juncture, Lush threw up. Abandoning ship, even with Francis Stokes sailing to his aid, meant that he would have to secure a line around himself, jump into the water and be pulled to Stokes’ boat. The prospect sickened him. Lush can’t swim.

RUNNING AGROUND

For thousands of years, the lee shore, into which the wind is blowing, has been one of sailing’s greatest hazards. It proved to be so for the solo sailors in the 1982-83 around-the-world race.

First, Britain’s Desmond Hampton in Gypsy Moth V and the closest challenger to Phillipe Jeantot for the race lead, fell asleep while his 56-foot ketch was being steered by windvane. The wind shifted, and the vane steering, dependent solely on wind direction for the course, shifted Gypsy Moth’s heading, carrying it in to shore.

Hampton awoke when his boat hit rocky Gabo Island off the south coast of Australia.

Surf and rock destroyed the boat, the last sailed by the late Sir Francis Chichester, the father of modern single-handed voyaging. It had been lent to Hampton by Chichester’s son, Giles.

Weeks later, although keenly aware of Hampton’s fate, New Zealand’s Dick McBride set his windvane, poured himself a cup of coffee and fell soundly asleep. He awoke as his schooner, City of Dunedin, struck a desolate, stony beach called Craigie Lea on East Falkland Island.

It took the British Navy and the Falklanders 29 days to get McBride and his stout steel boat off the beach and afloat again, whereupon he finished the race.

FALLING OVERBOARD

Single-handed sailors don’t wear life jackets. They wear harnesses to which they connect a safety line equipped with a snap hook. The safety line is then snapped onto lines, called jacklines, that stretch the length of the deck.

In theory, the solo sailor should have the safety line connected to the boat at all times. In practice, he doesn’t. The safety line has an annoying penchant for hanging up on obstacles, impeding progress around the deck.

Safety lines, therefore, tend to be used only in heavy going with water breaking on deck, and then only when the sailor reaches a point, the mast or the bow, where he needs both hands to accomplish something that will take a little time.

Every solo sailor knows that he or she must not fall overboard. A dismasting, holing, running out of water or food, running aground--all of these can be survived.

But a sailor, alone on a moving boat, cannot survive a fall into the sea. No swimmer can catch a boat that’s moving at even a few knots.

Hence the absence of life jackets. No one wants to postpone the end by staying afloat.

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VIDEO - a sailboat pitchpoles while sailing under spinnaker

August 11 2019

Written by Yachting Art Magazine

Sailing under spinnaker isn't so eas y, especially when wind conditions become stronger !

This video was filmed off La Grande Motte (France), during a training session of Xavier Maquaire, aboard his Bénéteau Figaro II .

Xavier Macaire was the skipper and Yves Le Blevec his guest onboard. They were sailing 15 knots, when they decided to launch the spinnaker.

The boat nosedived in less than two seconds. Fortunately, nobody was injured in the pitchpole, but the video is impressive, isn't it ?

VIDEO - a sailboat pitchpoles while sailing under spinnaker

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Published on July 1st, 2021 | by Editor

Pushing past pitchpoles and wipeouts

Published on July 1st, 2021 by Editor -->

The Skiff events at the Olympic Games are the hardest for new campaigners as laying a foundation of solid boat handling entails a lot of crash and burns. Tough on the body. Tough on the boats.

With its big wind and short chop, San Francisco Bay reveals weaknesses, so that’s where Lucy Wilmot and Erika Reineke went for their preparations toward the Paris 2024 Olympics. Here’s the latest update from this new 49erFX team:

Adrenaline pumping, spray blasting, and wind piping down through the Golden Gate was the daily forecast in June during our San Francisco training camp. Action packed with back to back breeze on days, we practiced at the pinnacle of extreme conditions.

Coming away with a hard drive full of pitchpole and wipeout highlights, we can confidently say we pushed the physical boundaries of heavy air sailing in the FX to learn what was achievable or unrealistic.

Unlike last summer, where we went out with the goal of surviving a day on the bay, our skill level had progressed to speed testing and mode matching on the upwinds. Each day was trial and error as we sought to grasp a better understanding of the rig and it’s overall influence on sail shape.

Before ever adjusting the rig, we got into the habit of asking ourselves, “What is the sail profile we are looking for and how do we want the boat to react through the water?”

An example of this is windy, flat water sailing. In this condition, we are looking for a depowered sail with a flat midsection and twist opening the top. This set-up should make the boat feel like carving through soft butter as the bow planes over the water surface.

In the skiff, there are multiple options to choose from when it comes to generating sail shape. The inventive part is deciding which setting or control line we are going to adjust to achieve a specific look. Imagine the rig as a rod with three-dimensional movement and mast bend regulated at different sections.

Going back to the previous example, if the conditions are windy and flat, we can move the caps up and tighten the primaries. This bends the mast back and causes the top to bend off initiating sail twist. Seeking a flatter midsection in sail shape, spinning the lower turnbuckles off and vanging against the mast is an option. Furthermore, the cunningham, outhaul, centerboard height, jib tack, and car position also fine-tune sail shape and how the boat responds. Once the boat feels alive beneath our feet, much of these fine-tuning decisions evolve around the mainsheet range.

Photographs and videos of our speed testing line-ups have been extremely helpful in putting a “name to a face.” During the debrief, we can visualize sail shape at a specific setting and monitor its evolution as we change the rig. With each alteration, different options are presented in designing the ideal sail profile for a given condition.

Time-stamping every rig modification and capturing a picture of these changes has given us a more holistic view of rig tune. Once looking at sail curvature through a narrow lens, we are now beginning to see it as a blank canvas with potential.

San Francisco is a venue that always keeps a sailor honest. No matter how many days you have been on the bay, sailing here never quite feels totally “comfortable.” With each mistake, we often pay the highest price with a capsize. Yet, enduring a vast amount of wipe-outs and escaping the angel of death through a few hairy maneuvers, our confidence grew. Nearing the end of the camp, the boat felt reactive and the pace was on.

The icing on the cake was executing top level maneuvers on the margin in 20+ knots of wind. Thrilled with our progress, in the final days of training we decided to bring our ingenuity to the table and try a few new gybing tricks we had brainstormed together the night before; our commitment to be on the forefront of innovation remains steadfast no matter how many pitchpoles we must face to gain an advantage.

Mid-month, we traveled to Fort Lauderdale for the Gold Star Sailing Camp . There we spent two days coaching and getting to know some incredible individuals. The camp brought teenagers of fallen service members together to enjoy a week of sailing at the Lauderdale Yacht Club. Our team was honored to teach sailing and form bonds with these amazing kids.

In 48 hours, we provided an introduction to sailing, hung out on the sandbar, and nearly escaped a thunderstorm. It was a special experience to share the sport we love with them. We are grateful for the opportunity to give back to the families who made the ultimate sacrifice for our liberties and country.

Wrapping up June and less than a month to the start of the 2021 Olympic Games, we are so excited to see many of our teammates finally head over to Tokyo! We are unbelievably proud of their hard work and resiliency. We cannot wait to cheer them on from home. GO USA!

This month, our team will be featured in the St. Francis Yacht Club’s Wednesday Yachting Luncheon on July 7th, 12:00pm PDT. During the presentation, we will provide an update of our current campaign efforts and give you all the insider scoop on our approach to data analytics training. To watch this online presentation, click here .

For more from this team: https://www.wilmotreinekefx.com/

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Program Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7 Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6 Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470 Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470 Men’s Skiff – 49er Women’s Skiff – 49erFx Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn Men’s Windsurfing – RS:X Women’s Windsurfing – RS:X Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

Original dates: July 24 to August 9, 2020 Revised dates: July 23 to August 8, 2021

Details: https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/schedule/olympic/

Tags: Erika Reineke , Lucy Wilmot , Paris 2024 Games

Olympic Sailing returns to Long Beach →

USA: Onward toward Los Angeles 2028 →

World Sailing must fix Olympic Windsurfing →

Sarah Douglas: Sharing the experience →

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Practical Boat Owner

Digital edition

Pitch-pole, to

Robert Melotti
December 22, 2009

A sea pitch-poles a boat when it turns her end-over-end, stern over stem. It happens so rarely that it would hardly be worth mentioning were it not for the extraordinary experience of the Smeetons who had it happen twice, as recounted in their widely-read book Once is Enough. When it does happen, the boat pitch-poles too, so the verb is both transitive and intransitive.

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25-09-2008, 19:45
	is competent and the is one of the production cats (FP, , Privelidge, etc.). Is this something that pretty much requires and screw up to have happen or can wave conditions out of your control do it? And more importantly, how often do you hear of it happening? No flame war, I am not a mono-only guy, just trying to see what others personal experience has taught them concerning this topic. Thanks! - JB

25-09-2008, 20:11
Boat: 15 foot Canoe

25-09-2008, 21:27
Boat: Privilege 39 Catamaran, Exit Only	to flip end over end. To get all that energy on board, you need to be moving fast, and then you need to drive the bows under the . That's not so easy to do in a cruising . As long as you aren't surfing down the waves, you are fairly safe. For me the of thumb is simple: Sail slower than the waves so that they pass under my yacht, and I am usually fine. If I pile on sail and start surfing down the front of waves, then I am setting myself up to where a pitchpole could occur. I consider that to be pilot error on my part. I have seen pictures of a pitchpole on a yacht in which they were flying a out in front of the yacht, and the suddenly jumped to over 40 knots. The didn't blow out, and it forced the yacht into a pitchpole. I sail in a conservative manner, and I regard pitchpoles to be pilot error. Although it's exciting to surf down the front of waves at 18 to 20 knots, I don't like putting myself into a situation where a mistake by the helmsman or could result in a pitchpole. I read about one backwards pitchpole on a lying to a parachute . In this case, the parachute was attached to on the forward crossbeam. The yacht had a wave strike on the bow, and the impact ripped the crossbeam out of the boat, and pushed the boat backwards. The large sugar scoops on the stern dug into the , and a backward pitchpole happened. To me, this was also pilot error. On most catamarans it's unsafe and unwise to lie to a parachute with parachute attached to on the forward crossbeam.

25-09-2008, 22:02
Boat: Lightwave 45, sold nov 2020.Previous self built Roberts 36	under any circumstances, or just having it attached to cleats on the cross beam? Thanks Glenn

25-09-2008, 23:53
Boat: Woods Sagitta 9m	not to surf down waves to avoid pitchpoling, but I think the ability to surf down waves saved me... Sailing alone off in a 30' , a huge came from behind in a matter of minutes. I got the down, then took off the and hand steered with just the working up. I was wondering if the wind, having arrived so suddenly would drop away as quickly, so I waited a little while, mulling over getting the up instead. I was headed directly downwind, and going in the right direction, so I stayed with it. I don't know what the wind speed got up to, but I know that at in a gale, my would put out 4 amps. I was getting 4-6 amps ( I'd never seen it above 4 before, and it sounded like a helicopter! ) and I hit 25 knots once, and above 20 knots many times. So a gale plus 25 knots. This was amazing to me, as I had rarely had the boat above ( it was an old design, too heavy, undercanvassed, and my weren't much good ) and had only occassionally hit 14 knots surfing. However the boat handled perfectly - though of course I had to hand steer. I'm sure one wrong move with the tiller would have been disastrous, but on the other hand, I had never seen such steep waves, and so much surf on the top - I was usually just below the tumbling surf, and very glad that the waves weren't getting a chance to crash over the boat. The boat never got close to ploughing into the wave in front - if it got too far down a wave front, I'd lose a bit of wind in the trough, the wave behind would catch up again, and the boat would accelerate. Those conditions lasted for 3 hours. I was glad later, that I never got the up. I think the speed I gained with the working saved me from those waves. I wouldn't have wanted to be going slower. The wind did switch off as fast as it arrived. I guess I'd sailed into the middle of a low. I ended up becalmed amongst huge waves that were simply going up and down - no forward motion in them. The boat just went up and down with the waves. On the way down, I was almost weightless, and at the bottom of the troughs, it felt as though if I just reached out from the , I could touch the water on any side. I slept and 12 hours later, there was still no wind, the waves were just the same, and there was 4 inches of snow on the and ice in the ( it was January ). Finally, the wind arrived from the opposite direction, but that's the start of another story. The point being, in those conditions, I am convinced that surfing down the waves at high speed saved me, and I wouldn't have wanted to be going slower.

26-09-2008, 12:07
Boat: Simpson, Catamaran, 46ft. IMAGINE	is not always a slick magazine cover! ..No single one of is as smart as all of us!

26-09-2008, 12:44
Boat: Woods Sagitta 9m	, headed for when the wind hit - so there wasn't that much of a fetch, and with the suddenness and strength of the wind, the waves were very steep, but there wasn't any underlying swell. I had hundreds of miles of searoom. Perhaps if the waves had been coming from more than one direction, it would have been a different story, and wouldn't have been here to tell it.

26-09-2008, 13:55

Boat: Will be a 50' Cat

26-09-2008, 14:36

Boat: Cal 40 (sold). Still have a Hobie 20

John

26-09-2008, 14:36
	I think he was saying it's unsafe to attach the bridle to the forebeam, as it isn't designed to handle those size loads in that direction - it's meant to handle forestay loads. You can tear out the forebeam, as happened in the scenario he mentioned. He has some solidly engineered bridle attachment points on his bows. It's more usual to use a sea to keepthe boat's bows into the waves - are longer than they are wide and much less likely to be turned over taking waves from the bows or stern, than from the beam. In answer to the original question,pitchpoling happens quite frequently to , especially smaller ones. It's very rare for cruising boats though, whether monohulled or multi.

26-09-2008, 15:34

Boat: Privilege 39 Catamaran, Exit Only

26-09-2008, 15:55

Boat: Privilege 39 Catamaran, Exit Only

, I spend time wondering what techniques to use in extreme . I was wondering if it would be most wise to place a parachute along either side of a 40-50 ft CAT. In this way a confused sea that might hit you abeam would not be able to toss you over and the chutes would also hold you down from waves stern and aft... your thoughts?

27-09-2008, 01:18
Boat: Lightwave 45, sold nov 2020.Previous self built Roberts 36	miles in my mono cruising and career, I have never been in any extreme weather, (force 7 or 8 maybe, but no real dangerous seas) maybe I was just lucky, but hearing what people have done in real situations is always valuable. Glenn

27-09-2008, 03:07
Boat: 25ft Merlin catamaran, 34ft Romany catamaran	. In a squall with full sail we got the bows under as far as the maststep and the rudders clean out of the water. A very frightening experience 1000 miles from land and a real shock to us all. Particularly as it wasn't THAT windy and we were (theoretically) a very experienced crew. A few years earlier I raced with Graham Goff on a 26ft Firebird when we won the UK championships. Many times we had to dump the spinnaker sheet, occasionally the main, when sailing offwind at speeds in the high 20's and in 25 knots of wind. The Firebird we sailed had a 40ft and weighed 1500lbs so was quite an extreme boat. Yet I didn't feel as powerless to prevent a as I did that day on the Norseman. We all felt that the fault lay with the boat. It had extremely fine low freeboard hulls with little reserve buoyancy. A boat to avoid. You can read more about it on my website Of course that isn't to say you cannot pitchpole a catamaran (or maybe not??) Look at this youtube video.

13-05-2014, 16:49

Boat: Lagoon 410 S2 2006

not to surf down waves to avoid pitchpoling, but I think the ability to surf down waves saved me...

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The iboats forum moderators would like to mention to all the iboaters here that we’re sorry but the website server seems to be running on half a cylinder and in order to post pictures, etc. you may have to use an outside hosting source, which we understand is not ideal, but its all we got at present. We are hoping that the administration can rectify this issue soon, but unfortunately at this time we can make no promises as to when... we have been working on letting the higher powers that be 'know of the situation... hang in there iboaters, we've been through a lot over the years and this is just another rough weather system rolling through to endure is all. Thank you.
General Boating/Outdoors Activities
Boat Topics and Questions (not engine topics)

What does it take to pitchpole a boat?

Thread starter DuckHunterJon
Start date Aug 9, 2010

DuckHunterJon

Lieutenant junior grade.

Aug 9, 2010

Saturday, we had the boat out in Chaumont Bay, NY. In the morning it was like glass. We went out fishing, came back in for lunch, then went back out and skied for a while in the afternoon. Around dinner time, we decided not to leave it tied up to my parents dock as we would be heading up to the St Lawrence early Sunday morning. We heading back to the boat launch (about 4 miles), and the wind was really picking up. I wanted to go out around a shoal marker, and was heading out into bigger water. The waves were progressivly getting bigger, but I kept asking my wife and she said she was fine with it. We were getting a little spray over the bow, but nothing more than spray. About 25 yards out, I saw a set of big waves. I'd say they were 4 -5 feet, 3 in a row. I know I didn't want they to hit us from the side, so I steered towards them. The boat rode up on the first one, came down, rode up on the second one. That time it came down right into the third. I was standing, and watched the bow punch about a foot under the top of that wave. Bear in mind, my Procraft sits low to the water, and the bow slopes down in the front. The water came over the bow, up the windshield, and knocked me clear over the helm seat and into the back of the seat. Motor killed as I pulled the tether off. I got back to the seat, fired it back up, made a hard port turn, and was with the waves heading back to shore. I was a bit scared, but figured we're out of the worst of it, heading back in around the shoal marker. The waves were coming at our stern, and quickly, I was taking water over the bow when each wave would push the stern up, and force the bow down. After about 3 of these, I was able to find the right speed to stay on the back side of a wave, and rode it most of the way in to the launch. Question, while the initial bow over the wave was a little scary, it was very quick, the boat pretty much punched through it. On the way back in, however, the bow would dive into the wave ahead of it, and pretty much sit there. Seemed like slow motion. I don't want to relive it - but my question is how close were we to pitch poling? I don't imagine it was a possibility, but I'm not sure how much it takes to flip a boat forwards. Has anyone experienced it and can give and idea of what it took? Thanks.

Re: What does it take to pitchpole a boat? this is a fair vid. of pitch poling... http://www.boattest.com/Partners/Partner-Main.aspx?lp_id=3211148&t=VLIBRARY&Videoid=1909&p=0&s= looks to me like what takes place in pitch poling is the bow gets stuffed into the trough and stopped by a wave over taking a boat from the back. if the wave is large enough and it lifts the stern high enough, it'll flip it end over end. ya did right riding on the back of a wave...

Re: What does it take to pitchpole a boat? Thanks for the video link. That's exactly what was happening, only to a much lesser extent. Judging by the animation, and and my own thinking, I would think the height of the waves would have to be somewhere around half the length of the boat to over turn it. We weren't even close, but was still scary taking enough water on for the bilge pump to run for about minutes straight.

Senior Chief Petty Officer

Re: What does it take to pitchpole a boat? Depends on the boat. Based on my experience on a catamaran sailboat (Hobie 16) not a lot. However, that is a different animal entirely. I had never even thought that a power boat could pitchpole. I would think that conditions would require high speed, high center of gravity, and stuffing the bow. (At least those were the required conditions on the Hobie.) Of those, you have full control over speed, some control over center of gravity, and some control over the chance of stuffing the bow. On the Hobie, I also had a high center of thrust (thrust centered high on the sail). Fortunately the Hobie was design to take a pitchpole. No loose running gear, no motor, and no electronics. Even then a pitchpole on a catamaran is a WILD ride. On a power boat, it would be a nightmare! Thanks for bringing back some great memories. TerryMSU

Rear Admiral

Aug 10, 2010

Re: What does it take to pitchpole a boat? Pitch pole a boat is usually deadly but I never heard of it going into a sea. It normally happeneds with a following sea. This is one time when you want the trim tabs and the motor trim set for a high bow. Riding the back side of the swell near the top but never go over. If you go over the boat gains speed down the face and bow drives into the back side of the next wave and the swell behind pushes the stern over the top. Going into the swell you must slow down but keep enough power for good steering to make sure the swell does not push the bow to one side or the other causeing the boat to brouch and capsize. Going into the swell it ok to let the wave push you backwards as long as you keep on enough power to maintain steering. I try and watch 3 swells ahead and you can usually steer around the steepest swells. Ofcourse every boat has it limits and you must learn what it is and respect the sea. My 21 foot boat is 8 feet every 8 seconds. We been out in 9 feet every 6 seconds but headed in way early. It was still safe but no fun and lot of danger if you make a mistake.

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Preventing Multihull Pitchpoling

Discussion in ' Projects & Proposals ' started by Fanie , Sep 30, 2018 .

Fanie Fanie

I've been watching video's on fast catamarans sailing and saw quite a few pitchpoling when the leeward hull sticks it's bow in the water. If one attaches a horizontal plate or fin on the bow that will force the bow to swim upwards then it could prevent these inconveniences. Well ?

Doug Lord Flight Ready

Cat DSS: (better yet get a trimaran with the Fire Arrow Foil System!) How are you Fanie?

Hi Doug, from the shoulders on downwards I'm ok ! Thanks. Your image looks promising. Like to see it work on a cat in real life. I found your Youtube channel and the model tri. Nice. Even has an arrow on it so you know which direction to sail to Amazing how if one goes sailing there is never wind. We have that worked out more or less here. You go fishing with a sailboat. If there is wind, you sail, if there is no wind, you fish. Most of the time the wind doesn't know if it is going to blow. Or not But fun we are going to have either way ! Soooo... when do we see the real life hands on model ? As for the Fire Arrow Foil I'd like to see it on the bow, if you go into the surf for instance the bow should lift and prevent the water rushing over the boat. And instead of pitch poling it should slow you down just enough to recover.

Fanie, take a look at the last few pages of this thread-this is the last page: High Performance MPX Foil/Self-righting Trimaran-The Test Model https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/high-performance-mpx-foil-self-righting-trimaran-the-test-model.36058/page-187 I've 95% finished the design of a 14' trimaran using the Fire Arrow Foil System called "WOLF" .You can see a concept model in the thread and, of course, the original "Fire Arrow". You can also see pictures of the three "Ultim" trimarans that are using their own version of the Fire Arrow Foil System-Gitana 17, Macif and Banque Pop. My original Test Model flew perfectly on July 24th ,2014 and these big tri's just started flying in the last three years. The foil system they use is almost identical to the system I developed for the original Test Model and that will be used on WOLF. I'm hoping I can raise the money to get WOLF built-it will be tough to do but I might be able to make it work out....... ======================= Check out this video of Gitana 17 about 41 seconds in where the port hull buries up to the crossarm but instead of pitchpoling she just slows down a bit and then keeps on flying. Keep in mind that the key to my foil system and the one Gitana uses is an adjustable foil on the daggerboard, an uptip foil on each ama(one used at a time) and a rudder t-foil on each ama and on the main hull.* *rudder t-foil only on main hull of Fire Arrow and WOLF.

Now if the wings on the rudders and the hydrofoils could adjust, and you have a little computer doing that for you, it could optimize the hull remaining flat without heeling and that is where the sails make most power. In a high wind when you're tearing down the stretch your biggest fear will be that a wing is going to hit air, it's going to be like a car tire blowing out at high speed, and you can then also make those slow motion back flips the racing boats make when they get too much wind under the hull.

On my boats mainhull altitude-and angle of heel of the whole boat-is controlled automatically with a mechanical surface sensor(wand)-and manually on the big boats. On my boats and all the big boats the flight altitude of the ama is controlled automatically with UptiP foils. Ama foil attitude is controlled automatically* on my boats and manually on the big boats(for now) since electronic foil control is illegal in the "class rules". * by the combination of the wand controlled mainfoil on the daggerboard working together with the rudder t-foil that automatically "follows" the main foil. Gitana 17 flying like a bat out of hell:

Ah yes you see the wimps ! The moment you do something that will advance something they make "class rules" and no advancements exist. Those boats are unpractical. Who can afford something like that ? It serves only one purpose and it is not so pretty if you want to be honest.

JamesG123 Senior Member

Speed brings risk. Even with electronic (or even analog mechanical) control, there will always be some combination of wave, airflow, and oscillation between the two that won't be accounted for by the system or that overcomes it, especially if you out on the edge of its performance envelope. If you are going to exceed stable hull speed, you are going to have to accept the risks of the lack of static stability.

BlueBell . . . _ _ _ . . . _ _ _

Doug Lord said: ↑ about 41 seconds in where the port hull buries up to the crossarm but instead of pitchpoling she just slows down a bit and then keeps on flying. Click to expand...

I can only guess that you weren't paying attention: the clip clearly showed the port bow re-emerge so she would have continued flying. Further, if she had pitchpoled it would have been disastrous as she was in the middle of a race-she didn't pitchpole because the foils prevented it. And she won the race!

Clearly not on the video I watched.

You should watch it again carefully. This tri has wave piercing amas and they worked perfectly. Had the thing pitchpoled, it would have stopped dead-that didn't happen-and again, a pitchpole with a boat like that would easily have been a race ending nightmare-instead she won the race. Keep in mind, that in addition to the wave piercing amas the ama foil is designed to be able to lift the whole boat+ and clearly it was exerting tremendous force on the ama and in combination with the ama shape and rudder t-foils prevented a pitchpole. Port bow re-emerged at :46 in....... This is what a pitchpoled trimaran looks like:

JamesG123 said: ↑ Speed brings risk. Even with electronic (or even analog mechanical) control, there will always be some combination of wave, airflow, and oscillation between the two that won't be accounted for by the system or that overcomes it, especially if you out on the edge of its performance envelope. If you are going to exceed stable hull speed, you are going to have to accept the risks of the lack of static stability. Click to expand...

A planing hull can be just as squirrelly as a foil.

Well designed foilers aren't "squirrelly"--same with well designed planing hulls. Fanie, foiling and or foil assist has permeated almost every aspect of sailing from windsurfers to kiteboards, dinghies, catamarans and trimarans up to 100'+, keelboats to 100'+, cruising or racing and growing every year. Not so specialized...... Fanie, here is a thread about the DNA cruiser/racer cat with an automated foil control system designed to prevent pitchpole or capsize...... Automatic Foil Control Systems https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/automatic-foil-control-systems.57923/#post-826047

Hydrofoil multihull design

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Multihull Capsize Risk Check

Waves, squalls, and inattention to trim and helm contribute to instability..

In recent years we’ve seen a surge in interest in multihulls. Thirty years ago, when my experience with cruising multihulls began, nearly all of the skippers served an apprenticeship with beach cats, learning their quirks by the seat of their pants. They hiked out on trapezes and flew head-over-heels past their pitch-pole prone Hobie 16s, until they learned the importance of keeping weight way aft on a reach and bearing off when the lee bow began to porpoise.

By contrast, the new generation of big cat buyers skipped this learning process, learning on monohulls or even choosing a big stable cat as their first boat. Heck, nobody even builds real beach cats anymore, only pumped up racing machines and rotomolded resort toys. So we’re guessing there are a few things these first-time cruising multihull sailors don’t know, even if they have sailed cruising cats before.

It is extremely hard to capsize a modern cruising cat. Either a basic disregard for seamanship or extreme weather is required. But no matter what the salesman tells you (“none of our boats have ever …”), it can happen. A strong gust with sail up or a breaking wave in a survival storm can do it. And when a multihull goes over, they don’t come back.

Trimarans tend to be more performance oriented than catamarans. In part, this is because it’s easier to design a folding trimaran, and as a result Farrier, Corsair, and Dragonfly trimarans had a disproportionate share of the market.

In spite of this and in spite of the fact that many are raced aggressively in windy conditions, capsizes are few, certainly fewer than in equivalent performance catamaran classes. But when they do go over, they do so in different ways.

Trimarans have greater beam than catamarans, making them considerably more resistant to capsize by wind alone, whether gusts or sustained wind. They heel sooner and more than catamaran, giving more warning that they are over powered.

Waves are a different matter. The amas are generally much finer, designed for low resistance when sailing deeply immersed to windward. As a result, trimarans are more susceptible to broach and capsize when broad reaching at high speed or when caught on the beam by a large breaking wave.

In the first case, the boat is sailing fast and overtaking waves. You surf down a nice steep one, into the backside of the next one, the ama buries up to the beam and the boat slows down. The apparent wind increases, the following wave lifts the transom, and the boat slews into a broach. If all sail is instantly eased, the boat will generally come back down, even from scary levels of heel, but not always.

In the second case a large wave breaks under the boat, pulling the leeward ama down and rolling the boat. Catamarans, on the other hand, are more likely to slide sideways when hit by a breaking wave, particularly if the keels are shallow (or raised in the case of daggerboards), because the hulls are too big to be forced under. They simply get dragged to leeward, alerting the crew that it is time to start bearing off the wind.

Another place the numbers leave us short is ama design. In the 70s and 80s, most catamarans were designed with considerable flare in the bow, like other boats of the period. This will keep the bow from burying, right? Nope. When a hull is skinny it can always be driven through a wave, and wide flare causes a rapid increase in drag once submerged, causing the boat to slow and possibly pitchpole.

Hobie Cat sailors know this well. More modern designs either eliminate or minimize this flare, making for more predictable behavior in rough conditions. A classic case is the evolution of Ian Farrier’s designs from bows that flare above the waterline to a wave-piercing shape with little flare, no deck flange, increased forward volume, and reduced rocker (see photos page 18). After more than two decades of designing multihulls, Farrier saw clear advantages of the new bow form. The F-22 is a little faster, but more importantly, it is less prone to broach or pitchpole, allowing it to be driven harder.

Beam and Stability

The stability index goes up with beam. Why isn’t more beam always better? Because as beam increases, a pitchpole off the wind becomes more likely, both under sail and under bare poles. (The optimum length-to-beam ratios is 1.7:1 – 2.2:1 for cats and 1.2:1-1.8:1 for trimarans.) Again, hull shape and buoyancy also play critical roles in averting a pitchpole, so beam alone shouldn’t be regarded as a determining factor.

Drogues and Chutes

While monohull sailors circle the globe without ever needing their drogues and sea anchors, multihulls are more likely to use them. In part, this is because strategies such as heaving to and lying a hull don’t work for multihulls. Moderate beam seas cause an uncomfortable snap-roll, and sailing or laying ahull in a multihull is poor seamanship in beam seas.

Fortunately, drogues work better with multihulls. The boats are lighter, reducing loads. They rise over the waves, like a raft. Dangerous surfing, and the risk of pitchpole and broach that comes with it, is eliminated. There’s no deep keel to trip over to the side and the broad beam increases the lever arm, reducing yawing to a bare minimum.

Speed-limiting drogues are often used by delivery skippers simply to ease the motion and take some work off the autopilot. By keeping her head down, a wind-only capsize becomes extremely unlikely, and rolling stops, making for an easy ride. A properly sized drogue will keep her moving at 4-6 knots, but will not allow surfing, and by extension, pitch poling.

For more information on speed limiting drogues, see “ How Much Drag is a Drogue? ” PS , September 2016.

Capsize Case Studies

Knock wood, we’ve never capsized a cruising multihull (beach cat—plenty of times), but we have pushed them to the edge of the envelope, watched bows bury, and flown multi-ton hulls to see just how the boat liked it and how fast she would go. We’re going to tell you about these experiences and what can be learned from them, so you don’t have to try it.

First, it helps to examine a few examples of some big multihull capsizes.

Techtronics 35 catamaran, John Shuttleworth design

This dramatic pitchpole occurred in a strong breeze some 30 years ago. In order to combine both great speed and reasonable accommodation, the designer incorporated considerable flare just above the waterline, resulting in hulls that were skinny and efficient in most conditions, but wide when driven under water in steep chop.

The boat was sailing fast near Nova Scotia, regularly overtaking waves. The bows plowed into a backside of a particularly steep wave, the submerged drag was huge, and the boat stopped on a dime. At the same time, the apparent wind went from about 15 knots into the high 20s, tripling the force on the sails and rapidly lifting the stern over the bow. Some crew were injured, but they all survived.

PDQ 32 Catamaran

On July 4, 2010, the boat’s new owners had scheduled time to deliver their new-to-them boat up the northern California coast. A strong gale was predicted, but against all advice, they left anyway. The boat turned sideways to the confused seas and a breaking wave on the beam capsized the boat. There were no injuries, and the boat was recovered with only moderate damage a few weeks later. Repaired, she is still sailing.

Another PDQ 32 was capsized in the Virgin Islands when a solo sailor went below to tend to something and sailed out of the lee of the island and into a reinforced trade wind.

Sustaining speed with wider tacking angles will help overcome leeway.

Cruising cats can’t go to windward. That’s the rumor, and there’s a kernel of truth to it. Most lack deep keels or dagger boards and ex-charter cats are tragically under canvassed for lighter wind areas, a nod to near universal lack of multihull experience among charter skippers. Gotta keep them safe. But there are a few tricks that make the worst pig passable and the better cats downright weatherly. Those of you that learned your craft racing Hobies and Prindles know most of this stuff, but for the rest of you cruising cat sailors, there’s some stuff the owner’s manual leaves out.

“Tune” the Mast

Having no backstay means that the forestay cannot be kept tight unless you want to turn your boat into a banana and over stress the cap shrouds. Although the spreaders are swept back, they are designed primarily for side force with just a bit of pull on the forestay. The real forestay tension comes from mainsheet tension.

Why is it so important to keep the forestay stay tight? Leeward sag forces cloth into the luff of the genoa, making it fuller and blunting the entry into the wind. The draft moves aft, the slot is pinched, and aerodynamic drag increases. Even worse, leeway (sideslip) increases, further increasing drag and sliding you away from your destination. Sailing a cruising cat to windward is about fine tuning the lift to drag ratio, not just finding more power.

How do you avoid easing the mainsheet in strong winds? First, ease the traveler instead. To avoid pinching the slot, keep the main outhaul tight to flatten the lower portion of the main. Use a smaller jib or roll up some genoa; overlap closes the slot. Reef if need be; it is better to keep a smaller mainsail tight than to drag a loose mainsail upwind, with the resultant loose forestay and clogged slot. You will see monos with the main twisted off in a blow. Ignore them, they are not cruising cats. It is also physically much easier to play the traveler than the main sheet. Be glad you have a wide one.

Check Sheeting Angles

Very likely you do not have enough keel area to support large headsails. As a result, you don’t want the tight genoa lead angles of a deep keeled monohull. All you’ll do is sail sideways. Too loose, on the other hand, and you can’t point. In general, 7-10 degrees is discussed for monos that want to pinch up to 40 degrees true, but 14-16 degrees makes more sense for cruising cats that will sail at no less than 50 degrees true. Rig up some temporary barber haulers and experiment. Then install a permanent Barber-hauler; see “ Try a Barber Hauler for Better Sail Trim ,” Practical Sailor , September 2019.

The result will be slightly wider tacking angles, perhaps 105 degrees including leeway, but this will be faster for you. You don’t have the same hull speed limit, so let that work for you. Just don’t get tempted off onto a reach; you need to steer with the jib not far from luffing.

Watch the fore/aft lead position as well. You want the jib to twist off to match the main. Typically it should be right on the spreaders, but that depends on the spreaders. If you have aft swept shrouds, you may need to roll up a little genoa, to 110% max.

Use your Tell-Tales

On the jib there can be tell-tale ribbons all over, but on the main the only ones that count are on the leech. Keep all but the top one streaming aft. Telltales on the body of sail are confused by either mast turbulence (windward side) or pasted down by jib flow (leeward side) and won’t tell you much. But if the leach telltales suck around to leeward you are over sheeted.

Keep Your Bottom Clean

It’s not just about speed, it’s also pointing angle. Anything that robs speed also makes you go sideways, since with less flow over the foil there will be less lift. Flow over the foils themselves will be turbulent. Nothing slows you down like a dirty bottom.

Reef Wisdom

Push hard, but reef when you need to. You will have the greatest lift vs. windage ratio when you are driving hard. That said, it’s smart to reef most cruising cats well before they lift a hull to avoid overloading the keels. If you are feathering in the lulls or allowing sails to twist off, it’s time to reef.

Don’t Pinch

Pinching (pointing to high) doesn’t work for cats. Get them moving, let the helm get a little lighter (the result of good flow over the rudder and keel), and then head up until the feeling begins to falter. How do you know when it’s right? Experiment with tacking angles (GPS not compass, because you want to include leeway in your figuring) and speed until the pair feel optimized. With a genoa and full main trimmed in well, inside tracks and modified keels, and relatively smooth water, our test PDQ can tack through 100 degrees with the boat on autopilot. Hand steering can do a little better, though it’s not actually faster to windward. If we reef or use the self-tacking jib, that might open up to 110-115 degrees, depending on wave conditions. Reefing the main works better than rolling up jib.

Boats with daggerboards or centerboards. The comments about keeping a tight forestay and importance of a clean bottom are universal. But the reduction in leeway will allow you to point up a little higher, as high as monohulls if you want to. But if you point as high as you can, you won’t go any faster than similar monohulls, and quite probably slower. As a general rule, tacking through less than 90 degrees, even though possible, is not the best strategy. A slightly wider angle, such as 100 degrees, will give a big jump in boat speed with very little leeway.

Chris White Custom 57

In November 2016, winds had been blowing 25-30 knots in stormy conditions about 400 miles north of the Dominican Republic. The main had two reefs in, and the boat was reaching under control at moderate speed when a microburst hit, causing the boat to capsize on its beam. There were no serious injuries.

Another Chris White 57 capsized on July 31, 2010. It had been blowing 18-20 knots and the main had a single reef. The autopilot steered. The wind jumped to 62 knots in a squall and changed direction so quickly that no autopilot could be expected to correct in time.

Gemini 105mC

In 2018, the 34-foot catamaran was sailing in the Gulf of Mexico under full sail at about 6 knots in a 10-15 knot breeze. Squalls had been reported on the VHF. The crew could see a squall line, and decided to run for cover. Before they could get the sails down, the gust front hit, the wind shifted 180 degrees, and the boat quickly went over.

38-foot Roger Simpson Design

The catamaran Ramtha was hit head-on by the infamous Queen’s Birthday storm in 1994. The mainsail was blown out, and steering was lost. Lacking any control the crew was taken off the boat, and the boat was recovered basically unharmed 2 weeks later. A Catalac catamaran caught in the same storm trailed a drogue and came through unharmed. Of the eight vessels that called for help, two were multihulls. Twenty-one sailors were rescued, three aboard the monohull Quartermaster were lost at sea.

15 meter Marsaudon Ts

Hallucine capsized off Portugal on November 11 of this year. This is a high performance cat, in the same general category as the familiar Gunboat series. It was well reefed and the winds were only 16-20 knots. According to crew, it struck a submerged object, and the sudden deceleration caused the boat to capsize.

Multihulls We’ve Sailed

Clearly seamanship is a factor in all of our the previous examples. The watch needs to be vigilant and active. Keeping up any sail during squally weather can be risky. Even in the generally benign tropics, nature quickly can whip up a fury. But it is also true that design choices can impact risk of capsize. Let’s see what the numbers can tell us, and what requires a deeper look.

Stiletto Catamaran

We’ve experienced a number of capsizes both racing and while driving hard in these popular 23-foot catamarans. The combination of light displacement and full bow sections make pitchpoling unlikely, and the result is very high speed potential when broad reaching. Unfortunately, a narrow beam, light weight, and powerful rig result in a low stability factor. The potential for capsize is real when too much sail is up and apparent wind is directly on the beam. The boat can lift a hull in 12 knots true. This makes for exciting sailing when you bring your A-game, but limits the boat to coastal sailing.

Corsair F-24 MK I trimaran

Small and well canvased, these boats can capsize if driven hard (which they often are), but they are broad beamed, short-masted, and designed for windy sailing areas. F-24s are slower off wind than the Stiletto, in part because of greater weight and reduced sail area, but also because the main hull has more rocker and does not plane as well. They are faster to weather and point considerably higher than a Stiletto (90-degree tacking angle vs. 110 degrees). This is the result of greater beam, a more efficient centerboard design, and slender amas that are easily driven in displacement mode. The boat is quite forgiving if reefed.

Going purely by the numbers, this boat seems nearly identical to the F-24. In practice, they sail quite differently. The Dash uses a dagger board instead of centerboard, which is both more hydrodynamic and faster, but more vulnerable to damage if grounded at high speed.

The rotating mast adds power that is not reflected in the numbers. The bridgedeck clearance is higher above the waterline, reducing water drag from wave strikes. The wave-piercing amas create greater stability up wind and off the wind. The result is a boat that is slightly faster than the original F-24 and can be driven much harder off the wind without fear of pitchpole or broach.

Without proper testing, calculating stability yields only a rough picture.

Evaluating multihull performance based on design numbers is a bit more complicated than it is with ballasted, displacement monohulls, whose speed is generally limited by hull form. [Editor’s note: The formula for Performance Index, PI has been updated from the one that originally appeared in the February 2021 issue of Practical Sailor.

The following definitions of units apply to the adjacent table:

SA = sail area in square feet

D (displacement) = weight in pounds

LWL = length of waterline in feet

HCOE = height of sail center of effort above the waterline in feet

B = beam in feet

BCL = beam at the centerline of the hulls in feet.

Since a multihull pivots around the centerline beam, the overall beam is off the point and is not used in formulas. Calculate by subtracting the individual hull beam from the overall beam.

SD ratio = SA/(D/64)^0.66

This ratio gives a measure of relative speed potential on flat water for monohulls, but it doesn’t really work for multihulls.

Bruce number = (SA)^0.5/(D)^0.333

Basically this is the SD ratio for multihulls, it gives a better fit.

Performance index = (SA/HCOE)^0.5 x (D/1000)^0.166

By including the height of the COE and displacement, this ratio reflects the ability of the boat to use that power to sail fast, but it understates the importance of stability to the cruiser.

Stability factor = 9.8*((0.5*BCL*D)/(SA*HCOE))^0.5

This approximates the wind strength in knots required to lift a hull and includes a 40% gust factor. In the adjacent data sheet, we compare the formula’s predicted stability to observed behavior. Based on our experience on the boats represented, the results are roughly accurate.

Ama buoyancy = expressed as a % of total displacement.

Look for ama buoyancy greater than 150% of displacement, and 200 is better. Some early trimaran designs had less than 100 percent buoyancy and would capsize well before flying the center hull. They exhibited high submerged drag when pressed hard and were prone to capsize in breaking waves.

Modern tris have ama buoyancy between 150 and 200 percent of displacement and can fly the center hull, though even racing boats try to keep the center hull still touching. In addition, as a trimaran heels, the downward pressure of wind on the sail increases, increasing the risk of capsize. The initial heel on a trimaran is more than it is on catamarans, and all of that downward force pushes the ama even deeper in the water. Thus, like monohulls, it usually makes sense to keep heel moderate.

These numbers can only be used to predict the rough characteristics of a boat and must be supplemented by experience.

This is the first real cruising multihull in our lineup. A few have capsized. One was the result of the skipper pushing too hard in very gusty conditions with no one on watch. The other occurred when a crew unfamiliar with the boat ignored local wisdom and set sail into near gale conditions.

Although the speed potential of the PDQ 32 and the F-24 are very similar, and the stability index is not very different, the feel in rough conditions is more stable, the result of much greater weight and fuller hull sections.

Like most cruising cats, the PDQs hulls are relatively full in order to provide accommodation space, and as a result, driving them under is difficult. The increased weight slows the motion and damps the impact of gusts. Yes, you can fly a hull in about 25 knots apparent wind (we proved this during testing on flat water with steady winds), and she’ll go 8-9 knots to weather doing it, but this is not something you should ever do with a cruising cat.

Stability by the Numbers

The “stability factor” in the table above (row 14) is based on flatwater conditions, and ignores two additional factors. Unlike monohulls, the wind will press on the underside of the bridgedeck of a multihull once it passes about 25 degrees of heel, pushing it up and over. This can happen quite suddenly when the boat flies off a wave and the underside is suddenly exposed to wind blowing up the slope of the wave. A breaking wave also adds rotational momentum, pitching the windward hull upwards.

Multihulls by the Numbers

BOAT	STILETTO 27	CORSAIR F-24 MKI	PDQ 32/34	TECKTRON 35	LAGOON 42	GUNBOAT 48	EXTREME H2O
BEAM	13.8	18	16	23	22	24	28
BEAM CENTERLINE	11.3	15	12.8	16.8	17.4	20	23
DISPLACEMENT	1,100 lbs	1,800 lbs	7,200 lbs	4,800 lbs	16,550 lbs	17,700 lbs	34,400 lbs
SAIL AREA	336. sq. ft.	340 sq. ft	540 sq. ft	850 sq. ft	1,150 sq. ft	1,370 sq. ft	2,850 sq. ft
MAST HEIGHT	32 ft.	31 ft.	40 ft.	55 ft.	48 ft.	72 ft.	110 ft.
HEIGHT OF CENTER OF EFFORT (HCOE)	14.7 ft.	12.4 ft.	18.4 ft.	24 ft.	22.1 ft.	28.8 ft.	50.6 ft.
LOA	27 ft.	24 ft.	34 ft.	35 ft.	42 ft.	48 ft.	66 ft.
LWL	25.2 ft.	22 ft.	33.4 ft.	34.5 ft.	39 ft.	46 ft.	62 ft.
SA/D	51.4	37.6	23.9	49.2	29.4	33.5	45
BRUCE	1.8	1.5	1.2	1.7	1.3	1.4	1.6
PERFORMANCE INDEX	0.9	1.7	3.1	2.4	5.8	5.7	7.1
STABILITY INDEX	2.3	4.9	8.3	3.2	7.5	7.3	5.3
STABILITY FACTOR	11	17.5	21.1	13.8	23.3	20.8	16.2
OBSERVED HULL LIFT (TRUE WIND SPEED)	14 kts.	19 kts.	24 kts.	NA	NA	23 kts.	18 kts.
WINDWARD SPEEDAT HULL LIFT	7 kts.	8 kts.	8 kts.	9 kts.	8 kts.	NA	NA
REACHING BOAT SPEED	12 kts.	10-12 kts.	9-10 kts.	14 kts.	10-11 kts.	NA	NA
MAX SPEED	22 kts.	16-17 kts.	14-16 kts.	24 kts.	16-18 kts.	24 kts.	29 kts.
SEA AREA	Coastal	Coastal	Coastal/Offshore	Coastal	Offshore	Offshore	Coastal/Offshore
CAPSIZE MODE	Capsized in wind	Capsized in wind	Capsized in gale	Pitchpoled	NA	NA	Capsized in Squall

Autopilot is a common thread in many capsizes. The gust “came out of no place…” No it didn’t. A beach cat sailor never trusts gusty winds. The autopilot should be disengaged windspeeds and a constant sheet watch is mandatory when gusts reach 30-40 percent of those required to fly a hull, and even sooner if there are tall clouds in the neighborhood. Reef early if a helm watch is too much trouble.

“But surely the sails will blow first, before the boat can capsize?” That would be an expensive lesson, but more to the point, history tells us that well-built sails won’t blow.

“Surely the rig will fail before I can lift a hull?” Again, that could only be the result of appallingly poor design, since a rig that weak will not last offshore and could not be depended on in a storm. Furthermore, good seamanship requires that you be able to put the full power of the rig to work if beating off a lee shore becomes necessary.

Keeping both hulls in the water is up to you. Fortunately, under bare poles and on relatively flat water even smaller cruising cats can take 70 knots on the beam without lifting … but we don’t set out to test that theory, because once it blows for a while over even 40 knots, the real risk is waves.

Everything critical to safety in a blow we learned on beach cats. Like riding a bike, or—better yet—riding a bike off-road, there are lessons learned the hard way, and those lessons stay learned. If you’ve been launched into a pitchpole a few times, the feeling you get just before things go wrong becomes ingrained.

Perhaps you are of a mature age and believe you monohull skills are more than enough to see you through. If you never sail aggressively or get caught in serious weather, you’re probably right.

However, if there’s a cruising cat in your future, a season spent dialing in a beach cat will be time well spent. Certainly, such experience should be a prerequisite for anyone buying a performance multihull. The statement might be a little pointed, but it just makes sense.

Capsize by Wind Alone

Capsizing by wind alone is uncommon on cruising multihulls. Occasionally a performance boat will go over in squally weather. The crew could easily have reefed down or gone to bare poles, but they clung to the idea that they are a sail boat, and a big cat feels so stable under sail—right up until a hull lifts.

Because a multihull cannot risk a knockdown (since that is a capsize), if a squall line is tall and dark, the smart multihull sailors drops all sail. Yes, you could feather up wind, but if the wind shifts suddenly, as gusts often do, the boat may not turn fast enough. Off the wind, few multihulls that can take a violent microburst and not risk a pitchpole. When a squall threatens, why risk a torn sail for a few moments of fast sailing?

You can’t go by angle of heel alone because of wave action. Cat instability begins with the position of the windward hull. Is it flying off waves?

A trimaran’s telltale is submersion of leeward ama. Is the leeward ama more than 30-40 percent under water? The maximum righting angles is a 12-15 degrees for cats and 25-30 degrees for trimarans, but that is on flat water. Once the weather is up, observation of motion becomes far more important. Is the boat falling into a deep trough, or is at about to launch off a steep wave and fly?

Just as monohulls can surprise a new sailor by rounding up and broaching in a breeze, multihulls have a few odd habits that only present themselves just before things go wrong. Excuse the repetition, but the best way to learn to instinctively recognize these signs is by sailing small multihulls.

Sailing Windward

Because of the great beam, instead of developing weather helm as they begin to fly a hull, multihulls can suddenly develop lee helm, causing the boat to bear away and power up at the worst possible moment. This is because the center of drag moves to the lee hull, while the center of drive remains in the center, causing the boat to bear away.

If the boat is a trimaran, with only a center rudder, this rounding up occurs just as steering goes away. This video of a MOD 70 capsize shows how subtle the early warning signs can be ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI2iIY61Lc8 ).

Sailing Downwind

Off the wind, the effect can be the reverse. The lee hull begins to bury, and you decide it is time to bear off, but the submerged lee bow acts like a forward rudder. It moves the center of effort far forward and prevents any turn to leeward. Nearly all trimarans will do this, because the amas are so fine. The solution is to bear away early, before the ama buries—or better yet, to reef.

Conclusions

We’re not trying to scare you off multi-hulls. Far from it. As you can probably tell, I am truly addicted. Modern designs have well-established reputation seaworthiness.

But multihull seaworthiness and seamanship are different from monohulls, and some of those differences are only apparent when you press the boat very hard, harder than will ever experience in normal weather and outside of hard racing. These subtle differences have caught experienced sailors by surprise, especially if their prior experience involved only monohulls or cruising multihulls that were never pressed to the limit.

Although the numbers only tell part of the story, pay attention to a boat’s stability index. You really don’t want an offshore cruising boat that needs to be reefed below 22-25 knots apparent. Faster boats can be enjoyable, but they require earlier reefing and a more active sailing style.

When squalls threaten or the waves get big, take the appropriate actions and take them early, understanding that things happen faster. And don’t forget: knockdowns are not recoverable. It is satisfying to have a boat that has a liferaft-like stability, as long as you understand how to use it.

Technical Editor Drew Frye is the author of “Rigging Modern Anchors.” He blogs at www.blogspot/sail-delmarva.com

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Yachting World

Digital Edition

Pitchpoled at Cape Horn

Elaine Bunting
March 10, 2003

Dismasting may have saved Derek Hatfield's life as he was flung underneath his boat by a breaking wave

Canadian skipper Derek Hatfield has safely reached the Argentinian town of Ushaia after being dismasted near Cape Horn and has been talking about his ordeal. His problems started in large and very steep seas some 30 miles from the island of Cape Horn, an area famous for vicious seas, which build up as the long fetch of the Pacific reaches the shallowing water of the continental shelf. His 40ft Spirit of Canada was apparently picked up on a particularly steep breaking wave and sent headlong down its face to the trough, where the bow of the boat buried and the yacht pitchpoled.

“I have lost the timeline a bit,” he said. “I was so exhausted that I could hardly think, but when I heard the wave I knew that I was in trouble. I was not as big as some of the others, but it was breaking and it made a huge roar as it approached the boat. In seconds we were falling down the face of it until the bow dug in and then we pitchpoled. The boat went straight up and then fell over sideways.”

Hatfield was flung from the cockpit and ended up in the water, underneath the boat. There he heard an explosion as the mast broke and, with that, the boat popped back upright. It is quite possible that the dismasting saved him from drowning.

Clambering back into the boat, Hatfield immediately saw the devastation. The cabin was filled with smoke from the computers shorting out. The autopilots and the instruments were useless, aerials had been ripped out and communications gone; only the satellite phone linked him to land. The canting keel, which had been giving problems, had come loose. Hatches and stanchions had been ripped off and the mast and boom urgently needed to be cut away before they caused worse damage.

Hatfield is now in Ushuaia, and says his goal is to carry on racing in Around Alone. He has been inundated with offers of support and believes it may be possible to get Spirit of Canada patched up and operational again, though time is not on his side.

Derek Hatfield’s experience was of Cape Horn at its fiercest, but he is by no means the first sailor to have been caught out here. Perhaps the most terrifying pitchpole at the Horn was suffered by Miles and Beryl Smeeton and crewmember John Guzzwell, who were sailing the 46ft yawl Tzu Hang round Cape Horn in 1956.

Tzu Hang was pitchpoled, dismasted and very nearly destroyed. The crew managed to make land and repair the boat, but after setting off again the following year they were rolled once more, dismasted and again almost sank. The story was told in the classic book ‘Once is Enough’.

Derek Hatfield’s experience in a 4 tonne 40-footer is bound to raise some questions about the suitability of such a relatively small yacht. Interestingly, Miles Smeeton had this perspective, which is as true now as then, despite the intervening time and evolution of yacht design: “In the end, in a battle for survival, there is no final answer, and no one can be assured that a small yacht will see it through. It depends whether or not she is hit by some particular wave, towering and breaking at just the wrong time.”

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Fly the 'chute, because doing 12+ knots in a monohull keelboat isn't fast enough!

12+? More like closer to 20. Have you seen the speeds some of the Vendee Globe monohulls are clocking? Hell, I've had my Tartan 33 up to 10kts SOG.

Hey, 'interesting' footage. Not a capsize, not really a pitch-pole either (AFAIK). I would call it a broach. I have broached / been knocked down a few times when flying a chute. It was always one of those 'Should we take the chute down now? Nah, let's carry it a little longer' type moments. One memorable one was at the end of the 2014 Around Long Island Regatta. We were entering Hempstead Harbor flying the chute and were catching one last competitor. We knew we had too much sail up, but all we needed to do was one more good gybe and we would pass him. Well, the gybe didn't go well, the boat got knocked down, the cockpit flooded, my handheld GPS floated away and we lost a position. I'm sure that if we had been better rested we would have made better decisions. Barry

BarryL said: I would call it a broach. Click to expand...

I'm wondering how the guy on the starboard aft seat stayed in place. He must have been doing a pull-up for a few minutes. I don't think his feet had any leverage at all.

I've pitchpoled a Hobie 16 before, and it was actually kind of fun. On a boat like that, though... Yeah, I don't think so.

Those Hobies are loads of fun. When I was kid they had some sort of Hobie world championship or whatever in Hood River, OR. 30 or 40 knot winds down the Gorge against the current. We saw Hobie cats doing literal cartwheels across the water, and 3 or 4 really did pitchpole-- pinned upside down with the tops of their masts stuck in the mud. They never did come back to the Gorge, but it was a lot of fun to see at the time. :laugh

These 'modern' boats with their plumb bows, narrow entry and fat sterns are probably at risk of this type of accident. With not enough flotation forward, they'll bury the bow under the force of the spinnaker. Used to be the thrill of sailing a catamaran now ported over to mono's

Actuallythe Figaro is a pretty moderate design, with a lot of bow volume. Far more than on a traditional displacement hull. But note the spinnaker goingup in +40kn of breeze. Boats have a tendency to get squirly withthat much sail up in that much breeze. I would refer you to the old IOR battlewagons as an example.

The cause of this was simple : shear, utter stupidity, on behalf of the skipper. Not the wind speed, boat design, or anything else.

so for a true Olympic "ten"- pitchpole, would your lazarette hatch have to hit the water perfectly flat, and on the rhumb line? I think it would take a huge monster sea, and not just sail pressure, to ever get "there", huh? Not that I want to go...

nolatom said: so for a true Olympic "ten"- pitchpole, would your lazarette hatch have to hit the water perfectly flat, and on the rhumb line? I think it would take a huge monster sea, and not just sail pressure, to ever get "there", huh? Not that I want to go... Click to expand...

The IOR boats were prone to out of control roundups not trying to play submarine with the bow diving for the deep. Lots of Utube video of multi's burying the bows under the force of the spinnaker. This is the first one I've seen of a mono doing it. Boats with bow overhangs have reserve buoyancy to offset the forces trying to drive them under. Modern boats with their plumb bows and fine entries don't have that reserve and seem to go through waves not up and over them as I'm used to. Add those fat asses to lift to any following sea as the bow is trying to deep six and there could be some unique handling situations by the design. May be just the problem with racers carrying too much sail, as it was with the IOR types round up tendencies, but the hull designs just seem to lead to this sort of excitement. Some peoples ideas of moderate are not other's ideas of moderate.

Maybe you should let all the current modern Ocean racing fleets know about your theories of plumb bows and fat rear ends and I am sure they will go back to using designs with more over hang. boats with long over hangs actually have less reserve buoyancy for a given boat length and displacement. on boats with over hang the displace volume increases as the the hull is pushed lower the water. on a plumb bow the displacement volume is always at max waterline length and has more volume to resist being pushed lower in the water. a long over hang has to be pushed into the water to increase the volume , a plum bow has the volume at max all the time so they rock a lot less for the same overall length.

We call that submarining around here, but Electric Boat is just up the way in Groton. Pitchpoling in our book entails pointing the mast towards Beijing, or at least dipping the burgee, which didn't quite happen here. Looks like they needed more weight aft. A J/24 submarined at Noroton some years ago. Their fwd hatch was open and the boat filled & sank. Still down there as faik, with all sail set. These guys seem to be ready to do it again. Nothing broken! We also had a a friend aboard one of the AC cats that caught a wave in SFO and went from 25 knots to 0 in about half a second. He was sitting aft and was catapulted from about 35' up. That's why the crew on those boats all wear kevlar helmets & vests and have an emergency oxygen supply in case they're snagged somewhere. He says he twisted one of his fingers, but doesn't volunteer to observe from that close any more, thanks.

I was crewing on a Melges 24 that took a nose dive a bit like this, almost immediately after setting the chute. I'd say the bow was under until about the mast, but the stern didn't gain much altitude like in the video. I did think we were going to sail the boat right to the bottom for a few tense moments though.

You should read the stories of the boats Dick Newick and Hedley Nicol were playing around with in OZ in the 70's. One tale is of one of them, I forget which, flying a kite on a tri in 35 knots and the boat literally cartwheeled down the bay. Nobody was hurt, as I remember. They were competing to see who could build the fastest tri. Grand fun!

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Roman Titov: Pitchpoled & dismasted 300 miles off Scotland

Katy Stickland
April 1, 2022

Golden Globe Race hopeful Roman Titov sails 307 miles under jury rig after his yacht pitcholed and dismasted in storm force conditions off Scotland

Roman Titov set up jury rig and sailed over 300 miles to Loch Broom (pictured) and then on to Ullapool. Credit: Roman Titov

In December 2021, Russian yachtsman Roman Titov left Norway to sail south and earn qualifying miles for the 2022 Golden Globe Race .

On New Year’s Day, more than 200 miles off the north-west coast of Scotland, his 33ft Colin Archer-type cutter Vperyod was pitchpoled and dismasted in atrocious conditions.

In this account, translated from the Russian by singlehanded sailor Roger Taylor , Roman describes how he spent 17 days under jury rig bringing Vperyod to safety at Ullapool.

The wind began to strengthen and by 2000 on New Year’s Day had reached storm force, writes Roman Titov .

I made all my heavy weather sailing provisions, but at 2048 the waves pitchpoled the boat over her bow and onto her starboard side.

I flew overboard but was held by my harness. As I was wearing six layers of clothing, it was very difficult to climb back on board and my face was wounded in the process.

There was about two feet of water below, the engine was submerged, the starter and service batteries were underwater, and the starboard navigation light was carried away, along with one of the washboards and the sprayhood.

A yacht hove-to off Scotland in heavy weather

Roman Titov hove-to Vperyod in the heavy weather prior to the pitchpole and dismasting. Credit: Roman Titov

The mast had broken underwater, and its bits were lying along the deck. The standing rigging was intact and taking the strain.

The gantry for the solar panels was completely bent and destroyed, the wind had torn off the panels, the bowsprit was snapped and stanchions bent.

The whole deck was a tangle of wire and rope.

I tried to send a distress signal on the VHF radio , both automatically and by voice, but after five minutes the service battery had discharged, due to a short circuit, and all the electrics failed.

Below, the locker lids had all been ripped off, so that food, gear and electronics had all ended up in the water.

I turned on my Iridium satellite phone, but it could not find any satellites and I switched it off, unable to send a distress call with it.

For 30 minutes the mast lay on the deck, then flew overboard. The sea state was getting worse, and I was repeatedly banging my head and nose.

The two sea anchors which I had set the night before, along with the mast and the remains of the rigging overboard, were doing a good job stabilising the boat.

A yacht with two stern drogues trailing behind it

Roman Titov used two stern drogues to control Vperyod in the heavy weather prior to the pitchpole. Credit: Roman Titov

There were no leaks, but the bilge pumps were not working, as there was no electric power.

It took two days with a bucket to clear all the water.

I had entered a struggle for survival.

The outside temperature was 4°, and it was 10° down below.

My clothes dried on me and after a few days were no longer a problem. But I had to sleep in the dampness.

I toughened up and felt that the cold was no longer an annoyance.

I sorted out all the gear , food and tools .

The stern gantry of the yacht was left bent and twisted following the pitchpole and dismasting. Credit: Roger D Taylor

On the third day I found the bolt cutters and was able to cut the shrouds and backstay. But the mast was hanging on the bobstay chain, which I was unable to cut through or unhook.

This was a serious complication, as what was left of the mast and sails was acting as an anchor, and the yacht was not moving at all.

Neither had the sea relented. On 1 and 2 January, the waves were huge, with a wave period of one and a half to two minutes.

Waves like this are not dangerous for yachts as long as the crests don’t break, but they are a menacing sight.

Finding a safe haven

Two days later I was within sight of the Isle of Lewis. I reckoned this to be a safe place and tried as hard as I could to get close to the shore.

Since 12 January the wind had backed from west to south-west and was blowing parallel to the coast.

I was afraid that it would go to the south and carry me north past Lewis and Scotland into the Norwegian Sea.

This was the worst possible scenario and I tried everything I could to get close to the shore and into the coastal shipping zone.

The mast was sheared at the partners. Credit: Roger D Taylor

I was also hoping to get into the North Minch, to be protected from the waves and find a place where I could approach the coast.

By this time, I had got my AIS working.

At dawn on 15 January, I realised that I was being carried past the North Minch and that I might have to head for the Orkneys.

My mainsail was now ready, and I quickly raised it. Vperyod immediately sailed higher and faster. There was a fresh wind, and I calculated we were doing between 3 and 5 knots and sailing within 70 to 75° of the wind, which was very satisfying.

I was able to enter the North Minch and shelter from the ocean waves behind Lewis, but the wind was carrying me quickly towards a lee shore.

During the night the staysail began to tear.

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By the next day the lighthouse on Stoer Head was visible.

The wind, as before, was carrying me into the shore and there was a strong possibility that Vperyod would be thrown onto the headland.

The engine was ready to start, but I waited as long as possible, as I still did not know how long I would need it for.

I had enough fuel for 40 hours of motoring. I did not know how much charge was left in the starting batteries, so the engine would have to keep going without a stop until we were moored in harbour.

I left starting the engine until I could clearly see surf breaking on the headland. With the engine going, my situation was better, but there was still the time factor to consider.

Roman Titov's dismasted yacht on the hard in UIllaport

Vperyod is now in the Johnson and Loftus Yard in Ullapool, while Roman raises sponsorship to repair the boat and replace the rig. Credit: Roger D Taylor

Studying the chart , I could only see two possible bays for an approach.

The nearest bay was unattractive, on account of the wind and big waves at the entrance, so I chose the second option, the town of Ullapool.

It was further, but the entrance to Loch Broom was sheltered by the coastline and islands.

I planned the next 24 hours carefully, designating waypoints and the times between them.

A dismasted yacht belonging to Roman Titov alongside the harbour wall at Ullaport

Dismasted but safely alongside in Ullport. Credit: Roger D Taylor

I had only a chart at a scale of 1: 2,000,000, so my navigation was somewhat approximate.

I decided to enter the loch at first light, so that I could moor by sunset.

I worked out a safe place to wait and spent the whole night there, motoring under the engine.

I took down the staysail but left the mainsail up; it gave some directional stability and acted like a windvane , so I was able to sleep a little.

Land in sight

At dawn on 17 January, I was at the spot where I had planned to start my entry into Loch Broom. I would need six hours.

For the first four hours I struggled against a headwind and waves, as the wind had gone into the south, but after turning to enter the loch, the sea calmed down and I had a following wind.

The journey up the loch was straightforward. I raised the Russian flag, took down all the sail and motored at about 5 or 6 knots.

Right up until Ullapool, I did not see a single place suitable for anchoring , nor were there any pontoons or moorings.

The toe rail was smashed as a result of the lockdown. Credit: Roger D Taylor

I was getting seriously worried about finding somewhere to go ashore. There was no marine traffic, no yachts, no fishing boats, just the steep bare cliffs.

It was only having passed the town of Ullapool that I saw the harbour, with its jetties, moorings and vessels at anchor .

My radio was not working, so I could not ask for help, and nobody came to meet me.

I chose a spot and tied alongside, with just an hour of daylight left.

The port services had in fact picked me up on AIS, and seeing that I was motoring in and was able to moor independently, had not sent anyone to take my mooring lines.

At 1530 I reported to the harbour office and at 1630 I went to sleep.

A dismasted yacht with a broken bowsprit belonging to Roman Titov alongside the harbour wall at Ullapool

The bowsprit was broken during the pitchpole. Credit: Roger D Taylor

One by one I had solved all the seemingly fatal problems which I faced.

Over the course of 17 days, I had been able to clear the boat of water, make a flame, dry wet clothing, erect a jury rig, sew small sails, repair and start the engine.

With just a marine chart, sextant and compass I had brought the yacht into a Scottish port, a voyage under jury rig of 307 miles.

Translator’s Postscript: Vperyod is now ashore at the Johnson and Loftus yard near Ullapool, awaiting repair and construction of a new rig.

Roman Titov has flown back to Russia to raise more sponsorship so that he can continue with his plans to take part on the Golden Globe Race , which begins on 4 September 2022.

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IMAGES

VIDEO: Surviving the 49er Pitchpole >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News: Providing sailing news for sailors
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Pitchpoled in the Pacific in an open boat
Hobie 16 Anti Pitchpole Planes do work! 7-30-13
Readers’ Projects, Issue 55
2018 Golden Globe: solo non-stop, around the world yacht race announcement >> Scuttlebutt

COMMENTS

The Pitchpole
☞ SUPPORT JOYRIDER TV⛵️Channel Membership https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1lH...⛵️Patreon https://www.patreon.com/joseph_bennett ⛵️Getting a T-shirt ...
How to avoid a pitchpole
Larsen offers tips and advice on the best way to avoid a pitchpole. Photo: Lloyd Images TAGS: expert tips get out of that Racing. I can see the boat has a reef in and the daggerboards slightly ...
That Pitchpole
You've seen the raw video of the USA Sailing Team Nacra 17 sailors Ravi Parent and Caroline Atwood, so now hear how that epic pitchpole unfolded during their...
Pitchpoled in the Pacific in an open boat
Webb Chiles is a one-off, writes Tom Cunliffe.The first American to sail single-handed around Cape Horn, he has circumnavigated five times, mostly in small craft, some of them open.
Sailing Catamarans
Even the last generation of Prouts were wider than earlier versions. So I say it again. It is a myth to say that just making a catamaran wider means it will pitchpole. There are many more important factors that determine whether a boat will pitchpole or not than just the hull spacing. Woods Designs offer multihull designs, power catamarans and ...
How to survive a knock down and how to recover quickly
1 Sail smart - in the correct seasons. Ocean Passages for the World (Admiralty) gives you the percentage chance of storms by month. 2 Concentrate when helming. On the crest of a breaking wave, flow of water over the rudder can be reversed leading to loss of control. 3 Don't allow the boat to become over-pressed.
35th America's Cup Glossary Of Sailing Terms
Basically when the boat drops off the foils and the hulls hit the water, usually in a very dramatic fashion that soaks the sailors. Pitch pole The Kiwi team can tell us what this means. A pitchpole is when a boat capsizes stern over bow. It is usually the result of being extremely overpowered. Turtling When a boat capsizes completely.
There's a World of Danger Awaiting Solo Sailor : Pitchpoling and
The boat then cartwheels, or pitchpoles, end over end. In the Indian Ocean in the first race, American Tony Lush experienced a combination roll and pitchpole, which he described as a sort of a ...
VIDEO
This video was filmed off La Grande Motte (France), during a training session of Xavier Maquaire, aboard his Bénéteau Figaro II. Xavier Macaire was the skipper and Yves Le Blevec his guest onboard. They were sailing 15 knots, when they decided to launch the spinnaker. The boat nosedived in less than two seconds.
Pushing past pitchpoles and wipeouts
Pushing past pitchpoles and wipeouts. Published on July 1st, 2021. The Skiff events at the Olympic Games are the hardest for new campaigners as laying a foundation of solid boat handling entails a ...
Pitch-pole, to
Pitch-pole, to. A sea pitch-poles a boat when it turns her end-over-end, stern over stem. It happens so rarely that it would hardly be worth mentioning were it not for the extraordinary experience of the Smeetons who had it happen twice, as recounted in their widely-read book Once is Enough. When it does happen, the boat pitch-poles too, so the ...
how common is pitchpoling?
The yacht had a wave strike on the bow, and the impact ripped the crossbeam out of the boat, and pushed the boat backwards. The large sugar scoops on the stern dug into the water , and a backward pitchpole happened.
The Pitchpoling Myth
About a 2.6:1 safety margin. A 16x20 boat has a 16 ft righting arm and a 25.6 ft diag arm. A 1.6:1 safety margin. If the rig remains the same you get a 20% increase in pitchpole resistance, and double the lateral capsize resistance. However, the extra separation also doubles the rotational inertia around the lee bow.
Hobie Forums • View topic
Don't sail. But if you do then don't crew for Rich as he thinks it's really funny to pitchpole his boat while you're working the spinnaker and watching the head of the sail and not the bows, and then he'll use you to break his fall. But if you sail a Hobie you can minimize it by going as slowly as possible and sailing strictly in small lakes.
A Look at Wave-piercing Bows on Multihulls
May 21, 2015. There are several reasons why reverse bows—also called wave-piercing—have become more popular of late. Probably the most valid of these is the claim (and generally accepted fact) that such a bow form reduces pitching, which is not only uncomfortable, but also slows the boat. Pitching is aggravated when a conventional bow picks ...
What does it take to pitchpole a boat?
On the Hobie, I also had a high center of thrust (thrust centered high on the sail). Fortunately the Hobie was design to take a pitchpole. No loose running gear, no motor, and no electronics. Even then a pitchpole on a catamaran is a WILD ride. On a power boat, it would be a nightmare! Thanks for bringing back some great memories. TerryMSU
Preventing Multihull Pitchpoling
about 41 seconds in where the port hull buries up to the crossarm but instead of pitchpoling she just slows down a bit and then keeps on flying. Not in the video I watched. At 41 seconds, the port bow digs in, followed by the vaka while the boat comes off foil and slows, considerably. That's where the clip ends.
Multihull Capsize Risk Check
Because as beam increases, a pitchpole off the wind becomes more likely, both under sail and under bare poles. (The optimum length-to-beam ratios is 1.7:1 - 2.2:1 for cats and 1.2:1-1.8:1 for trimarans.)
Pitchpoled at Cape Horn
Perhaps the most terrifying pitchpole at the Horn was suffered by Miles and Beryl Smeeton and crewmember John Guzzwell, who were sailing the 46ft yawl Tzu Hang round Cape Horn in 1956.
Small Catamaran, Big Pitchpole
☞ SUPPORT JOYRIDER TV⛵️Channel Membership https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1lH...⛵️Patreon https://www.patreon.com/joseph_bennett ⛵️Getting a T-shirt ...
pitchpole
In the pitch pole competition to be scored requires the vessel to finish inverted with the keel pointed to the sky. A perfect 10 is when the centerline of the transom scribes an arc the crosses directly above the bow. Sadly this entry failed to even be scored.
Roman Titov: Pitchpoled & dismasted 300 miles off Scotland
In December 2021, Russian yachtsman Roman Titov left Norway to sail south and earn qualifying miles for the 2022 Golden Globe Race. On New Year's Day, more than 200 miles off the north-west coast of Scotland, his 33ft Colin Archer-type cutter Vperyod was pitchpoled and dismasted in atrocious conditions. In this account, translated from the ...
Hobie Forums • View topic
You are at most risk of a pitchpole when you accelerate. This happens when you get hit with a gust or as you bear away from close hauled. When bearing away you want to keep the boat going as fast as possible and make sure the jib is uncleated ready to dump. Weight right back on the boat and try and make a nice fast gentle turn.