A Knockdown in Kingston Harbour

By DR. Neil Persadsingh, Aka Capt Tuna

Last Sunday the 4th of September we went for a sail and suffered our first knockdown with a Vivacity. We always thought that this boat could never suffer a knockdown. How wrong we were.

It was about 11.00 am and the trade winds had started to blow very early. The wind was about 15 knots gusting to twenty and we had two passengers on board.
A new friend had come on board from Miami where he had been living on a Colombia 36. Normally I am a coward hence the nickname Capt Tuna, but I wanted to create a good impression on my friends. Mistake No 1: I did not want him to come to my home and tell my wife that I was a wimp and afraid of the sea. Mistake No 2: Always be afraid of the sea. It is bigger and rougher than you will ever be.

So we set off for a sail and raised the mainsail. The Genoa remained furled and we sailed out of the docks.
The wind was coming in from the South East and it was varying in strength and clocking from SSE to ESE and varying from 10 knots to 15 knots, sometimes even gusting to about 20 knots. No big deal we were on a reach, sailing across the habour. The waves were about 2 to 3 feet and building. It was time to come in. A tack was called for and Chris was at the helm. I told him to tack the boat. No, instead he decided to gybe the boat. No! I shouted. But the gibe was already under way the boom came across with as you would have guessed considerable force. The boat was on its side and the mast was in the water.

Now, we had three grown men all over two hundred pounds or six hundred pounds of movable ballast on the wrong side of the boat.
We instantly clawed –clambered across the boat unto the right side. The mast came out of the water and the boat righted itself and we were sailing away on a reach.

Lesson No 3: Do not trust anyone with the tiller in rough weather. Even if you are there, just don’t trust anyone.
Now, you may have heard the saying about the hair from the dog that bit you last night --so we had to gybe the boat again to get it out of our system. The wind had gone down, it was now about 10 knots. I took over the tiller, pulled the main sheet in to the center line of the boat and the gybe was completed textbook fashion.
Now it was time to tack. Of course with only the main up, the bow of the boat would not go through the wind. We were in irons. So we fell off and started the engine and tacked the boat using the main sail and the engine again we were on a reach and we headed to the dock to tie up the boat.

The lessons learned:
Do not go out sailing with people you do not know.
2 Don’t let anyone else sail the boat except you or until they get properly used to how the boat.
3 Always remember that you can start the engine and do a wheel barrow turn.
4. If you have a situation when the bottom of the boat is dirty and she won’t tack, you can always go on a run and gybe the boat remembering to always bring in that mainsheet to the center of the boat and then gybe the boat under full control. Don’t trust friends who do not know the boat.
Lastly, you can always go and practice. You will have the skill and knowledge to get the boat to do just what you want.