Sometimes you have an excited moment, sailing in a Dutch classic 12foot dinghy with a lot of wind. For example Sjouke Dijkstra and Wim Broer during the Dutch championship 2012 at the Braassemmermeer, just before a gybe or a swimming moment.
You might need buoyancy bags. The Dutch rule is at least 120 ltr. Better is 200 ltr. If you don't know which ones to buy, Crewsaver makes excellent Buoyancey bags. You can buy them online at this company.
www.sailboats.co.uk
48 * 8 inch. 122 * 20 cm. 45 ltr.
Take 4 of them. The costs: about 4 times 50 euro. Total 200 euro.
In this case you have 4 * 45 = 180 ltr on board in your dinghy. That is enough if you capsize.
Take care fixing them well. Duuk Dudok van Heel has written this advise in the past: "Personally I use 3 mm braided nylon or dacron line, one end to fix at a timber just above the floorboard, then straight up over the bag and go behind the same timber and from then on zigzagging and threading behind each timber until the end of the bag. The last run going straight up or down again. Thus the bag cannot go anywhere. Make sure that there are no or almost no creases in the bag as these will become weak spots in the material and a source of future leakages. If one chooses webbing straps to fix buoyancy bags, don’t use the easy grip type (Velcro). They let go at the critical moment. Use one belt for every 30 cm. This will prevent the frustration of seeing your bags sail away after capsizing"
Picture taken by Wietske van Soest.
You might need buoyancy bags. The Dutch rule is at least 120 ltr. Better is 200 ltr. If you don't know which ones to buy, Crewsaver makes excellent Buoyancey bags. You can buy them online at this company.
www.sailboats.co.uk
48 * 8 inch. 122 * 20 cm. 45 ltr.
Take 4 of them. The costs: about 4 times 50 euro. Total 200 euro.
In this case you have 4 * 45 = 180 ltr on board in your dinghy. That is enough if you capsize.
Take care fixing them well. Duuk Dudok van Heel has written this advise in the past: "Personally I use 3 mm braided nylon or dacron line, one end to fix at a timber just above the floorboard, then straight up over the bag and go behind the same timber and from then on zigzagging and threading behind each timber until the end of the bag. The last run going straight up or down again. Thus the bag cannot go anywhere. Make sure that there are no or almost no creases in the bag as these will become weak spots in the material and a source of future leakages. If one chooses webbing straps to fix buoyancy bags, don’t use the easy grip type (Velcro). They let go at the critical moment. Use one belt for every 30 cm. This will prevent the frustration of seeing your bags sail away after capsizing"
Picture taken by Wietske van Soest.
