Turtling (sailing)

Turning a boat upside down

A boat is said to be turtling or to turn turtle when it is fully inverted. The name stems from the appearance of the upside down boat, similar to the carapace (top shell) of a sea turtle. The term can be applied to any vessel; turning turtle is less frequent but more dangerous on ships than on smaller boats. It is rarer but more hazardous for multihulls than for monohulls, because multihulls are harder to flip in both directions. Measures can be taken to prevent a capsize (where the boat is knocked over on its beam ends but not yet inverted) from becoming a turtle (with bottom up).

When a boat is "turned over completely" it has turned turtle. Some sources treat the term "turtle" as synonymous with "capsize" or "keel over". but most others make a distinction. Carrying too much sail or loss of control can lead to broachingthe boat heels too far to one side, or capsizes. While all turtlings involve a capsize, the converse is untrue. Prevention is the first priority. With the exception of self righting watercraft, vessels have an angle of vanishing stability (AVS). External forces aside, if they are tilted at an angle less than the AVS, they will pop back upright. If they are tilted at an angle greater than the AVS, they will turn turtle and stay there. In other words, non self righting vessels are stable when turtled. Their primary stability and secondary stability are greater than zero, tending to right them, but their tertiary or inverted stability is less than zero, and tends to keep them upside down. Capsizing (but not necessarily turtling) is an inherent part of dinghy sailing, and is considered to be "routine". It is not a question of "if" but a question of "when". For those who prefer to avoid the experience, a keelboat monohull has physics on its side. These include floats (e. g., one that looks like a streamlined blimp used on Hobie 16s) or a "sail patch"a sleeve with built in flotation that fits over the top of the sail, available for example as option on the Wayfarer (dinghy) Mark IV. Capsizing is particularly troublesome for catamarans and trimarans, which are especially hard to right. The use of a trapeze, harness, jackline or other tether can cause injury or death due to entrapment if a boat turtles. The use of "righting ropes" materially aids the process. Standing on the centerboard and "piggybacking" of crew members can be highly effective to right a turtled dinghy, as it increases both the weight and leverage being applied. Use of powerboats to aid is problematical, and depending on the technique usedthere are severalmay or may not succeed. See Capsize.

In yacht sailing, multihulls are deemed to be more prone to turtling than keeled monohulls, and there is essentially no way to right them if they overturn. The juxtaposition of the hulls and sail when turtledit makes them inherently stable when invertedmakes them especially resistant to righting. There are others who state that a self righting multihull is the answer, along with designing in safety and proper operation. A patent has been issued specifically concerning righting of turtled large multihulls. It is, however, possible (and often successfully) to right a capsized small multihull, e. g., a Beachcat and Hobie 16. The process begins with positioning ropes so that the crew can get leverage (acting together is key). Righting Beach catamarans that are turtled can be extremely difficult. Loss of sails, rigging, masts and boats can occur, See Hobie 16 which suggests sitting on the rear of one sponson, which will upturn a turtled Hobie. Even some large multihulls can be righted at seait is a long shotprovided that the skipper is well prepared, knows what they are doing, and has appropriate devices, tools, skills, a workable plan, cooperative waves, weather and wind, and some luck. has been the occasion for many sailboat capsizes, turtlings and fatalities. In the 1979 race, "15 sailors died, five boats sank, and at least 75 boats flipped upside down." In any event, adopting heaving to as a storm tactic proved to be a good preventive of capsize during the race. Not one of the hove to yachts were capsized or suffered any serious damage. See also Capsize of Drum (1985) and Capsize of Rambler (2011),

In December 2008, the high speed experimental sailing hydrofoil trimaran Hydroptère set a world speed record, then pitchpoled while going over 60 knots. The turtled yacht had to be towed back to port for being turned right side up. In the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, the high performance monohull sportsyacht WingNuts, a Kiwi 35, turtled in an extreme storm, killing the captain and one crew member. Later inquiry determined the boatspecifically its high performance extremely wide low displacement hull The waves were not all that unusual, although the wind was. The boat may have buried one of its hiking wings into a wave, causing it to 'trip', and had the other lifted by the wind. This loss was occasioned despite a competent and experienced crew which was as well equipped and prepared as thought to be necessary. On 13 June 2012, in the trials leading to the America's Cup, Oracle Team USA on an AC45 spectacularly capsized the boat, and it was righted with minimal damage ("there's a little rip there") ten minutes later. Skipper Russell Coutts dismissed it as "a learning experience". This was an epilogue to earlier similar incidents by other teams in Australia. On 9 May 2013, the 2013 America's Cup challenger Artemis broke apart, broached, capsized, and turtled destroying its wing/sail and trapping two crew members under its hull. The AC72 wing sail catamaran was sailed on behalf of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, sponsoring Team Artemis. Andrew "Bart" Simpson, an Olympic gold medal winning British sailor, died as a result.

Capsize and turtling can result in legal liability for damages due to negligence.