Thanks for sharing your experiences and modifications, I have always been worried about a possible knockdown and what the result would be. Its great to hear about other peoples experiences and discussion in this area, since I have always worried about my first experience being my last.
I have made some modifications to my boat to provide additional security in case of a knockdown. I commonly sail in very windy and wavy conditions so it wouldn't be a simple manner of a one-time self righting. Unless something changed, further knockdowns would occur over and over. I don't have any additional floatation, so if the boat were to ship too much water in a knockdown(s) it would evetually sink. The boat as a whole would have to be sealed sufficiently to provide bouyancy until conditions could be remedied. The weak points I found were, the cabin door (hatch), cockpit locker, and sink drain. Furthermore, I think that keeping the heavy gear secure in the bottom of the boat will add a lot of self-righting stability. The standard two-piece 1/4 inch hatch covers did not look very secure, and even if they could withstand the water force, they would still leak alot. I have constructed a one-piece hatch cover out of 7/16 plywood which fits very snuggly into the grove in the trim boards and under the lid. I think that this hatch cover would withstand a fairly long-term exposure to waves and cockpit water without leaking too much (it also provides better protection against mosquitos). Whenever the wind picks up I make sure to always sail with the the main hatch closed securely. For the large cockpit locker, I just riveted on standard hasps and they don't seem to interfere with the normal sailing operations. I put a couple on because the forces could be quite large on the locker lid in the event of a knockdown. I also put a rubber weather strip around the inside edge of the locker, that when the locker is locked down provides a fairly water-tight seal. The access boards under the berths were a little more difficult to put latches on, since I wanted them to be flush below the cushions. I found some hardware at the local Ace that worked alright. Again these need to be very strong to withstand the forces during a knockdown. I haven't overcome the drain issue yet but I suppose a check valve would work. I agree with the comment I read about reefing early. The Montgomery seems to sail very solidly with reefed sails, and suprising, doesn't lose too much speed. I commonly sail with about a 70% jib and a fully (double) reefed mainsail. With this arrangement and some pretty good winds I can average 6 knots without too much instablity in the waves. Also a little weather helm due to the small jib. Cordell Pool _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
