Masthead buoyancy

I think I heard of someone who filled their mast with ping-pong balls - don't know if it was true!

My brother got a Crewsaver mast float for his RS200 that i used the first couple of times i sailed my Contender as he as not out and now i used two of the bags from inside wine boxes blown up, one wither side of the sail. To decrease drag (as if it really matters with the speed i sail the thing) i tied a rope to the bottom of the Crewsaver one and lashed it hard to the bottom of the mast so it effectively lay along it, this int possible with the bags due to their square nature and lack of a point on the bottom of the bag to tie a rope to.

As i am learning this was extremely useful particularly as my first sail was in a 4-5 and resulted in 28 capsizes, it kept the boat completely on it's side and allowed me to right the boat easily and even rest on the centreboard before righting in the latter stages. Contrary to JimC's observation i did not float at all far downwind ( Northerly wind, sailing out of Shoreham). In all i think it is a very good idea for a learner in any class who is not particularly confident in the abilities to right from turtle/ does not have the energy to constantly right from turtled. Also contrary to what someone said there is no visible damage to my mast although to be honest i havn't really checked yet.

I will eventually be removing them though despite how bling bling the silver bags are at the top of my mast (That is a joke ).

N.B. Wine bags are not quite as buoyant as the floats and are slightly harder to hoist without getting caught in the track (i can be a bit of a numpty so getting it caught is not a problem if you are paying any kind of attention.