Enterprise dilema

Originally posted by 423zero Rich, Only one side of boat was in the water Saturday but both tanks held the same amount of water, so capsize wasn't the issue, probably floor joints.

ISTR some of those old glass Enterprises had no separate tanks so once it was upright the water would be evenly distributed on each side.

They had lumps of polystyrene foam in to prevent them completely sinking.

Having capsized an Ent or two, my recollection is that the top of the centreboard case was just under water.
The best bailing technique is to stand at the transom, feet apart and use a bucket to scoop water over the transom. Ignore the fact that some water will come in over the side decks. You should be able to scoop a bucket full every few seconds - after the first few minutes you'll have shifted enough to bring the water level down...

I used to sail on the Thames - some helms found it quicker to beach the boat full of water and capsize the boat with helm & crew ashore to drain more quickly.

Using transom flaps requires several factors:-
Bow tank (early wooden boats had a bow buoyancy bag - these are difficult to drain with transom flaps)
Force 4+ wind (or sufficient for planing condition)
Nerves of steel.
Start by releasing the flaps, now start sailing on a reach, building speed up, then steer onto a broad reach. As the boat speed increases, the bow will want to submarine, use crew weight to prevent this.
As you get a substantial bow wave, both crew run to the transom and bounce. This lifts the bow out of the water and at the right speed the bow will stay up. At this point, the water in the hull will rush aft, hit the transom and pour out over the transom, be sucked out via the flaps.
You'll also notice that a wave will rebound from the transom and travel forward in the dinghy. Keep the bow up - play the job, bounce. As this wave goes forward, it depresses the bow. Hopefully, it will rebound off the is tank, and when it reaches the transom you'll have only a few inches of water remaining.
Boats will the bow buoyancy bag find that this wave will travel around the bag and the bow will go down and down and you end up swimming again...

Flaps are good when coming ashore - they drain the hull faster than the drain holes, but using afloat take some practise.

For modern dinghies with double floors/different hull shapes they're great, just some of the older designs aren't as easy to use.