Glossary · Sailing & navigation
Capsize
Also called: Chavirage, chavirer, retournement, sancir, pitchpole
The boat turns over; a pitchpole is a capsize end over end.
A capsized monohull should right itself thanks to its keel. A multihull stays upside down: it is the major risk of big racing trimarans. A pitchpole is a capsize over the bow, when it buries into a wave and the boat flips end over end.
Classes require stability tests and equipment (escape hatches, beacons) so that the crew survives a capsize.
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No source yet · updated 30 Sept 2026