Sailing Tactics Revealed: Person Overboard!
By Linda Cullum
Person Overboard! Sailing Rescue Techniques
Most one man-overboard drills usually consist of throwing over acushion and returning to pick it up by the strap. A good sizedfireplace log is a better way to do the practice because it ismuch more awkward to get aboard. There are four important stepsto retrieving a person who has gone overboard. The first is toreturn without delay to a position near the victim. The secondis to maneuver your boat close enough so you connect him or herto the boat. The third is to get the person aboard, and thefourth is to see that they are ok. The moment someone goes overthe side, a boat cushion or life preserver should be tossed tohim/her. Make sure to keep him/her in sight, and as the distancewidens, it is increasingly important to maintain visual contact.Even when you are alone on the boat, keeping the victim in sightis second only to getting the boat back to him. Everythingbecomes more practical as you get in closer proximity to theperson in the water. Here are three methods of rescue.
Method One...This method involves jibing to rescue the personover board. Only do this in light winds to avoid capsizing.Remember to stay in constant communication with the victim.1.When a person falls overboard, immediately yell CrewOverboard! 2.Next, throw a flotation device toward the victimand keep a close eye on them.3.Jibe the boat. 4.Now quickly headup to a close-hauled course. 5.Retrieve the person on thewindward side of the boat. Let the mainsail out to stop.
Method Two... If the wind is too strong to jibe the boat, thentacking in a figure eight is a good way to go. Remember to stayin constant communication with the victim. 1.When a person fallsoverboard, immediately yell Crew Overboard! 2.Head on a broadreach for about 15 to 20 seconds. Keep your eyes on thevictim.3. Then come about and head up. 4.Go beyond the victimand come about again, proceeding on a broad reach. 5.Head up tothe leeward side of the person and let the mainsail out.
Method Three...The Quick Stop maneuver is a new, widelyrecommended method that calls for the boat to go head-to-wind assoon as a person goes in the water. The jib is backed to furtherreduce speed while the continues turning until the wind is abaftthe beam. The course is stabilized on a beam- to broad-reach fortwo or three boatlengths, then altered to nearly dead downwind.If the wind is light, you can tack immediately after the personfalls overboard and leave the jib cleated. Remember to stay inconstant communication with the victim. 1. First,immediatelyyell Person Overboard! and toss them a flotation device.2.Keeping an eye on the victim, immediately come about andbackwind the jib by leaving it cleated. 3. Let the mainsail outso that it luffs and drifts towards the victim. 4.Let themainsail all the way out and uncleat the jib. All these methodsare good and each will benefit from practice. Most practicesessions are held in calm water onclear days, which is rarelythe condition in which a man-overboard emergency will occur, sothink about handling the situation in a storm, or at night, orin fog. The wise sailor reviews his plans for handlingman-overboard scenarios every time he goes aboard a boat. Heapplies his plan to the conditions prevailing whenever he goeson deck. When a crew member goes in the water there should be nodelay in starting the best retrieval method. Many safetyauthorities believe that the victim should be picked up on thewindward side, but I believe that with a sailboat the leewardside is likely to be both lower and more sheltered, with theboom readily available as a mounting for the hoisting block. Asthe boat drifts to leeward it will drift away from a victim whois to weather, but will remain close to the victim to leeward.Watch out, though, to make sure that the boat bouncing in aseaway does not slam down on top of the swimmer. Resist thetemptation to have someone go in the water to help the victim -you may lose two people. If the person in the water is unable tohelp himself you then may have to send a spare person into thewater to help. In this case make surethere is a line securelyattaching the boat and the would-be rescuer. Plan ahead how youare going to get this person back aboard. Of course the more youknow about how your boat behaves under differing circumstances,the better will be your performance in any emergency. Picking upa mooring under sail, particularly in winds over 30 knots,teaches you a lot that you can use to save a friend's life. Atall times handle your sails at racing speed. Whenever you can,practice and think about what you are going to do in aman-overboard situation. The seconds you save may be importantin an emergency.
Linda Cullum is from Cape Cod, MA, with a second home in Vermont. She is the author of Learn to Sail! with Multimedia! a Sailing training CDROM/DVD which teaches all aspects of Sailing including Knots, Piloting, Rules of the Road, Weather with digital video from Sail Magazine, narration, animation and quizzes.
Click here to visit her site!
Happy Sailing/)
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