© Tony Bessinger

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While racing sailors usually spend more time practicing man-overboard drills
than casual sailors and cruisers, it doesn't make them immune to being
lost overboard. Two sailors I knew drowned off raceboats in the past
three years-one in Long Island Sound in 2002 and one off the coast of
New Jersey last fall-so I was thinking well beyond the hypothetical
already when I headed to San Francisco Bay last August to participate
in the Crew Overboard Retrieval Symposium, an event sponsored by West
Marine and Modern Sailing Academy, with support from Cruising Club of
America, BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, Sailing
Foundation of Seattle, Garmin, North Sails, and Landfall Navigation.
Last held in 1996, the Symposium included 120 volunteers from different
disciplines in the sport as well as industry reps and a handful of
boating writers. The plan was to test lifesaving gear introduced since
1996 and to determine which recovery methods worked best. From the
opening day, it was obvious we'd be spending a significant amount of
time on the water. Each morning, volunteer crews were given a list of
specific tasks to perform on racing and cruising sailboats, ranging
from 24 to 56 feet. A designated skipper was in charge of each boat and
one of the crew, equipped with a Garmin handheld GPS and a notebook,
sailed as a record keeper. The rest of the crew would take
turns steering, trimming sails, and trying to retrieve either Styrofoam
heads, a 150-pound dummy, or volunteer divers. At the end of the day,
each GPS's track would be downloaded and matched with its respective
record-keeper's written record. The skipper of each boat provided a
videotaped debrief. Through all of this, event organizers hoped that
after four days of observation, a large amount of valuable data would
be in hand and ready to be distilled into a report. I sailed
one day and, to get a better overall picture, spent the rest of the
event riding a Vessel Assist rescue RIB. We stood by as boats put
"victims" in the water and tried four different methods of returning to
the victim, many different techniques of getting the victim aboard,
some tried-and-true and new pieces of recovery gear. Details and
official observations from the Symposium will be compiled into a report
and released before the end of the year, but in the following pages,
I'll share my observations. Watch your speed
On the first day in particular we saw poor technique, which included
approaching the victim at terrifying speeds. On many occasions, once
the COB was attached in some way to a retrieval device, the boat was
moving at a rate of knots that could potentially drown the very person
they were trying to rescue. One valuable tip from our volunteer victims
to potential crew overboard was to turn around (back of the head toward
the boat) and spread your arms and legs out so your body would plane
rather than plow. It was also suggested by several of the volunteer
victims that everyone who sails should carry a knife because, if a
victim is being towed too fast, he or she can cut themselves free. Once
you've lost somebody overboard, reduce your sailplan. When jib sheets
are cast off in more than 15 knots of breeze, they become thrashing
tentacles that can injure or remove crewmembers from the deck. If the
boat is equipped with a roller-furling headsail, it should be rolled;
it will be just as easy to roll it out should steerage or boatspeed be
required. You need steerage way and boatspeed to get to your
victim, but if you stay close enough to the COB you take away the
intricate challenge of trying to balance speed and steerageway that a
long approach requires. The Quick Stop (see diagram) can keep you close
enough to the COB to use throwing devices, but the Quick Stop isn't for
everybody. Think about the havoc that a Quick Stop would create on a
swing-keel supermaxi sailing 30 knots downwind. Talk to the victim
Communication with the crew overboard is important. Victims are
desperate to know they're being recovered. If you're close enough, yell
to the COB that you have them in sight and are trying to get to them
ASAP. Once the victim is secured to the boat with a retrieval device,
it's important to continue the eye and voice contact. On the last day I
watched a victim try to tell a boat's crew they were towing him too
quickly. The entire crew was facing forward, occupied with
sailhandling, as the victim was towed along, hapless and helpless, at 5
knots. Don't forget the basics
Hit the COB/MOB button on the GPS and get on the radio and broadcast
PAN-PAN as soon as you lose someone. The more help around, the better
the chance of recovery. If you lose sight of the victim, immediately
broadcast a MAYDAY and set off the EPIRB. You can always cancel both
once the victim is back aboard. Use your engine; extra points aren't
awarded if you recover your COB under sail. If you use the engine,
don't rush. Make sure every line is accounted for and none are trailing
from the boat ready to wrap around your prop. Try to recover
the COB to leeward; there will be less wind and wave action than a
windward recovery, and the breeze will blow you toward the victim
rather than away. Stern ladders and swim platforms only work when the
sea condition is benign. When a boat is pitching in large waves, the
stern could easily injure someone trying to board the boat via the
transom. Determine which return technique works best for your
type of boat. The Corsair 24 trimaran's crew quickly figured out that
the Quick Stop technique stopped the boat so quickly they couldn't
reach the victim. When they tried the Figure 8, the speed built too
quickly. In the end, no technique was accepted as perfect for the
speedy tri; it depends upon the conditions. We'll discuss gear
in the follow-up article (Best Recovery Gear, Nov/Dec '05), but from
our observations, the LifeSling-developed as a result of an earlier COB
seminar-works extremely well, as does its descendant, the inflatable
LifeSling. MOM units, while expensive, are well worth the price. They
are as complete a rescue package as can be delivered to a MOB victim. A
simple heaving line works well if the victim is close and conscious and
should be a part of the safety gear on every boat longer than 15 feet. And finally, the obvious: always wear a PFD and augment it with a harness and jacklines when sailing offshore or alone.
For more information on the Crew Overboard Retrieval Symposium,
organized by John Connolly, Chuck Hawley, Karen Prioleau, John
Rousmaniere and Ruth Wood,  http://cobevent.com