Following a Man Over Board (MOB) incident that happened prior to the start of the 2011 Youngstown to PCYC race, we have received a number of suggestions, tips, hints and personal recollections.  Some of these have been posted here to help everyone remember the importance of safety, and special importance of wearing life jackets, tethers and other devices to keep single and double handed sailors on their boats and out of harms way.

Please note that what follows is feedback from individuals that participate in LOSHRS.  LOSHRS does not necessarily endorse all that is stated below. Please refer to the SIs and mandatory equipment list or the official LOSHRS endorsement.   This information is provided because all boats are different, and all sailors experiences are different.  We believe that everyone can learn from the experience of other. Thanks to all that submitted material.


Mark Ashworth, “Black Magic”, a CS30, Double handed

A couple years back, I had to do my own crew recovery in confused seas with waves from one direction and 4′ rollors from another when I was doing a race double handed.  I was so thankful afterward that Gary had a self-inflating PDFon (and that it worked).   Now, everyone on Black Magic has a PFD on while racing. I always have jack lines rigged while double/single handed and alway clip in at night or in adverse weather.

Brent Hughes, “Peale”, Single handed

I have certainly become more safety conscious than most since early 2006, when I attended my first “Safety at Sea” seminar, did the Newport Bermuda in 2006, and crossed the Atlantic in 2007.  I learned a great deal about safety, boat preparation, and drownings.  Here are a few of my thoughts;

a)     My jack lines are always installed when I am single-handing.  I always assumed they were mandatory to be “installed” on deck for the LOSHRS and the LO300, though not always clipped in.

b)    I am not always clipped in, but am at night when sailing solo, at all times

c)     I do not always clip in when on the foredeck sailing solo, but do so when the wind is usually anything over 10 knots or when I am doing anything that leads me hang over the lifelines….tieing a sheet, clipping in the kite, working on the end of the boom, peeing etc.

d)    I always wear my auto-inflate when sailing solo (except during the Saturday heatwave doldrums off YYC).

e)     Whenever sailing with people unfamiliar with the boat, or on a passage, I always go through the safety gear, where it is etc etc.  For example, we sailed Friday night through the night to Presquile (65 nm) with 4 of us (very experienced) on board.  Prior to leaving the dock, we installed the jack-lines, went through the safety gear, and pointed out the “ditch bag” that I now keep at the ready at all times.  In fact, the “LO300 Map” of the boats safety gear location is now permanently mounted inside of Pearl, showing the location of all safety gear, ditch bag, medical kits, lifejackets, extra flares, fire extinguishers, etc etc etc.).  We were all clipped in at night.

f)    It is imperative that all necessary safety gear be close and easily accessible in all conditions.

g)      With respect to drownings, one thing I have learned is that in 99.9% of ALL drownings, nobody cries for help, or waves their arms.  It is impossible to do so, because the body literally goes into shock survival mode, and every single thing we do, is to help our bodies stay afloat.  Drowning victims do not yell, because they can’t, they do not wave their arms, because they can’t, and they do not thrash around in the water, because they can’t.

h)     Finally,  I have never been in favour of “mandatory” anything, especially the wearing of lifejackets.  The wearing of lifejackets should still be, in 99.9% of all cases, YOUR CHOICE.  I CHOOSE to wear it when I sail solo, because I know the risks involved, and because I know that I am 100% responsible for my own fate on the water at all times, but especially when sailing solo or DH.

Ric Doedens, “Demon’s Dance”, C&C 99, Double Handed

On a recent warm, sunny, light-wind afternoon, we took “Demon’s Dance” out onto the lake to practice our double-handed MOB drills in preparation for the Lake Ontario 300 and also in reaction to the recent MOB that occurred in the Youngstown to PCYC LOSHRS race on board “Against the Wind”. We were fortunate enough to have a willing wet-suit clad volunteer to jump in the water for us so unlike previous years where we retrieved a fender overboard, this was an opportunity to experience the real thing. All in all, the exercise went well but was not without challenge even though the weather conditions were ideal. Knowing that an actual MOB is more likely to occur in conditions which are far less accommodating gives me the shivers.

The day began with several attempts to master the ‘quick-stop’ method after throwing a fender overboard. The manoeuvre involved turning head to wind and hove-to as soon as the skipper was aware of the MOB. We included throwing a life-ring as a part of the exercise. Amazingly, in 6 attempts at completing the quick-stop, we found 5 different ways to tangle the life-ring/MOB light combination as we removed them from the stern-rail to throw in the water and had to re-configure the arrangement each time to lessen the possibility of entanglement on the next attempt. Similarly, in our last 2 quick-stop practices, we also included deployment of the ‘life-sling’. Sure enough in our first attempt, the sling came out of the bag in a tangled mess and barely got 30’ behind the boat. It was only after repacking that it deployed cleanly on following attempts.

Having reasonably completed several ‘quick-stops’ and life-ring/life-sling deployments without incident, it was time for a real MOB manoeuvre. Marc and I would each have an opportunity to complete the process from start to finish. I went first. The assumption was that the MOB (Monica) would not be able to climb up the swim ladder so a worst-case scenario would be practiced. In my case the complete sequence took 9 minutes. The challenge occurred after the MOB was alongside. Having dropped the sails, it was now time to hoist the MOB on-board. Even in the calm conditions we were working in, this was made difficult by the fact that the deck was covered in sails and lines, all of which had to be maneuvered around while rigging the hoist, connecting it to the MOB and then hauling her on board. Knowing a real-life situation would be at near-panic levels, there are a lot of places where the cluttered deck will only add to the things that could go wrong. In terms of pre-setting the block and tackle hoist, attach the block to the halyard and keep the upper end at least 10’ above the deck so that you don’t run out of line before the MOB is above deck level. My upper block was too low and I had to raise the halyard while the block and tackle were still locked in place which could have meant having to lower the MOB before raising the halyard. Luckily for me, there was still enough line (barely) on the block and tackle to avoid this.

Observations?

  • The quick-stop method is easy to do and works very well.
  • Practice life-ring deployment. It is more challenging than it would appear and every second you are delayed puts more distance between you and the MOB
  • Fully deploy and re-pack your life-sling several times per season. It won’t work if it gets tangled which seems to occur easily
  • Take a few extra seconds to make sure your hoist is rigged properly and try to clear some of the on-deck clutter before connecting to the MOB. Have a separate block and tackle hoist in your locker ready to deploy instantly.
  • Practice the hoist. If you don’t have a volunteer, try lifting a bucket of water
  • The 4-1 purchase on the block and tackle made the hoist of a 130(ish) lb. person a one-arm operation. It required very little effort.
  • What we practiced works well with a conscious victim. I have no idea what I would do in severe conditions with an unconscious victim.

Finally, the best thing you can do is prevent the MOB from occurring. As soon as the conditions become severe enough (wind, waves, darkness, fog) that make you wonder how you would ever get an MOB back on board, regardless of practise, put your harness on. Get used to the idea that a harness will slow down your fore-deck manoeuvrability and give yourself extra time as a consequence. Do not succumb to the temptation to disconnect yourself momentarily to speed up a spinnaker hoist or a jib-peel or other such death-defying heroics. Most double-handed sailing is really single-handed with assistance. Half the time you are on deck, you are all alone and the boat will be long gone before your crew realizes you are missing.

Ken Martin, “StarChaser”, Beneteau First 45, Double Handed

As a consideration: I keep a line tied in a loop with a water hose over it which can be easily attached to a halyard (the small loop for the halyard is also pre-tied) in seconds, in my lasserrette (and make sure my crew member knows about it). The hose keeps the big loop open so it can easily go over someones head and around their life-jacket (if they have it on) and arms and then under their arms. The long end of the line can then be attached to the boat (i.e. winch) to keep the person attached to the boat (and keep their head out of the water), and then the halyard can be attached to the small loop to be able to winch them aboard. This is real inexpensive, takes almost no space (it twists up easily), and I believe greatly simplifies getting someone back on board especially in rough conditions. Anyone that would like to come and have a look is very welcome. This doesn’t help for single-handed, but I believe can make a large difference for recovery for double-handed.