Here’s another sailing tip from our friend Captain John at skippertips.com…
Not many sailing safety issues chill the blood like the thought of falling overboard. But, even more dangerous could be the recovery itself. Why is that? You may have read and practiced different overboard approaches. But there’s still a lot of controversy about the final approach to bring the person alongside your sailboat. Read on to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each. Then, you decide. It’s your call, Skipper.
Read one book or another, or one magazine article or another, and authors tend to disagree on recovery side. Should you place your boat upwind of the victim or downwind? In the end, I believe there will be no “fixed in stone” answer. We all must decide on this based on the conditions at hand. Realize that this will be the most dangerous part of any overboard recovery.
Do You Know Your Boat’s “Bare-Hull” Behavior?
Take your boat out on a windy day with wavelets wherever you sail. Drop all sail and allow the boat to assume her normal attitude in the current conditions. Most all vessels, from the smallest sailboat to the largest super tanker, will lie beam to the wind and waves or almost beam to the wind when “bare hull” (no sails or propulsion).
Note her drift rate, or how fast she drifts crab-like in a sideways direction. Now, imagine that you combine that drift with seas. Even the smallest sea will create a rolling motion on a vessel.
The amount of roll will depend on under-body configuration (keel, amount and location of ballast, vessel displacement and freeboard) and, in particular with some power vessels with flying bridges or “tuna towers”– weight aloft.
Some boats snap roll in a quick right-left motion whereas other heavy displacement boats with longer keels and heavy ballast will wallow from side to side. Use this exercise to get an idea of your boat’s behavior after you round up alongside a person in the water.
Once alongside, you will drop sails right away to stay next to the victim and prevent the boat from “sailing off” on her own while you conduct recovery. As soon as you do, your boat will assume a position close to that in your experiment. In a seaway, she may tend to rise and fall and roll from side to side. Each overboard circumstance will be different. I believe there are no easy answers, and that you must make the call based on the environmental conditions in your location.
Approach Side Pros and Cons
Use your knowledge of your vessel’s behavior in a seaway to give you the edge in a real overboard situation in the future. Look over the table below; add your thoughts to it. Discuss it with your sailing partner or crew. Show your sailing partner or crew how your boat lies ahull (under bare poles) and how to heave-to on your sailboat. Remember that they might be the ones doing the recovery if you fall over the side!
Windward Approach
Pros:
- Boat will drift down to person (better control).
- Less chance of drifting away from person.
- Blocks wind and waves to create a “calm” for recovery.
- Flotation can be thrown and assisted by wind and waves..
- Easier to launch dinghy or inflatable if necessary for recovery.
- May be better choice if victim is unconscious and unable to assist.
Cons:
- Boat could slam into person in a seaway (rise and fall)
- Boat could push person beneath the boat.
- Requires a fast, efficient recovery system to avoid injury.
Leeward Approach
Pros:
- Sail closer to victim for recovery.
- Protects person from severe injury in seaway.
Cons:
- Must come closer to person for recovery.
- Boat could drift away from person before recovery completed.
- Flotation and rescue equipment must be tossed upwind.
- May require that you make a second attempt if person is out of reach.
Final Thoughts…Man overboard recovery will always be the most dangerous part of the MOB evolution. Just another reason to practice “stay aboard” techniques at all costs. There are specific body motions that will help you stay aboard.
The basics are grab, look and go. Do not even think of movement until you have a firm grip on something that will not give way. Look for tripping hazards on deck before you proceed. Then and only then, move your feet. Basic? You bet.
But I believe you would find in most every MOB incident, one of these was forgotten in the moment. We all have forgotten to hold on when changing out a sail. A gust hits, the boat heels, and we slide. Or we may have forgotten to brace ourselves first before we perform a simple task. One way or the other, overboard incidents will continue to happen from time to time.
Each skipper must decide on the final approach to the person in the water based on the “on scene” conditions at his or her location. No weather forecast can predict local conditions. I believe the best preparation will be an intimate knowledge of your own specific boat. Know her bare hull and heave-to characteristics in different wind and sea states. Then you will have the confidence to make the best decision possible in an overboard emergency at sea.
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Keep your sailing crew or partner aboard at all costs to avoid the difficulty of man-overboard recovery at sea. Know your boat’s capabilities ahead of time to equip yourself with the confidence to handle this sea-going emergency–just in case the unexpected comes your way!
I’ve participated in many simulated man overboard rescues in the last 20 years or so, and my experience has been that it is very difficult to recover someone from the windward side. The most compelling reasons are that the boat simply drifts downwind faster than the victim, so the rescuer is constantly trying to lasso the victim to bring him closer. This leads to dragging the person in the water, albeit slowly, and generally ties up one of the rescuers with managing the victim. The second reason is that the boat will naturally heel to leeward, reducing the freeboard and putting the rescuer(s) closer to the victim. We also found it difficult to maneuver a boat under sail so that we could end up with the right amount of boat speed (1-2 knots) and with the right proximity to the victim if we tried to put him on the weather side of the boat.
Chuck Hawley
Thanks Chuck, I have come to the same conclusions in all the simulated crew overboard rescues that I’ve done over the years. In practicing with students I’ll have them try both sides so they can see the differences and make a decision on what they think works best. I don’t think any of them have concluded that picking someone up on the windward side was ideal. Although, I used to work with an instructor who was a steadfast proponent of the windward side pickup, so I guess to each his own.
AC
I too have been with others that absolutely insisted that you pick up on one specific side. I believe it’s best to show both methods and then point out the pros and cons of each. But most of all, the biggest emphasis should be on techniques to stay aboard at all costs. Chances of recovery are slim at night, in a seaway or when sailing short-handed.
A great point John, the best crew overboard maneuver is to not have to do one at all!
I believe in windward pick ups aboard larger sailboats in a chop or sea. Leeward pick ups work great in flat seas and smaller boats. Years ago, I found myself on the leeward side of a 40 footer in a four foot chop after a knockdown. I wouldn’t want anyone I sail with to be pounded into the hull and almost mowed over like I was. Mastering speed control under sail allows you to pull right alongside a COB on your windward side. I’ve practiced it 100 times with floats and actual people in all sorts of sea conditions. Worst case if you end up short (too far to leeward) is motor up to them until contact is made.
I’ve always practiced my pickups on a beam reach slightly down wind – say a boat length- and as I approach the MOB I round up into the wind. The MOB is somewhat shielded from the wind and waves and very close alongside. Very similar to hitting a mooring under sail.
I have read and practice POB many times, but I have never (fortunately) been involve in a real, at sea POB recovery, nor have I read of any, except for maybe one or two on a race boat with a dozen or so crew. The only stories I have read were of people falling over board without a tether, and they were never found alive, or POB with a tether and the person drowned. Does any one know of a real life successful recovery of a tethered POB?
based on the above, I think that we should have a much stronger emphasis on staying on board then what to do once someone goes over, since the chance of survival, once you are on the wrong side of the life lines, are (from what it seems) very slim, no matter what.