At The Helm: Man Overboard!
April 19, 2021
Imagine this simple scenario: the boat’s powered up, sailing close-hauled in a building breeze under full sail. I come on deck as the skipper during
Imagine this simple scenario: the boat’s powered up, sailing close-hauled in a building breeze under full sail. I come on deck as the skipper during
Mark Wheeler went overboard a few minutes before midnight. He was in the middle of Lake Michigan, 30 miles offshore in 40 knots of wind.
Practice and master an Man Overboard drill so you can get back to and retrieve your crewmate quickly and efficiently
Those are the two words no one on any boat ever wants to hear. It is no surprise then that MOB recovery is a subject high on the list of any sail training activity. Kids in Optis and 420’s learn about it. Sailing schools teach it, offshore races have seminars on it, and there are detailed reports and debriefings on it.
Here’s a maneuver that can make it easier to get someone who is not injured out of the water. First, have the person in the water is face you, and then ask them to raise their arms straight up and cross them over their head. When their arms are crossed, grasp their wrists firmly with your hands—put your right hand on their right wrist and your left on their left. When you pull up on their wrists
A classic racing yacht, three weeks at sea, and eight crewmates you’ve never met. What could go wrong?
Editor’s Note: This story is excerpted from SAIL Contributing Editor Christopher Birch’s upcoming book The Four Seasons of Boat Maintenance(available for order soon)—a compendium of
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