Clever way to bring someone back on board - I like it

If I understand that correctly it's using a drogue to pull the casualty aboard. Taking in mind the concerns expressed above...why wouldn't you just take the line to a winch? Did I misunderstand what was going on there?
 
tross said:
Just picked this up from the Geman SVB site ( these guys are sometimes much cheaper than UK chandleries) - very clever way of of solving the age old problem problem of lifting someone out of the water with out effort.

https://youtu.be/A2OHfTZQ42g
Click to expand...

I shuddered when I saw the engine being put in gear with the guy's feet dangling down beside the prop. Remember the skipper who got his legs chopped to pieces 2 or 3 years ago, while trying to push a boat off a sandbank? Not for me, thanks!
 
The attachment on the shrouds is a good idea but you could as easily (or easier) use a snatch block on the toe rail and a line to a sheet winch.

There also seemed to be the problem of being dragged through the water at speed with the possibility of getting a facefull, I'd rather be stopped with engine stopped and use either a tackle off the boom or a kite halyard.

How about having a strop on the danbouy line or floating harness that has many loops in it so as soon as you get close to the casualty you can clip a karabiner into it which is on your pulley on boom or attached to kite halyard. Pull them in by hand then when close to the boat you can quickly attached them to your lifting system?

The normal danbouy should give you a line to pass through a snatch block.
 
Clever, but not something I'd fancy. There's just too much to go wrong...casualty's fingers getting sucked through the turning block as they grab the line in panic...rope around prop, legs around prop, boat goes from hove to to suddenly taking off under sail and the casualty gets slammed into the shrouds at a rate of knots, boat gybes, line ends up in the gap between the rudder and the hull, casualty gets dragged under, passing boat assisting/on station with the MOB snags the drogue...the list is endless.

In the words of Clarkson, Hammond & May...

"What could possibly go wrong?"
 
I like the carabiner on the shroud for the lift point - I may look to steal that myself and have it attached by a prusik knot. As for the engine running ahead - not for me thanks. Club rescue boat training has taught me engine either on idle when drifting downwind to casualty or if the casualty holding onto the boat - engine off.

Feet into a spinning prop would be life changing.
 
Neil_Y said:
The attachment on the shrouds is a good idea ......
Click to expand...

I don'tthink the idea of applying a load of 90+ kg at right angles to the shroud, 2m up is remotely clever.
If the shroud is tight to start with, what do you estimate the tension on the shroud to be?
In choppy water the answer could be enough to have the rig join the muppet in the water.
 
Neil_Y said:
The attachment on the shrouds is a good idea but you could as easily (or easier) use a snatch block on the toe rail and a line to a sheet winch.

There also seemed to be the problem of being dragged through the water at speed with the possibility of getting a facefull, I'd rather be stopped with engine stopped and use either a tackle off the boom or a kite halyard.

How about having a strop on the danbouy line or floating harness that has many loops in it so as soon as you get close to the casualty you can clip a karabiner into it which is on your pulley on boom or attached to kite halyard. Pull them in by hand then when close to the boat you can quickly attached them to your lifting system?

The normal danbouy should give you a line to pass through a snatch block.
Click to expand...

It was also swimming pool calm & not a for real trial
 
It's clever, but much too clever for its own or the user's good; I agree my first thought was ' guaranteed rope round the prop just when you don't need it '.

I have a large carabiner on the bottom of the mainsheet attachment and a strong topping lift, so I can use the boom as a derrick; it's not perfect as it requires the casualty to be wearing - or put on - a harness to clip onto, but it's the best I can come up with, and I have tried it for real - on myself when I capsized my tender at the mooring.

It worked fine, but the mainsheet went choc-a bloc and my novice crew onboard didn't know how to adjust it - if he'd been in the water and self on boat it would have been spiffing ( I also have pelican hooks on the guardrails which are a lot better than cutting lashings ).
 
We have tried various methods at our club in the marina. I think the use of the boom and topping lift to a tackle or spin halyard out to a spin pole are good. However I liked the idea of using the topping lift or a tackle attached to the backstay a fair way up to help lift a person who climbs on the stern boarding ladder to get back on. You do need a throw rope (floating with loop on the end) or a life ring on a rope which can be dragged around in a circle till victim can grasp it that can take the victim's weight. The point is practice is well worth the effort. olewill
 
tross said:
Just picked this up from the Geman SVB site ( these guys are sometimes much cheaper than UK chandleries) - very clever way of of solving the age old problem problem of lifting someone out of the water with out effort.

https://youtu.be/A2OHfTZQ42g
Click to expand...

Thanks for mentioning it. I think it will may prove of interest to those who sail as couples. My expectations of my wife getting me back onboard after an MOB are at the I'm-alread-dead level so it provides a modicum of hope. The website provides more information and a re-packing video so it is possible to do some kind of practice with the kit. Ropes in the water are of course alway a worry but keeping some starboard turn on (for a pivot point on the starboard shroud) should avoid the greater dangers and, of course, once the MOB is clipped on there would be no reason not to pull by hand, with the engine in neutral, to get the casualty safely amidships following which use of engine for the lift should be safer.
 
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Will never work with a casualty who is unconscious or has an injury that stops them clipping on.

I'd love to see it demonstrated in a F6 with 4 meter waves.
 
Poey50 said:
Ropes in the water are of course alway a worry...

...once the MOB is clipped on there would be no reason not to pull by hand, with the engine in neutral...
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To me, human flesh passing the spinning prop is a bigger worry than the rope. The video shows the whole operation being done under power, so that must be maker's intention.
 
We can get photo-drones to auto land back to base; we need a beefier version attached to a lifejacket and hey presto, MOB lifted and plonked back in the cockpit without ever really getting wet - I'm sure this will happen one day, usually sooner than I / we think :)
 
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