Danbuoy

oldbilbo said:
My dear querulous Peter, of course you are entitled to your preference.... and I sincerely hope you will never need to do other than discuss it.

It is not, perhaps, too widely understood in these hallowed halls of virtual sailing that it is not every boat that is equipped with furling gear on't headsails. P'rhaps research by the estimable Seattle Sailing Foundation, the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Ocean Racing Club has determined that folks with such furling headgear - esp. those with posh eclectic furling headgear - just don't fall overboard. They don't get out of the cockpit from one season to the next.... except to p. P'rhaps that's a trait confined in large measure to those poor fules who still only have 'anks....

And for many of us old duffers, lifesaving jackets stuffed with kapok are quite expensive new-fangled devices and certainly not for casting on the waters willy-nilly. That is a telling example of throwing good money after bad....

P'rhaps the Frenchmen who lost sight of a colleague off Guernsey last week were practicing the 'Reach - Tack - Reach' technique, and came across an interesting little restaurant, when they felt they needed to make a stop for lunch. Very Gallic....
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:) Always pays to get your round in for the crew !
 
How I would go about returning to a MOB would depend on circumstance. In most conditions, a crash tack to hove to would probably be best, so as to stop the boat and get ones act together. However, there are enough times when that wouldn't be an immediate option (such as when sailing with a preventer rigged) to make practicing a single maneuver rather futile.

The main thing with any technique is to get back to the MOB as fast as possible which these days will generally mean going head to wind, dropping the sails and motoring. Certainly my yachtmaster examiner was of the opinion that picking up an MOB under sail was unrealistic and since he was fully aware that we'd have all practiced that to death in prepping for the exam we were told under no uncertain terms that we would be using the engine when he tested us on it.
 
oldbilbo said:
It's remarkable that so many different ideas keep surfacing in threads like this, year after year after year. Putting it gently, they can't all be equally sound. It matters that folk think hard about this problem, then choose one ( or more if differently-capable crews are involved ) you can do - and practice it so that it is well-learned....

I am surprised that only rarely, in such threads on here, does the excellent 'Quick Stop' procedure get a mention. This is, to me and many others, the most likely scenario and certainly one I need to prepare for.

Here again is the URL < http://www.rorc.org/general-conditions/man-overboard.html >

The document can be printed off, laminated, and kept close to hand on board for a swift 'reminder' and a moment's thought during each visit to the boat. Of course, it is of limited help is sailing single-handed - unless the MOB falls off someone else's boat and you're nearest.

Let's not keep on reinventing the wheel....
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my comment was exactly the quick stop. in my YM exam i did exactly the crash stop and hove to directly to windward of the casualty, then drifted down 10 metres to an effective recovery. i was told to do it all again "properly" !!
 
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My DS instructor (in demonstrating how 'real sailors' do it) hove to, sheeted the main, started the engine and motored in reverse to the small water bottle he threw over the side as a simulated MOB. As we were never more than 20m from the bottle during the incident and he only had to motor a short distance before stepping onto the sugar scoop and picking the bottle out of the water. This was an a Jeanneau 36i incidentally.

I was told this was a 'Yachtmaster technique' although I have never seen it in print. Worked for me although I'm not sure I could do it without lots of practice and favourable conditions.
 
Crash gybe a yacht on a windy day....or even a mild wind day and you will still have a man overboard and broken boaty bits. Tad daft, really. In my opinion.
 
capnsensible said:
Crash gybe a yacht on a windy day....or even a mild wind day and you will still have a man overboard and broken boaty bits. Tad daft, really. In my opinion.
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Not in a normal boat for an experienced sailor, but the ' reach, tack, reach method was probably an idea of the RYA lawyers and Health & Safety ?

It does work well, especially with a big crew where somone can chuck Danbuoys etc and keep sight of the casualty.

In my case with a handy 22' boat I know well and usually 1 crew I'd crash gybe.

When doing my exam I had admitted to the examiner ( great bloke BTW, veteran of the WWII HMS Exeter and a zillion Fastnets ) that I usually sailed with just my then fiancee, so as expected he made me do the MOB drill solo which I think fair enough; on the return reach he commented " you're coming in ever so fast ! " So to cover my hamfistedness I replied " well she's drowning ! "

My time in racing dinghies saw me through - top tip, unless it's a huge boat ( this was a Gib Sea 42 ) sheet out the main then just grab the whole purchase with one hand to let the boom in or out quicker than trying to feed the sheet through blocks.

Another tip if I'd known the future would have been to reach away from my ex' and tune for max speed, forgetting the tack and return bit.:rolleyes:
 
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Seajet said:
.... reach, tack, reach method was probably an idea of the RYA lawyers and Health & Safety ?....
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It's taught to beginners like this because it's a basic (core) manoeuvre being similar to approaching an anchorage or a mooring buoy and is more forgiving on mistakes. Hence, for teaching boat handling under sail this is a good start point. I have no idea if the RYA invented this, probably not.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
It's taught to beginners like this because it's a basic (core) manoeuvre being similar to approaching an anchorage or a mooring buoy and is more forgiving on mistakes. Hence, for teaching boat handling under sail this is a good start point. I have no idea if the RYA invented this, probably not.
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BlowingOldBoots,

sorry yes I should have said ' adopted by the RYA ' not invented.

The RTR move is a good safe way of getting back to the casualty without adding more problems to an already emergency situation, like getting clocked by the boom or even dismasted trying a crash gybe.

I think the RTR is the way to teach an inexperienced crew - dare I say, usually wife - but personally I'd be so worried about keeping sight of the casualty, even with a Danbuoy, that I'd usually go for the immediate gybe myself.

As well as Danbuoys this must say a lot for Personal Locator Beacons, though if I was busy helming solo in stiff conditions a display in the saloon would be the last thing I'd want, another thing ideal on sailing school or racing boats with a crew of gorillas !
 
I was once told (and it made sense at the time) that a reason for avoiding the crash gybe is that, having shouted "Man overboard", the gybe tended to coincide with the watch below putting their heads out of the companionway hatch to see what was going on.
 
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