Horseshoe lifebuoy or rescue sling for MOB?

[ShipsWoofy]

Whilst I am not suggesting you are wrong, but let us also remember that when we used to go dinghy sailing we would fall out regularly, or you weren't pushing hard enough. Not only did we fall out, we had to right the boat again... and you're suggesting that it will be impossible to climb a ladder.

What about people who go swimming from their vessels, I have been known to partake in this rather lethal pastime myself, I did not require a liferaft to get me back on the flipping boat.

Some perspective here please.

Your training no doubt, reflected winter in the North Sea, IIRC you worked tankers, a whole different place to the summer waters 99% of us actually sail on.

Just my opinion.

 

[Refueler]

The occasions were :

Bembridge Hbr Isle of Wight, visitors pontoon, fell over from offshore side of boat getting into dinghy - early summer.

MN Survival Course ... outer Plymough Sound, jumped of College Yacht "Tectona" ... lecturers had already deployed standard Ships Liferaft. Myself and 2 others in the group were in serious trouble out of 12 people - but ALL had similar problems after short period.

Puses Lake Latvia ... ex military inflatable, didn't check other guys fastening of valve stoppers ... dinghy partially deflated while fishing on the lake .. I lent back to cast ... side tube collapsed - I went in. Svet (Wife) eventually went in as well as I tried to get back in and inflatable overturned. We had to doggie-paddled it to shore ..

Narbus Lake - Latvia.... while scrubbing sides of my weekender - she moved out from pontoon ... yep - I went in.

The two lake incidents, I mantained reasonable actvity myself - but the seawater ones - certainly had extreme difficult.

As to dnghy's - I raced GP14's for Plymouth Maritime and one of the things we had to do before allowed - was to take Dinghy courses - which inclded capsize, righting, re-boarding etc. To compare a sail dinghy re-board to getting into a fart etc. is putting it plainly ludicrous. You know and I know that you used the righting moment of the dinghy to plonk you back in ... stand on dagger plate ... pull on hallyard / trapeze / whatever leverage rope you have to get dinghy to start coming up ... as she rights - you flop in over the gunwhale. If not possible then because they have large reserve buoyancy ... push gunwhale under and slide over when it's upright.

I could not in all fairness compare dinghy sailing with larger boats and boarding difficulties.

Next - cold water ... anyone who goes serious dinghy racing, expecting to go in water and is not suitably dressed for it should be advised accordingly ! Average cruiser guy is not similarly dressed - in fact often is wearing oilies or such that hinder movement in water.

Sorry - but I don't think we can agree on any of this.