Overboard when single handed sailing

I get it now, the Lewmar Ocean hatch - same as mine - is on a vertical moulding, not easy to see white on white....

I know this is a lot of thread drift, but I think you must not see it properly. The Lewmar hatch is dark smoked glass. It is on the transom. There is a "tunnel" that comes up from the floor of the cockpit to accommodate the life raft / escape hatch. A couple more photos that might show it more clearly.

P1040156_zpsqsuq20zh.jpg


The "tunnel" can be seen here sloping up at the aft end of the cockpit. The traveller runs across the top of the tunnel. The hatch is on the aft face of the tunnel.

P1040133_zpsgftg91aq.jpg
 
It's just possible that it might be hard work racing a small high performance boat across the Atlantic !

I'm normally a stickler for tidy lines - and photography - but in this case I'd cut bbg some slack, he was very likely sha**ed out when taking the pics...
 
To be honest the purpose of the photo was to show the lines. I remember taking the photo. I was out training and had just done a spinnaker hoist, looked down and saw what a mess the cockpit looked like. So a took a photo to show how it looks just after a hoist and before tidying the lines.

There is a lot going on as you will see in the hoist, gybe and drop in the first part of this film. The normal tidy cockpit (and the extra solar panel I mentioned earlier in this thread) can be seen at 3:05.

 
The transat is such a well known race that I bet the start in France must have been real hype & nearly as good as the finish
Did you sail home or ship it in a transport ship?
I understand you may have sold the boat. If so that must have been hard- Unless a Figaro was on order!!!!
 
I'm not convinced you're any better off tied to the boat if you were to fall in while handling anchors or moorings. Surely better to be able to swim or pull yourself (depending on height of topsides) round to a stern ladder, rather than dangling from the bow like a half-landed fish.

Pete

Presumably you only intend falling overboard whilst sailing, not when motoring?
 
fisherman,

see post #3 for my brilliant idea.

Andy
Yes, better, because a ready rigged line would not be useable away from the cockpit area. Might be possible to clip onto such a line, with a stopper at the end so it deploys automatically, but still not feasible to trail it around the deck. Angus McDoon has a device which could operate, say, a solenoid remotely and automatically.
 
In a perfect - financial - world I'd have various kit inc ejections seats and auto rafts ( thinking about that I actually have a 1 - man seat raft but it's too heavy to carry on short trips ) - it seems tricky to me to make an auto deploying line* ( and a stopper on the end might cause unreasonable drag ), I think better keep it simple.

Maybe in a future world boatbuilders could work with autopilot makers like Ray, and develop a simple mechanical disabling device - not a ' must have for yotties, moleskin coated fluorecent dayglo job for the marina bar posing crowd ' :)

*A colleague, Harrier Test Pilot Taylor Scot, was killed when it seems a barostsatic release fired thinking it was at the wrong pressure, seems to me much the same risk - altough hopefully not fatal - would apply with any auto line system, so keep it simple and on the same token FFS don't make it ballistacally deployed !
 
I have no idea if this is feasible while sailing, but can you rig a 'kill cord' which would disrupt the boat's ability to sail on without you?

It probably is, but having done so the boat is 100yds away & with sails up it will still be going in circles & drifting down wind.
There is no way a MOB with a lifejacket on can possibly swim to the boat unless he is very lucky
What one could have is a self ejecting one man liferaft complete with EPIRB, that sits in the water & drifts with the MOB & does not blow away in the wind then the MOB has a chance of getting to it. No use offshore away from rescue, but OK up to 150 miles perhaps
 
Yes, better, because a ready rigged line would not be useable away from the cockpit area. Might be possible to clip onto such a line, with a stopper at the end so it deploys automatically, but still not feasible to trail it around the deck. Angus McDoon has a device which could operate, say, a solenoid remotely and automatically.

Read my post #12 just ignor the first line as not relevant to your comments.

This plus a floating trailing line could help as the line would be closer than the boat following daydream belever's comment
 
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I suggest I might be uniquiley qualified here as somoene who has actually been a MOB merchant ! :)

I can say withoubt doubt that the the line for disabling the autohelm etc shoud be strong ( and it takes a remarkably thin modern line not to be ) - strong enough for a fat heavy desperate waterlogged bloke to haul himself back to the boat.

How you get back on is another issue, mentioned on here and a million other threads - but I can say, unless you plan ahead for it, Goodnight Vienna !:rolleyes:
 
I went over the side of our safety boat a couple of years ago and at 88kg 2 strong rugby players could not pull be back aboard. It would have been possible with a rope under water bow to stern but not simply pulling.

I managed to swim to the stern of a moored cat and climb its low to water mooring rope. Lucky we were in the marina.
 
You don't say how big your boat is but we used harnesses with one long and one short tether which we could clip on to a U bolt in the cockpit or jackstays. If you use the short tether there is no way you can go overboard. For example if I was going to reef the main in bad weather I would use the short tether and crawl forward on my knees then clip the long tether around the mast. We always clipped on at night and in bad weather. If you are worried about tripping etc clip on all the time with the short tether and use the long one as needed as I did.
 
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