COB Recovery — Making Contact

In the first of two installments, writer, sailor, and safety authority John Rousmaniere reports on a landmark test of gear and methods used to assist in crew overboard recovery.

Once someone goes into the water, making and maintaining contact with that person become the principal priorities. Here, crewmembers aboard a 39-foot sloop have deployed the Inflatable Lifesling, which is tossed like a throw bag and has a yoke that inflates automatically when it hits the water. It serves as both a buoyancy device and a hoisting sling.

Can any two words chill a sailor's heart like "man overboard"? Given the inherently narrow margin between life and death, attempting to rescue a person who has gone overboard is the most agonizing, demanding challenge that any sailor will ever face. No wonder, then, that new recovery equipment and techniques are in constant development, and old ones are regularly reviewed. But rarely are they tested side-by-side by normal sailors in normal boats in true-to-life tests in the conditions that most often prevail when people fall over the side.…