Safety & Seamanship

This summer tens of thousands of children will take their first sail, with a friend or alone in their own little boat. They will sail away from the WiFi connection, the YouTube videos, and the remote control. Its an experience that can change a life.

Jacklines (also called jackstays) are rigged along the deck on either side or down the centerline. This is where you are supposed to clip your safety tether.

World sailing offers fairly explicit expectations regarding jackstays. And PS offer its own additional advice, including one that recommends jacklines ideally be installed so that a sailor who is clipped in can't go over the side (see Jackline Installation Advice, November 2015). This is not always possible, especially on monohulls. In most cases, he chest-high lifeline on Mahina Tiare will keep above water the head of the person who is overboard.

As you gear up for another summer of sailing, it is also a good time to double check that none of your essential safety equipment is subject to a recall. Two helpful websites track recalls that can impact sailors. the Consumer Protection Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov) focuses primarily on mainstream consumer goods like the Kidde fire-extinguisher (see below). There is also a U.S. Coast Guard site (www.uscgboating.org/content/recalls.php). Here are a couple recalls you should be aware of.

Rules of thumb are rather useless when it comes to equipment that is stored in a locker and then used roughly. Weve broken lots of new and old equipment during testing and learned a lot about what to look for, but even so we are often surprised when good looking equipment fails and scratched up stuff works fine. Inspect closely and often, regardless of age.

On November 18, 2017, Simon Speirs, an experienced sailor, went overboard while at the bow assisting with a headsail change on a Clipper Round the World Boat CV30. It was blustery, with sustained winds of 20 knots, gusting to 40 knots. Shortly after he went overboard, his safety tether detached and he was separated from his boat. His body was recovered 34 minutes later. The cause of death has not been determined but drowning is the suspected cause. While such accidents are tragic, they offer a chance to re-evaluate equipment standards within a real-world context.

The sailing yacht CV30 was taking part in the third leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race having left Cape Town on 31 October 2017 bound for Fremantle, Western Australia.

Testers used lab and field tests to evaluate each clips functionality, strength, and durability. After inspecting several sailboats to evaluate potential caribiner-benders and how we might replicate the loads, we returned to the lab and began pull-testing carabiners. The test data in the accompanying table resulted from tests that were modeled after those used to verify CE (European standard) and UIAA (climbing gear standards) specifications. All pull tests were carried out at a steady pull rate of about 2 inches per minute. These included the following tests...

Like a car seatbelt, the snap hook on a sailors safety tether has only one essential job to do. It must support the dynamic loads of a human body should a sailor fall overboard or get thrown across the deck to the end of his tether (about six feet). But late last year, when British sailor Simon Speirs was swept overboard during the Clipper Ventures Round the World Race, the resulting load bent and opened the stainless-steel snap hook that connected him to the 70-foot racing yacht CV-30.

Safety at sea has become more than a noteworthy slogan. Many feel it defines the right game plan and gear choice to ensure a favorable outcome in challenging conditions. But at Practical Sailor, we also recognize its role in incident prevention, and we understand why ones boat handling ability, navigation competency, weather awareness, and sound decision-making are just as important as the gear in the grab bag-perhaps even more so.