Safety & Seamanship

Joe Cooper joins us for a full-length interview about safety at sea giving us advice he’s obtained from his decades of ocean sailing and racing including his experience in the America’s Cup, Bermuda 1-2 racing, and his teaching career. We discuss how to mentally prepare for passage-making on typical production-style boats including training seminars, the use of PFDs, jack lines, and crew overboard drills. Joe graces us with his knowledge of the sport and how to stay safe out there in the ocean.

Just another beautiful BVI day. The forecast was for  87 degrees and sunny and the weather Gods were in fine form, with a predictable...

When the mega container ship Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge at 1:28 am on Tuesday, March 26, the world saw a remote...

One of the often overlooked maintenance items in the pre-season rush to the water is the AC shorepower system. Over the years of surveying, Ive amassed a small collection of scary photos from past surveys showing the common examples of neglect to this critical system.

Safety is always a priority on the water. When you add the unpredictable nature of kids to the mix, the stakes are even higher....

Recent fatalities involving racing sailors raised a long-simmering concern weve had regarding the harness and tether design, and the shortcomings of current design when used aboard boats that cruise at double-digit speeds. Although these harness and tethers might keep a sailor from going overboard, the impact loads transmitted via the harness and tether can exceed what the human body can endure (see Building a Custom Safety Tether, PS December 2017).

Man overboard gear standards are behind the times because the sample size is tiny and the facts surrounding an accident are often clouded and disguised by difficult circumstances. But fixing this is pretty simple; piggyback on standards that have been developed for climbing and industry. The following are just some of the steps that a sailor can take to improve his chances of staying on board.

The sensation that you are about to slide to leeward is familiar to most small-boat sailors. But that slip-sliding-away feeling isn’t reserved to small...

One of the most common right-of-way situations that a sailing boat will encounter will involve fishing boats, so it is important to be aware...

The Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs) cover the rules of navigation and lights and shapes that sailors...