Seascoopa Revisited

The scoop on the updated parbuckle.

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In the May 2010 issue, we reviewed a prototype man-overboard (MOB) recovery device called the Seascoopa, a parbuckle designed by Australian sailor Bob Wright that functions much like a human trawler net, enabling the recovery of injured or unconscious MOBs while the rescue boat is slowly making way.

After testing the prototype Seascoopa aboard a 44-foot catamaran, Practical Sailor found that while the device performed as advertised, it needed some design fine-tuning and using it effectively on a typical cruising sailboat would carry important caveats. Following PS’s review, Wright modified the Seascoopa extensively, and the production version we recently evaluated addresses most of the design concerns testers had with the prototype and cranked the construction quality up a notch.

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How It Works

The Seascoopa is designed to allow a single person to get a heavier person back on board with minimal effort, while reducing the risks of vertically lifting a victim (further injury, ingesting more water, etc.) and simplifying the process of making contact with an MOB.

The Seascoopa is a triangular-shaped, heavy-duty polypropylene net held out at right angles to the boat via an interlocking, three-piece, carbon-fiber whisker pole. High-quality 316 stainless hardware and cordage connects the net to the boat, and a chain sealed in the net luff keeps its lip several feet below the water’s surface to make it easier to scoop up a victim. The setup is packed in a lightweight, heavy-duty PVC bag (36 x 6 x 12 inches, 40 pounds) with carrying straps.

Deploying the Seascoopa is a multi-step process: unfold bag (after retrieving it from a locker), attach lifting line (topping lift or spinnaker halyard) to lifting strop on Seascoopa, attach Seascoopa bag’s corners to fixed points near the rail (like padeyes or stanchions), assemble whisker pole, secure foreguy to strop—all this while keeping an eye on the MOB, throwing flotation, and starting the engine/dropping sail. However, the Seascoopa can be stowed along a rail in “ready mode,” so that users only have to attach the lifting line and foreguy in an emergency—and this is what we’d recommend, particularly with petite crew onboard as the heavy bag would be tough to wrestle on deck in seaway.

The Improved Scoopa

Testers noted that the Seascoopa prototype tested in 2010 needed a more rugged, purpose-made whisker pole; larger, locking hull-attachment snap hooks (for fitting around stanchions); and a longer 5:1 block and tackle system used to tension the Seascoopa.

Among the re-design features of the new Yacht Seascoopa, the carbon-fiber pole is beefier and permanently attached to the net, which makes setup easier and faster. The snap hooks also have been upgraded and can fit around typical stanchions, padeyes, or U-bolts near the rail.

Other noteworthy design tweaks include lifting strops that are now attached to the head ring and are color coded and well labeled for easy attachment. The new Scoopa also features dual plastic zippers, enabling it to be deployed from port or starboard, and a heavier (8 millimeter) chain in the luff, which allows it to sink better in rough seas, according to Wright. An innovative new addition to the device is a ladder that a boarding MOB (or on-deck crew) can pull open from a pocket on the net; the ladder is optional and adds $300 to the Seascoopa’s $3,200 base price.

According to Wright, the Yacht Seascoopa has recently undergone formal load testing to the Royal Australian Navy Standard and is certified to a load of more than 770 pounds.

Bottom line: The Seascoopa is well thought-out, well engineered, and well constructed. The improvements carried out in the production version certainly address our previous design concerns, and then some. The upgrade in quality and attention to detail in the production Yacht Seascoopa are evident. However, we are still reluctant to recommend it as a primary MOB recovery tool for the typical, short-handed cruising sailboat, and its price puts it out of reach for many cruisers.

While the Seascoopa comes with thorough instructions, the setup and deployment process is not plug-and-play. As we determined in our field tests of the prototype, the Seascoopa’s 3-minute-plus deploy time is too long for an effective recovery. Users should plan to keep the device already set up and lashed along the railing to shorten deployment time, and they should plan many practice runs to ensure all crew know how to use the device properly and are familiar enough with it to be able to use it in an emergency and foul weather.

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In our opinion, it would be near impossible for a single crew to simultaneously keep an eye on the MOB’s location, affect a recovery maneuver, and deploy the Seascoopa, even if it were stowed ready to go. It’s much better suited for use as a supplement to other MOB aids on a boat with multiple crew trained in its use. That being said, the ongoing development of electronic MOB tracking beacons (PS, May 2008) are making Seascoopa and similar devices more practical for short-handed crews.

There are certainly benefits to the Seascoopa that many other recovery aids do not offer: the ability to scoop up an unconscious MOB, horizontal lifting to avoid further injuring a victim, allowing smaller crew to lift heavier crew back on board, etc. But our preferred MOB system remains a good-quality harness and tether arrangement backed up by a throwable LifeSling 3 (which can be used more easily in a seaway, has a proven track record, carries the International Sailing Federation’s approval, and has a “bargain” price of $120-$240, depending on case) and a crew well-trained in MOB-recovery maneuvers like those we evaluated in the January 2010 issue. While the Seascoopa isn’t a practical choice for all cruisers, we see it as a unique product that should serve as food for thought for those looking for creative solutions to onboard safety.

For details on our field test of the Seascoopa prototype and our reviews of the LifeSling, look for them on www.practical-sailor.com. Seascoopa’s website also offers an in-depth look at the new product, including informative videos.

Contact
Darrell Nicholson
Practical Sailor has been independently testing and reporting on sailboats and sailing gear for more than 50 years. Supported entirely by subscribers, Practical Sailor accepts no advertising. Its independent tests are carried out by experienced sailors and marine industry professionals dedicated to providing objective evaluation and reporting about boats, gear, and the skills required to cross oceans. Practical Sailor is edited by Darrell Nicholson, a long-time liveaboard sailor and trans-Pacific cruiser who has been director of Belvoir Media Group's marine division since 2005. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license, has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans, and has skippered everything from pilot boats to day charter cats. His weekly blog Inside Practical Sailor offers an inside look at current research and gear tests at Practical Sailor, while his award-winning column,"Rhumb Lines," tracks boating trends and reflects upon the sailing life. He sails a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Yankee 30 out of St. Petersburg, Florida. You can reach him by email at practicalsailor@belvoir.com.