Once is too often –Part I
Once is too often –
Parts I, II & III RICH DU MOULIN is one of the original pioneers of the Storm Trysail Club’s now well-established and internationally respected safety at sea programmes and seminars
Once is too often –Part II
Once is too often –Part III
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Clipper Round the World Race sailor Andrew Taylor is found by his crew after floating for more than an hour in big seas, trying to stay conscious after going over the side during a sail change and by now in the advanced stages of hypothermia. Fellow crewman Jason Middleton had to go into the water to help manhandle his near-unconscious friend back onboard
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Once is too often – Part I
Larchmont Yacht Club juniors to perform quick-stop MOB recoveries aboard a Tripp 41. Racing at sundown in 20kt of wind a 15-year-old girl fell overboard. Within three minutes the juniors made a safe recovery. After that the race sponsors asked Storm Trysail to train all the teams, so in 1997 they organised the first ever Junior Safety at Sea Seminar at Larchmont YC. Dealing with juniors we needed to 1)
make it interesting, 2) emphasise hands-on teaching, and 3) feed them generously! Attendance totalled 200 juniors on 22 off- shore yachts ranging from J/105s to J/44s. We had classroom sessions on MOB
Advances in MOB recovery My years of association with the RORC and here in the USA with the Storm Trysail Club, and also the seamanship committees of CCA, NYYC and US Sailing, have given me the opportunity to be involved with some of the best offshore sailors. My pri- mary focus has been on Leadership and Safety at Sea (SAS) – opposite sides of the same coin since you can’t have one with- out the other. In this two-part series (thank you, Editor Andrew!) we will focus on advancements in MOB recovery. Some of the ideas and observations are mine, but the practices and recommendations are a blend of the inputs from figures including Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Stan and Sally Honey, Chuck Hawley in California, Dick York, Adam Loory and Kelly Robinson in New York, and too many others to name. In preparation for our local Junior Overnight Race back in 1996 I trained our
recovery techniques and preparation for squalls. Outdoors we did real firefighting (run by the fire department) and a dockside demonstration of winches, bosun chairs, jacklines and harnesses, reefing and storm sails. Out on the water the juniors practised MOB recovery (using tallboy mooring buoys) and general safe sail handling. Every boat had two volunteer Storm Trysail member-coaches. After sailing we stuffed the kids with 100 pizzas. In 2006 at the Kings Point Merchant
Marine Academy, chaired by Ralf Steitz and Butch Ulmer, Storm Trysail ran the first ever Hands-On SAS Seminar for adults, directly patterned on the Junior SAS sessions. Noting the struggles of the adults, Ralf remarked, ‘The kids are better than the f---ing adults.’ Consistent with Ralf’s sophisticated observation, Storm Trysail recognised that Hands-On is best for both juniors and adults. Storm Trysail has continued to develop
Hands-On training, which in recent years has become the standard for American sailors achieving International Offshore Certification: survival swimming, fire and pyrotechnics, damage control and so on. However, on-the-water training – par-
ticularly MOB – is not a requirement for the certificate. Nevertheless, Storm Trysail believes it is essential and sends all students – juniors and adults alike – onto the water. These few hours cannot teach expertise,
but we can demonstrate the best available techniques to recover an MOB and con- vince the sailors to practise on their own boats. In summary, Storm Trysail now has the unique experience of practising MOB recoveries on the water at over 100 Junior and Adult Seminars over the past 25 years, using boats ranging from Figaros up to the three-masted 100ft Spirit of Bermuda. Our most important takeaways are: ‘Train the way you fight; fight the way you train’ (US Marine Corps). For MOB and other emergency drills this means practise on your own boat, with your own crew, in all conditions: medium/heavy, day/night. Develop your own best proced - ures and document them. Every boat is unique – with handling characteristics that must be taken into account to develop the best MOB recovery technique for that boat and that crew. The owner/skipper has a responsibility that goes with leadership. And being responsible is the definition of leadership. The 2022 Newport-Bermuda Race wit-
nessed the tragic loss of one of our Storm Trysail members, Colin Golder, who was
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This drill took place in the calm waters of a yacht club marina. But even in benign conditions getting an unconscious survivor back onboard or into a liferaft is extremely testing, something you only appreciate by trying it yourself under similar safe circumstances. Right: specific double-handed MOB Plan for Du Moulin’s own Express 37 racer, in large type and posted anywhere it might be useful
an experienced offshore sailor and gener- ous volunteer. Colin came on deck with- out his PFD against his own standing instructions. He was swept overboard and despite heroic crew efforts was recovered too late. We all have violated good prac- tices at some point, but think of the poten- tial tragic impact on our crew and family.
Root causes of MOB incidents The US Sailing Safety-at-Sea committee under Chuck Hawley, Sally Honey and Dick York’s leadership continues to study available reports of documented offshore MOB incidents. Key observations include: Falling overboard Always a result of not
clipping the tether to the boat, including going up/down the companionway. Also often related to poor helming, especially accidental gybes. Flotation People drown faster than we
think. Wearing a PFD buys time for rescue, especially in cold water or when injured. MOBs should be prepared to spend 20-30 minutes in the water. Per- sonal AIS beacons, strobes and whistles increase the chance of rescue. Injury from the hull If the MOB survives
until the point of recovery the greatest threat is being run down, slammed into or sucked under the hull. Modern high-perfor- mance boats are difficult to keep bow to the wind and waves even under power. Chines and flare present special dangers as the MOB gets sucked underneath more readily. Lack of practice Too many skipper/
owners fail in their responsibility to train their crew, practise MOB recoveries and develop their own protocol. Engine It is important to practise under
sail but the engine provides the best chance of a timely safe recovery, assuming you don’t wrap a line around the propeller. Recovery Getting the MOB quickly and
safely up on deck is challenging, and near impossible if not wearing a PFD; any time spent next to the hull is high risk.
72 SEAHORSE Fact: The average offshore racing yacht
does not adequately practise. The crew at best usually show up the day before the race, join in on the rush to load the boat and attend a crew dinner, and head to the start having never had a true full crew safety practice. Some boats on the way to the start do one quick MOB drill that never simulates the real deal. You practise sail changes, sets, gybes, douses, tacks… is there no time to schedule two half-days for MOB practice, one in medium breeze and the other in proper heavy air? While you’re at it, add a short practice after dark. Enhance practice routines with a full crew Zoom a week before, and a debrief after. Then share an amended MOB Plan.
Make your own MOB Plan To encourage practising on your own boat, in 2021 Storm Trysail instituted Do- It-Yourself SAS Training Day. Owners brought their own boats and crew for a coached practice, including MOB dummies, drone footage and Zoom debriefs. The concept is picking up momentum. In 2022 Storm Trysail shared its docu-
mentation with the Cruising Club of America (CCA), organiser of the Newport- Bermuda Race. The CCA now recom- mends that its ‘stations’ schedule POYOB (Practice On Your Own Boat) sessions. Here is an idea: offshore race organisers
should require every entry to practise MOB for eight hours in a variety of condi- tions with at least 80 per cent of the crew, resulting in a written MOB Plan to be submitted as part of entry documentation? As a responsible offshore racer – or
cruiser – you should all develop your own MOB Plan for your boat and crew. Sched- ule your own SAS Training Day. Co-ordi- nate with other boats to share resources, like a photo boat and drone. Feel free to use Storm Trysail’s Do it Yourself SAS Training Day (
stormtrysail.org) as a tem- plate. This also includes a Safety Briefing
and Damage Control Review that are accomplished while motoring out to the practice area. Assign a crew or experienced guest to be your ‘scribe’ to track evolutions and record comments. For quick-stop under sail upwind and
downwind, and Lifesling practice under sail or engine, we use a Tallboy (also called a mooring stick) as the MOB. It is easy to grab to save time and doesn’t blow down- wind like a cushion. For actual MOB recovery we use a
dummy designed by Butch Ulmer and fab- ricated by UK Sails. Unlike bulky human- form types, our dummies are actually quite intelligent. They weigh 20lb dry, and 200lb when filled with water. Use the dummies as either a free-floating disabled MOB, or tied to a Lifesling and trailed astern to simulate an MOB in the Lifesling. After training on the water return to the
safety of your home port and now try the various recovery techniques with a crew in lieu of the dummy. Or as my crew said: ‘Swap out one dummy for another.’ Practise throwing the Lifesling from
midships to the nearby MOB, the Stan- dard Lift (1:1) with the knot at 25ft (or more), the Midline (1:2) Lift, and the Res- cue Crew. Also try recovering your MOB acting as if disabled and unable to stay in the Lifesling… it will give you religion. (All these techniques will be detailed in Part 2.) With crew input, video/photos and the
scribe’s observations, draft the MOB Plan that works best for your boat. Print it, cir- culate it to your crew, post it aboard, and practise. Go to
stormtrysail.org/saslinks to review real MOB Plans from Stan and Sally Honey’s Cal 40 Illusion, Rich du Moulin’s double-handed Express 37 Lora Ann and the fully crewed 59ft Hound. And please share your own plans with
the Storm Trysail Club and Seahorse Magazine. We would be happy to review your plan and learn from it. Rich du Moulin, Larchmont, New York
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Opposite: details can be telling. Romain Gibon and Alban Mesnil just tied up in Cherbourg having won the 2023 Fastnet two-handed division as well as IRC 3 on their JPK 1010 Les p’tits Doudous En Duo. JPK 1010s took the top three places in the 100-strong two-handed division this year. Their boat is already tidied up, lines coiled and stowed, main neatly flaked. It is all looking shipshape and ready to go again. Left: it’ll do… during a drill the mainsail has been doused to port and hurriedly secured with the nearest long enough line. Below: a tiller tie-down is the simplest add-on that might prove to be a life-saver
MOB permits the boat to slowly slide towards the MOB while the halyard is being hoisted. If needed a quick hit of reverse can stop any forward progress.
Once is too often – Part III
Like most double-handed sailors, I was converted to shorthanded sailing by the missionary zeal of other DH sailors, in my case friends like Bjorn Johnson and Rich Wilson. The fleet of almost 100 DH entries in the 2023 Fastnet illustrates the dynamic growth of this type of racing. Here we will discuss the challenge of MOB recovery when racing or cruising shorthanded; many of the challenges and solutions also apply to crews of three or four. I have observed in general that the sea-
manship practices and steering/sail han- dling equipment of experienced DH sailors are similar whether racing or cruising. Per- haps the biggest differences are how hard they push the boat and the time dedicated to better cooking! We will also review what any conscious MOB can do to maximise their chance of survival and explore a few other issues including dragging by tether.
50 SEAHORSE
Key challenges in a shorthanded MOB situation include: Without a dedicated ‘pointer’, visual contact is usually lost Most of the recovery requires the helm to be abandoned Shortage of manpower
Loss of visual contact This is a challenge for a full crew. For DH there is no way you can focus on the MOB. You have too much to do. Years ago when we first practised DH MOB with float cushions we eventually had to give up after we lost all of them. With modern electronics there is no
excuse not to have a (working) MOB button in the cockpit that can immediately be activated to enable navigation back to the close vicinity of the MOB. I find the MOB function on most cockpit displays is hard to find and not intuitive. I prefer a big red button – obvious to everyone – fitted into a recess that triggers the entire system. Of course you quickly stop the boat and
release the MOM8 or other flotation/strobe, but it is already likely to be too far from the MOB to offer immediate support. DH sailors must always wear a PFD and expect to be in the water for 5-10 minutes to half an
hour depending on conditions and the speed of the boat. (They should also be tethered – especially alone on watch – and not become an MOB in the first place). It should be mandatory for crew to be
fitted with personal AIS beacons. This complements the MOB button and works remarkably well. In night-time tests we taped an AIS beacon to a mooring stick barely 6in out of the water. Its range was about 3 miles. From 1 mile out, without coming on deck for a visual, our navigator directed us back to within one boat length of the beacon. With local permission, experiment with an old AIS beacon. A Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) is
satellite-based and does not signal the boat; the location will not be available in time. In America the Coastguard heli- copters do receive a PLB signal, but not AIS. But offshore only AIS can be received locally by all boats in the vicinity.
No helmsman Once the boat is stopped the one remain- ing crew must abandon the helm for several minutes to prepare to return to the MOB: drop (or roll) the headsail (DH crews should never employ a headfoil), check for lines over the side, start engine in
neutral, drop mainsail (to port to clear the starboard deck). The hull is a threat to the life of the
MOB; approaching under engine is much safer than recovery under sail. Remember no one will be at the helm since the single crew will be on the halyard winch. In a light air MOB perhaps a case can be made for leaving some sails up, but our MOB plan is based on offshore conditions with wind and waves. There must be a means of securing the
helm so the boat assumes a stable heading and, if there is sternway, that the rudder/ steering system are not damaged. On my lightweight 37ft Lora Ann I fitted a short strop and shackle (above) that clips to the tiller; it is fast and easy. On a wheel I don’t trust brakes and prefer a lanyard. One might suggest that the autopilot
can maintain a preferred heading. How- ever, at very slow speed – perhaps even sternway – the autopilot cannot function. Without a helmsman, and with sails
down, it is essential to quickly determine how the boat will lie relative to wind and waves. This is critical for the beginning and end of the recovery when: 1) the crew must drop sails preparing to return to the MOB
2) the MOB is in the lifesling and the boat must be stopped while the halyard is hoisted. On Lora Ann we tested ‘lying ahull’ in
20-30kt with 4-6ft seas. We shackled the tiller, dropped the jib to port, cleating the sheets to quiet the sail. Then the main (luffslides are preferable to a luff groove system) was dropped to port and jammed between the lifelines and boom locked to port by the traveller. We secured one line across the mainsail,
but it was not necessary. This took less than two minutes and
both sails stayed remarkably docile, leav- ing the starboard deck cleared for action. Lora Ann rocked in the beam seas, but never varied from a True Wind Angle of 100 sailing at 0.5kt, sliding to leeward at 1.1kt (half leeway and half current (see B&G display overleaf). Lying ahull worked just as well a few weeks later on the much heavier 59ft Hound.
There are two big lessons: 1) while preparing to return to the MOB under engine, lying ahull minimises the distance sailed away from the MOB, and 2) while recovering the MOB (in the life - sling), lying ahull to windward of the
Shortage of manpower A DH MOB leaves only one crew aboard. A cruising crew of three or four leaves two or three aboard. In both cases there is a shortage but for the DH there cannot be a full-time helmsman. At least a short- handed boat is equipped for one person to efficiently furl or drop sails. However, during the recovery there
might not be enough muscle/winch power to hoist the MOB aboard. One must plan for the strongest/heaviest crew to be the MOB, so the minimum power requirement is for the weaker crew to be able to per- form the hoist. This might require a larger winch, or an electric winch or winch handle – fast becoming standard equip- ment on cruisers and some racers. One electric winch accessible by the
starboard spinnaker halyard not only helps in an MOB recovery but also makes it easy to hoist a crew up the mast. Stern platform recoveries might be feasible for some boats, but in any seaway the stern is a dangerous place for the MOB and it is risky for the one remaining crew to go out there to assist. After the clockwise J-turn (see Part II)
has successfully ‘hooked’ the MOB, and the boat is stopped to windward and is lying ahull, the ‘Standard’ lift with the spinnaker halyard clipped onto the knot in the lifesling line is workable. Once stopped the helmsman grabs the lifesling rope, walks it forward to midships and starts to pull it in. After reaching the knot the line is secured to a cleat on the cabintop or rail. The crew then finds the spinnaker
halyard, clips it to the knot and hoists the MOB aboard. Alternatively, the MOB can be pulled all the way to the hull, manually pulled partway up the side to prevent sliding under the hull, and secured while the crew gets the halyard. The advantage of the ‘Standard’ lift is its
1:1 mechanical advantage for speed. The disadvantage is the number of moves the crew must make, adding complications, time and the risk of moving around. However, the ‘Midline Lift’ – despite
the 1:2 mechanical disadvantage – is my choice rather than the Standard Lift. The crew only has to walk the spinnaker
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Far left: the geometry of the Midline Lift; for this technique a loop (left) fitted with a short strop should be secured at the stern of the yacht with wool or using a quick-release knot to be immediately available if it is needed. The spinnaker halyard allocated this role must obviously be made long enough to reach the stern… Above: display on Lora Ann lying ahull ‘stationary’ prior to attempting recovery
halyard to the stern and clip it to the sliding loop (above right). Then the crew mans the winch and doesn’t stop until the MOB swings over the lifeline and is lowered on deck – all without leaving the winch. There is no chance of the MOB get- ting hurt by the hull, and the crew is not at risk running around. On Lora Annmy DH partner and I can each Midline Lift the other… albeit barely. In the future I will purchase an electric winch or handle. The geometry of the Midline Lift
(above) requires the lifesling rope to be shortened, but the J-turn handles this easily. The stress of the 1:2 requires that the lifesling rope be floating Spectra rather than the weaker, sun-damage prone stretchy polypropylene. We recommend Spectra for all offshore set-ups, whether Standard Lift or Midline Lift. White water rescue suppliers have great floating yellow Spectra – around 8mm is perfect. To make the rope visible at night sew
2in reflective tapes every 6ft starting at the lifesling for about 40ft. The tapes plus the lights fixed at the forward end of the life - sling make the entire set-up easily visible to both the boat and the MOB at night. The other benefit of the Midline Lift is
the geometry that leads the MOB to mid- ships away from the ends of the boat, limits the MOB free swinging around and exerts more upward pull to prevent sliding under the boat. Warning: test the Midline Lift on your
boat to ensure that there is no twisting of the rope while hoisting.
Unconscious/immobilised MOB Lowering a Rescue Crew (RC) is not an option for a DH crew (or a 3-4 person crew unless they are all strong and experi- enced). It’s possible to back the boat up to the MOB and drag them up a stern plat- form. This is dangerous for the crew and MOB but may be the only choice. Theoretically a boat hook fitted with a
large snaphook and tagline might snag the lifting strap or shoulder strap of the MOB, but that requires the MOB to be alongside the hull and a very lucky use of the hook. I
52 SEAHORSE
have such a rig and find it pretty useless. If the MOB has no PFD and is immo-
bilised (unable to get into a lifesling) the situation is pretty hopeless. This is what happened to Colin Golder on the 2022 Bermuda Race, and the two lost UK sailors featured on page 13 in the August 2023 issue of Seahorse. The solution is easy to state (but we all violate it at some point): wear a PFD and clip on when appropriate.
Make your own plan All the above discussion is boat and crew specific to our DH crew and boat, but the process to come up with our own plan is universal: experimenting in real-time. The same challenges exist for all
DH/shorthanded boats. Find out what works best for you and then please share it with me and Seahorse. One final note, while my name is
French, I struggle to get to the level of many of my French offshore friends!!
Loose ends – you are the MOB Before starting your sailing season you must perform an annual PFD inspection and inflation test – inflate orally and leave overnight. Test the light, whistle, AIS. Every five years take a Hands-On
Safety-at-Sea seminar that includes a Survival Pool exercise. Learn the three ways to inflate your PFD: automatic (hydrostatic), manual, oral. Know where to quickly access your manual-pull and your oral tube with your eyes firmly shut. Put your name on your PFD. If you are an MOB be mentally pre-
pared to be in the water for at least 20-30 minutes. Once in the water, take a beat and try to calm down, face downwind and downwave, pull your crotch strap tight to elevate your mouth above water, pull your spray hood over your head, cinch your collar and cuffs and keep on your boots to retain heat. Ensure your AIS beacon is on and hold it up for better transmission. Use your whistle – the sound carries. Look for the boat and pat your head if it
is visible to indicate you are not injured. Waving is the wrong signal; a drowning
person often sticks their arms in the air. When the boat approaches, look for the
lifesling rope. Grab it and immediately slip the lifesling over your head and under your arms. Roll over onto your back if you are being dragged.
What if you are dragging by your tether? Several years ago a crew we knew drowned while being dragged. This should never occur. The crew should try to roll over on their back. The helmsman must immediately QuickStop the boat to stop the dragging – this sounds very simple but is often ignored. I know from personal experience that facing the flow of water at 7kt is frightening and life-threatening. The best crew response came from Sir
Robin Knox-Johnston: grab a halyard, snap it onto the tether (not onto the MOB) and hoist immediately. The tether is typically stretched across
the top of the upper lifeline, and by hoist- ing the tether it ‘Midline Lifts’ the crew over the lifelines. We tested this again a few months ago, and it works. If your boat has small halyard shackles that will not snap around a fat tether, hang a large Carabiner near the mast to act as a connector to the halyard. Being dragged over the side should not
be possible if the jacklines are located as close to the centreline as possible, and the short tether (or long tether doubled back) is used, particularly when working on the leeward deck. I find jacklines often cannot be located
inboard enough, so we fit an additional Spectra line along the edge of our cabin top. Using the short tether you now cannot go over the leeward lifeline. Rich du Moulin has over 25 years of DH racing experience including seven Bermuda Races (four wins) on his Express 37 as well as setting the Hong Kong-New York course record with Rich Wilson on his 53ft trimaran Great American II. For more tips on seamanship, leadership and safety at sea please check out
stormtrysail.org/sas-resources
PAUL WYETH
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