The Dreaded Alert – Man Overboard!

While sailing we often forget how important safety is. The is the old adage “one hand for the boat, the other for yourself”. In no sport is keeping aware of your situational awareness more important the while sailing, especially in challenging or remote ocean conditions.

A recent article from sailmagazine.com “Tips and Tricks to Prevent Falling Overboard,” by Joe Cooper, Aug 21st, 2014 is illustrative of the importance of this topic, and provides good guidance for avoiding a MOB, the most important guide to safety is prevention, falling overboard in any conditions can be dangerous, in bad conditions it may be lethal. While sailing we never want to hear the alert “Man Overboard”!

While we are taught rescue techniques for MOB emergencies we would be much better off avoiding it if we can. While technique can help to prevent a MOB, equipment is important as well both for preventing a MOB as well as facilitating rescue in a worst case situation.