Swift-Less

The 62nd year of the Swiftsure International Yacht Race began in 5 knots of breeze out of the southwest on a perfect and clear day. The weather forecast was for a building westerly reaching 15-25 in the afternoon and night and laying on Sunday. The crew was excited for the day and once we worked our way out of the start area we found ourselves right behind the boats rated faster and in front of the boats rated slower. During the next 10 miles the wind continued to build and by Race Rocks we were under a full main and #3 with a steady 18 knots (true) from 255. The standing safety rule on our boat is that if the #3 goes up everyone has to wear PFD's, and as we headed away from Race Rocks all of us were wearing flotation. Our run through Race Pass was marked by speeds made good of over 12 knots and the lighthouse quickly disappeared into the distance.

The tide was now ebbing full against the building breeze and the seas were increasing. Another hour passed as we worked southwest towards the turning mark, and we continued to make progress toward the next boat in our fleet while the boats behind could barely be identified with the field glasses. The wind had now built to 20-25 true , but the boat was in her element and driving was extremely enjoyable for the helmsmen. We took a short port hitch to consolidate on the boats behind as we expected the wind to continue to shift West as we approached the Neah Bay mark. As we continued on our port tack we ran into a bit more pressure and the waves grew to 3-5 feet with short wave periods. Though most of the wave action was pretty predictable we saw what appeared to be a confluence of swell and wind waves because every 15-20 minutes we would catch a pair of waves shaped like the World War II anti-tank obstacles called "Dragon's Teeth". These waves were traveling transversely along the predominant wave fronts indicating 2 systems combining.

Suddenly coming down off a wave we hear the sound similar to a gunshot and the foot of the main begins to sag. A quick look confirmed the Crystalyne 3/8" line has parted mid-length in the outhaul system. We decide to use the reefing line to attempt to replace the outhaul. The current outhaul is a 16:1 cascade system while the reefing system is a 2:1 purchase. We quickly lost confidence the reefing line would hold that type of load long term and decide the best answer is to reef and reduce the loads. We set the crew to reef the sail, drop the halyard, and begin to reef. During this time a weak point identified earlier in the main along the leech (previously repaired) fails and the leech parts before we can complete the reef. A quick look around the boat shows what I already knew, our race was over. The call was made to drop the main the rest of the way down and return to home.

The main was lowered and secured to the deck as we waited for a flat spot to turn downwind towards home. The tactician wanted to allow the boat to settle into it's motion before having the crew on the deck to drag the main below and so everyone was organizing their areas and coming to terms with the disappointment of having to retire. It was that time that the first of a pair of the "dragon teeth" waves rolled the boat 20 degrees to starboard and then quickly back 15-20 to port. The second wave snap rolled the boat back to starboard another 30 degrees as it passed under us. Five crew lost their balance and fell across the cockpit. The helmsman and I were caught by one of the runner team, the 2 jib trimmers fell across the boat with the navigator who was caught by the tactician. The first jib trimmer squirted out between the lower lifeline and the deck while the 2nd jib trimmer managed to stay aboard.

The pit person immediately reported "Man overboard Starboard side" and pulled the pin on the MOM-8. The pit was acting as a spotter and I assisted her by communicating with the overboard person and onboard crew involved in the recovery effort. The helm turned up to clear the man overboard, slow the boat, and stay close. The MOM-8 didn't drop out of the container properly and we had to quickly force the base of the unit free from the casing. When finally deployed the MOM was about a boat length from the overboard crewmember. In those conditions however anything less than 10 feet is going to be a huge physical drain to get to.

Our heading at the time of the MOB was a very broad reach under #3 alone at a SOG of approximately 7 knots. When the helmsman turned up to keep close to the MOB we were beating to weather with only the headsail up. As the driver during the mainsail take-down I knew how difficult it was for the current helmsman to keep way on and be able to maneuver with that little of sail area up. The waves which were so easy to cut through with the main and jib up would now drop the boat with a shuddering stop. Helm response was poor at best but we were still sailing at over 5.7 knots over ground as we headed back to circle the MOB.

After checking for lines in the water the engine was turned on in the event that we could not retrieve while under sail. A heaving line was brought topside during the approach back to the MOB and thrown when we were approx 15-20 feet to lee from them. The MOB caught the line on the first try and we began to bring him toward the boat. In order to stop the boat and avoid towing our MOB we had to blow the jib which meant we were abeam to the seas and wind. Unfortunately since one of the jib trimmers was overboard and the other was handling the heaving line, we didn't have a jib trimmer ready to trim or blow the jib as necessary during this maneuver. The crew boss was busy trying to hold the mainsail down and couldn't step in, the pit person wasn't near the pit so they couldn't drop the halyard, and so one of the main trimmers ended up grabbing the sheet and spinning it off the winch. As we got closer the MOB let us know he didn't have much strength left. Since the MOB didn't see the need earlier to put on the MOM we found that we didn't have a safe attachment point to use the traditional halyard hoist off the lee side to get him back on the boat. He was tired and it would have required a couple of minutes more for him to try and don the MOM and secure a line to it. The other concern with a beam hoist of the MOB was that the waves were rolling the boat side to side which could result in more chance of injury to the MOB and other crew. The goal was to get him in fast and safely which that meant we had to retrieve off the transom. The transom on the back of Navitae is a reverse shear, open transom with large walkthroughs on each side of the runners. The tactician secured himself to the chain plate on the transom and two other crew pulled the MOB closer to the boat so that they could grab a hold of him and walk him around to the transom. Once the MOB was at the stern, we kept him away from the stern until we started to pull. We cleared the port (windward) runner winch and put a wrap of the heaving line over the winch as a guide forward to the winch on the cockpit. One of the mast men was at the cabin winch to help take up slack as we began the haul. The tactician got one arm under the MOB's shoulder and the chest. The other hand grabbed whatever he could. The pit person then grabbed the tactician's harness and under his armpit. I grabbed the Pit person under both shoulders. When the next wave approached the boat and floated the MOB higher to the transom we collectively took a heave and leaned back. The MOB was now safely against the transom with his head above the deck and his body lying against the hull. It took 3 rounds of pulling with each wave to get our MOB fully onto the deck. The helmsman for the entire maneuver was doing what he could to keep some sort of control with the helm what was un-responsive at best with the jib flogging. Once the helm heard us yell "HE'S IN!" he turned downwind to regain steerage and speed while the person sitting in the jib trim spot pulled the jib in. While flogging the jib we slung part of the trigger shackle overboard and one of the mast men had to reverse the sheet and bowline the sheet to the clew of the #3.

Once fully in the boat the MOB was checked for injuries, taken below to get their clothes changed, and given water and one last check over. The helmsman turned off the engine which was never used, and we continued our sail. As we departed the area, one of our competitors arrived to assist. He was several miles away when he saw our maneuvers and immediately knew what was up. They footed off to reach us and waited nearby until they were sure we were OK. This same competitor had just the week before assisted in the recovery of crew during the J24 Nationals where a boat sunk. Thank you to the White Cloud team for the big effort to render assistance. Unfortunately our MOM, which wasn't attached to our MOB was disappearing behind us, but with only the headsail up it was going to be a whole lot of time and work to try and recover it. After we had our MOB checked out I called into the RC that we had withdrawn and our emergency MOB gear was left abandoned at a specific Lat/Lon. I also attempted to radio White Cloud and alert them that we had our MOB and were returning home.

Approximately 20 minutes later our MOB came up from below in dry clothes and hair combed ready to continue sailing. We talked quite a bit about the experience on our run back to Victoria and discussed what we did to make the recovery fast and how to make it faster in the future, not that any of us want it to happen again.

• Make sure you check that the MOB feature is fully engaged when you walk away from the GPS. Those rubbery buttons on GPS units require that you visually confirm you engaged a feature as you think you may have depressed them, but always check. In our case we had 2 GPS units with MOB engaged, both the handheld at the helm and in the Nav station.
  " Whether the MOB thinks they need it or not, instruct them put the MOM-8 or LifeSling on. It means they can put the heaving line through the rings rather than hold it, there is no such thing as too much buoyancy, and the MOB equipment can be recovered with the person.
  " Make sure each and every person knows how to locate, deploy, don, and recover the safety equipment onboard. If you have a "black box" recovery unit such as a MOM-8 or MOM-9 ask your local chandlery if you can borrow the demo unit for a day so you can show your crew. Attend a LifeSling class if that is your recovery unit of choice. Of course, Practice, Practice, Practice! While sailing back to the slip after a race you have a captive audience, use this time to engage them in MOB discussions. The safety equipment is useless if you can't find it, don't know how to deploy it, don't put it on, or can't get the MOB back in the boat.
  " Encourage the MOB try to swim in a side stroke to the rescue equipment with their face away from the waves. It helps minimize splash and water ingested.
  " Plan for every type of sail combination you might ever have including jib only. Each presents their own challenges to recovering a MOB. In our case with the jib only we could not effectively work upwind to be able to perform a leeward beam recovery and we could not hove-to to stop the boat which also meant we were abeam on the waves rather than nose on. Had we been nose-on a transom recovery would not have been a viable option as it would have been far more dangerous than a side recovery.
  " Our MOB was very calm and collected during the event which was very important in his quick and successful recovery. A panic stricken person is less likely to listen to his spotters and follow directions.
  " If you have non-swimmers on the boat, insist they have PFD's on at all times.
  " When being pulled by a heaving line or other means it's good to roll onto your back . It keeps your head above water rather than forcing your head below and potentially drowning you.
  " Our MOB said his first thought was to blow his whistle, then turn on his light, then find where the MOM-8 is. That's a good sequence to follow. Get someone's attention, be visible, and find the recovery tools.
  " Always make sure the person you are communicating with hears and understands you. We would use names, physical contact, and eye contact amongst the team to make sure we all understood each other while maneuvering to retrieve our MOB. With 20-25 knots of wind and a flogging sail the noise level is incredible. If any of the crew has any hearing loss it becomes essentially impossible to communicate with them just by yelling.
  " No matter how important weight is on a boat, make sure you have a change of clothes on board that fits the largest person. We sail in really cold water so we always have polar fleece pants, top, socks, towel, sleeping bag and foulies on the boat. Of course this is in addition to a full medical kit for advanced care.
  " Be prepared for adrenaline crashes from anyone on the boat after the event. 30 minutes after the heart rate slows is a good estimate. Everyone is different so they exhibit their own combination, some get the shivers, others get shaking hands, dizziness, ringing ears, and others get a headache equivalent to a migraine. Keep them comfortable, watch them, and keep them engaged. It goes away within an hour. In our case some of the crew on board actually had more adrenaline crash symptoms than our MOB.
  " Check your safety equipment regularly to make sure it works, get it inspected regularly, and call the manufacturers to see if there are any mods or improvements they have made since your purchase.. Our MOM-8 is brand new but hung during deployment. A quick call to the manufacturers found that within the past year they have improved the UV cover that protects the unit in the case which was the part that hung during the deployment. The company is trading out our 1 year old pack with an updated module, which shows they stand behind their products.
  " People with prescription lenses may lose their glasses or contacts if they go overboard. Have a second pair onboard or be prepared to have to trade out rail positions after they come back topsides.
  " Most of us talk about what to do during a MOB with each of us in our respective positions. What it really important to remember is that those same things have to be done regardless where each person actually is on the boat at that moment in time. Our pit person was at the transom at the time of the MOB, I was cleaning up runners, the crew boss was hidden under the mainsail, and the lead runner person was down below. During a MOB the biggest thing is to remember what has to happen and look around to see what needs to be done and what you can do to help. Since our pit person was not in their spot, someone else had to get the heaving line and hit the MOB button on the GPS. Since our jib trimmers were "engaged" elsewhere someone else had to trim the jib. With the tactician handling the MOB logistics, the crew boss would normally handle the boat operations, but since he was engaged with something else one of the other crew directed the boat operations. The goal is for everyone to know what has to be done be able to actively step in and do it. Practice and chalk talks are important as everyone needs to know every action that has to be done regardless of their normal role on the boat.

We had a great day out and even the MOB resulted in an improvement in crew morale. It took 2 minutes and 52 seconds from start to finish in challenging conditions with a partially disabled boat. We are proud with our MOB for his composure and confidence in us and are very proud with the boat and ourselves for being able to affect the rescue in under 3 minutes. The crew included ocean racers, sailing instructors, and coaches and it was the first time that all of us had been in a scenario where all the "traditional" methods would have not worked to recover the MOB quickly or could have potentially injured him or the crew. Quick thinking and creativity led to a very fast and safe recovery. I would go anywhere, any time with this team.. In addition, it is a pleasure and an honor to have been a part of the Swiftsure Race and to be on the same course with true sailors and seamen like those off White Cloud, we wish them all the best during Van Isle 360.