Clipper Round The World Race fatality

[Jim Walsh]

http://clipperroundtheworld.com/news/ar ... arah-young
There is a lesson here for all of us. Bear in mind that a fully crewed race boat was unable to retrieve this poor soul for one full hour. Be careful out there folks.

[Neil Gordon]

1 - Next time you spot an adrift hat, fender, or whatever, start your stopwatch, yell "This is a drill, this is a drill, crew overboard!!!." and see how long it takes to fish the target object from the water.

2 - If there are no convenient already adrift objects, toss a seat cushion and try the same drill as #1.

3 - For comparison, tether the same seat cushion to the boat and try #2 again.

[Warren Kaplan]

35-40 knot winds and not clipped in.

It just goes to show you that even "serious" sailors in equally serious races sometimes let down their guard and, unfortunately, wind up paying for it big time. I remember a few years back a similar thing happened on LI Sound.

A lesson for all of us.

[Jeff and Sarah]

1 - Next time you spot an adrift hat, fender, or whatever, start your stopwatch, yell "This is a drill, this is a drill, crew overboard!!!." and see how long it takes to fish the target object from the water.

2 - If there are no convenient already adrift objects, toss a seat cushion and try the same drill as #1.

3 - For comparison, tether the same seat cushion to the boat and try #2 again.

Neil's advice is smart. We conduct occasional drills with head-sized cantaloupes and watermelons. It is always a slower operation than you'd think. A common mantra that I learned while flying with the CG is "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." A calm douse or furling of the sails, a methodical Williamson turn back to the person, and a planned method of hauling them back aboard is going to be far faster than a rapid uncoordinated effort. That being said, it is imperative you don't lose sight of the person in the water. Our plan on Prereq is if anyone goes in, everything that floats goes in after them to help mark their position (and to provide something for them to grab). First to be tossed over is the bean bag chairs as they float high enough in the water that they are impossible to miss.

[psjanker]

Appears that the same boat loss a sailor last Sept on a different leg, Andrew Young. Unclear if the death was a result from the boom or sail. Big boats, fast speeds, heavy loads. Prayers with crew and their love ones as Sara is to be buried at sea. HTTPS://clipperroundtheworld.com

V/r

Pete

[Jim Walsh]

Please don't misinterpret this posting as being unnecessarily critical. I frequent a British sailing forum and this incident is a blazing hot topic. The British tend to be very demonstrative and most would be barred from our forum for their lack of restraint. That being said, this is a small taste of the comments about this incident. Now that the poor soul has been laid to rest I feel comfortable making a comment. Prior to this I felt it would have been bad form.

"Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was interviewed on TV this morning and mentioned the usual guidance of being clipped on when "on deck". Of course the presenters did not pick up on the technicality that sailors would consider being in the cockpit as distinct from being on deck. RK-J did not mention this either."

(This was a response to the comment above)

Mike.
On deck, means on deck, including the cockpit. Anything outside the companionway, is on deck!

I cannot agree more. This was not a summer daysail. This was a flat out race boat being pushed to the limits 24/7, thousands of miles at sea, with a crew of at least 16 (I counted the heads in one picture) and even they could not manage to recover this poor woman in under an hour. There is no excuse for her not being clipped on.