The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Crew Overboard Recovery, Is The Quick Stop Bogus?

I have always believed, and dinned into my crews during briefings, that once we are offshore in swell, and particularly when shorthanded, the chance of recovering a crew overboard (COB) is slim to zero.

This is why my COB briefing before every passage ends with:

Pretend that there’s a 500-foot drop the other side of those lifelines. Sure, it may take a bit longer, but the result will be the same.

But that begs the question, what about all those COB recovery videos or demonstrations (common at Safety at Sea Seminars), particularly the Quick Stop manoeuvre, where everything always works so well?

Not The Real World

Here’s the thing. Look at the conditions during the drills: pretty much always smooth water and light winds. Example 1 Example 2

Also note that the COB in these drills nearly always occurs conveniently when the boat is going upwind without the boom prevented or the pole up and guyed.

And even when a downwind COB recovery is demonstrated, like in this video, the situation is:

  • Smooth seas.
  • Light winds.
  • A relatively small boat with low loads.
  • A full-on race crew who are clearly well drilled in spinnaker takedowns.

In other words, not realistically representative for most of us.

The Harsh Reality

Now let’s flip over to the real world, at least for most of us here at AAC: shorthanded offshore sailing.

We are cruisers, so how do we want to be sailing? Yup, downwind and reaching. So we will have a preventer on the boom, or at least we damned well should have, and quite likely the headsail poled out too.

Or, worse still, the keeners among us will have some large specialty off-the-wind sail set, like a Code 0 or asymmetric spinnaker.

In these conditions, the idea that a shorthanded crew could keep a COB in sight offshore in waves while getting the boat under control and turned around, is, at least in my opinion, just plain dreaming. Here’s why:


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Alastair Currie

I am not sure when the the quick stop was introduced but back in the early 1980s it was not known to me and I read a lot of sailing books back then. It appears to be a development on tacking into heave to position, which certainly was taught to me. The objective is to stop the boat in the near vicinity, probably up wind, heave to and prepare to recover the person overboard. Later I learned an extension to the tack and heave to, engine on, reverse back, don’t touch sails and allow the wind drift down on the person overboard. This method works in 70′ boats, the biggest I have sailed. Like most things in life a one size fits all solution is rarely a good solution.

Alastair Currie

I have carried out person overboard training frequently and in strong winds and coastal seas, mostly in a 41′ yacht. I worked in sail training in the 1980s and was 1st Mate with an organisation for 4 years. Back then the quick stop was not known but what we did when close hauled was tack and heave to, not crash tack. In the heave to position it was easy to prepare the boat. For other points of sailing it was also similar, luff, stop the boat, douse head sails, engine on etc; if the canvas and sea state allowed, tack and heave to. Later a colleague introduced reversing backwards under power while still in heave to mode and today this is more or less an accepted tool that can get you back quickly, upwind and drifting down onto the person overboard. Like any yacht, if over canvassed, tacking into heave to position would have significant risks. I can’t remember the wind speeds on the 70 ft yacht but it was sailed in all sorts of weathers (UK coastal) and ‘MOB Drill’ was practised frequently in all the conditions prevalent. In all cases, stopping the yacht, preparing, engine on, approach and contact was made under power, something I still do today in my drill. I am also a big fan of going onto a reach immediately from down wind, and then feathering upwind to spill and stop, engine on, headsails rolled, tacked and reach back, under main.

I dislike the quick stop in tuition situations and prefer the reach / tack / reach when training as that develops and reinforces core skills about handling under sail which is applicable for anchoring and mooring buoy pick up as well. The geometry of the reach, tack, reach is also less disorienting for the crew. I had a break between sailing, nearly 10 years, when I came back, the quick or crash stop (as it has been called in the UK) was being taught and had entered text books.

Alastair Currie

On the 70′ yacht we had 18 persons on board, 3 x 5 crew watches plus a watch leader. The tack was always controlled as the risk of dismasting was real and a gybe was not to be undertaken without great care. In that boat a person overboard simply could not be rushed as far has handling the sails was concerned, no gybing as that was a complicated task that needed great care with running back stays.

Tomas

Thankyou for the best mob artickle I have read. No nonsens or false sequrity storys as on many trainings. I have often wounderd if they ever been offshore in 20 knots wind or more. I have never had a mob situation but have allways wonderd can those strategies really work? (Have been pretty sure that they wouldent)
I love the 500 feet analogy, from now I will use that.
What about all those systems to lift a unconsius person on board, shorthanded.
The only thing that really works is STAY ON THE BOAT!
We (my whife and I) will start our first longer cruise, 3yr, this summer. We start from Stockholm Sweden.

Whats your opinion on life boy, dan boy etc. We have a Najad 441 center cokpit. If I fall over board when we do 7knots of speed. In the best of scenarios my whife is in the cokpit and see me fall. Before she has reacted got to the stern deployd a life boy. How far away from me is it? Can I swim to it in 8ft waves. I think it could work when all is perfect but I would not trust it. Does it only add to false sequrity and make crew less risk aware. Be frank whith the crew, on this boat we don’t do false sequrity, if you fall off you probably die. Atleast in heavy weather.
I think the greatest chanse of survival is whith a AIS mob device.
Thanks again!
Tomas

Ian Morrris

Staying on board is the most important trick yet most modern boats seem to be equipped with near useless side deck jack lines. Why is it not mandatory to wear dual line harnesses, so that at all times one is clipped on and how many boats have a central jack stay line? In my opinion any line which still allows one to go over the rail is pointless. If one is wearing a two line harness then jack stays do not have to be continuous for the full boat length. Masses more on this subject.

Marcus Ward
Phyllis

Hi, Marcus; Colloquial usage is acceptable in online writing, which is a very different platform than the NY times (though thank you for comparing us to them). Regards, Phyllis

Jonas Edlund

Agree completely, if you are a small crew onboard, be sure not to go overboard by and always wearing an AIS-beacon. When me and my wife are sailing, we have agreed upon some basic rules that we have promised each other to follow. The reason is that we are dependent on each other to survive and the highest priority is to stay onboard!
– While alone in the cockpit, never leave the cockpit without telling the other person. Not for any reason.
– While on deck, use life vest with AIS-beacon and theter to the boat.

Finally, if the shit hits the fan and someone goes overboard, throw the marker buoy overboard and start the engine. Then start dealing with reducing sail area before trying to turn the boat. In our case we can furl all sails downwind.

Thanks for all insights you are sharing on this site with many interesting articles. I have learnt from some and get own experiences confirmed from others.

Regards, Jonas