2005: Crew Overboard (COB) Maneuvers

There are fundamentally two kinds of crew overboard rescue maneuvers:

1. Point of Sail methods. These maneuvers call for the helmsman to steer the vessel to specific points of sail and to tack or jibe as defined for each method. Two common examples are the figure eight and the deep beam reach. These methods are taught at beginning sailing classes, as these are easier to master than the turning methods. Yet, these methods tend to bring the boat further away from the victim in the water than the turning methods. Examples: The figure 8 and the Deep beam reach. Both of these methods are depicted below.

2. Turning methods. These methods are defined by turning the boat in prescribed ways and then tacking or jibing to return to the victim. The quick-stop and fast-return are examples of turning methods. Both of these call for a higher level of sailing skill but have the advantage of tending to stay closer to the victim.

Below are separate pages devoted to each of these maneuvers. We encourage comments and criticisms of each of these maneuvers and also proposed alternative maneuvers that will be depicted here.

One of the lessons of these earlier tests is that it is difficult to compare and contrast COB maneuvers for a wide range of reasons including different skill levels. One testing paradigm would be to focus on comparing two similar methods directly. For instance, a test could be constructed to compare and contrast the figure eight with the deep beam reach method. By focusing on two different methods of the same general type, meaningful information can be realized.

This contrast between the figure eight and the deep beam is potentially important because the figure eight is far and away the most common COB maneuver taught not just in the U.S., but around the world. It is a primary safety procedure. Yet there is some anecdotal evidence that the deep beam reach method has some simple characteristics that may make it a more effective first taught method. Hence, a scientific comparison of these two methods has potentially far reaching implications.

There follows a link to the Royal Ocean Racing Club that has a very succinct description of the quick stop from upwind.