In heavy weather or at night, using a safety line should be part of normal behaviour on board. In practice, however, the situation is often different, as it is only a few metres to the killing leech of the genoa or the skirt. And so the temptation is great to take the three steps on the side deck without the inconvenient belt - for example because of hooky and heavy carabiners that are difficult to clip onto the outhaul rope, or belts that are too long and get caught on every fitting. This means that the belay remains stowed away in the pack most of the time - a decision that, in the worst case, can cost you your life despite the automatic waistcoat.
But why is the harness so unpopular with many sailors? In order to get to the bottom of this question, we compared the safety lines available on the German market. While the products had to prove their strength in a dynamic drop test in the laboratory, the practical tests were carried out on board. There were clear differences in both the safety of the products and their ease of use.
You can find out which harness is best for securing yourself in the Skippers magazine in the current issue of YACHT, issue 23/2013, available from newsagents from 30 October.
Hauke Schmidt
Test & Technology editor
