One of the most difficult tasks in a man-overboard manoeuvre is not to lose sight of the casualty. To make it easier to find people who have gone overboard, direction finders have long been available on the international emergency frequency 121.5 megahertz. However, these can only be used on a yacht with great technical and financial effort (see YACHT 1/10).
AIS sarts, i.e. small transmitters with their own GPS that send position data via the frequency of the Automatic Information System, are much more universal. If a crew member falls into the water, their current position is automatically displayed via a symbol on any nearby plotter equipped with AIS.
Secumar now offers this technology for the top model Scout 275 3D. The waistcoat is equipped with a pocket for the Weatherdock Easy Rescue Transmitter (see YACHT 2/12 for a test). The special shape of the buoyancy chamber ensures that the transmitter antenna points vertically upwards when the waistcoat is deployed - providing optimum transmission and reception conditions. The AIS transmitter is also activated automatically. After a successful recovery, the transmitter can simply be switched off.
The prepared Scout 3D alone costs 489 euros, together with the Easy Rescue transmitter it costs 1099 euros.
Further information and sources of supply at www.secumar.com.
Hauke Schmidt
Test & Technology editor
