All content in this security special:
- Sea survival training for emergencies
- Stretch ropes: The correct handling of lifelines
- Lifejackets: 24 automatic lifejackets in a large comparison test (150N & 275N)
- Emergency transmitters - alerting, searching and finding, a system overview
- You should master these MOB manoeuvres!
- Back on board with tricks and professional recovery aids
- Safety check: Inspection saves lives
- Prepared for an emergency: 6 checklists for 6 scenarios
In September 2015, the German charter yacht "Desdemona" was sailing from Gedser towards the harbour entrance of Warnemünde when a crew member fell overboard during a sail recovery. Although the accident happened in the middle of the day in good visibility and not unusually harsh conditions with wind forces of 4 to 5, the crew was unable to rescue the crew member; he was only recovered dead days later by an official vessel. The Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) would later state in its report that the sailor had lost his balance due to a strong ship movement caused by the swell and was neither secured by a lifebelt nor wearing a lifejacket.
Tragic accidents of this kind occur not only on cruising yachts, but also on board racing yachts with professional crews. The biggest problem is always finding the person who has gone overboard and - if successful - getting them back on board quickly. Past tests of safety equipment such as Rescue collars or rescue systems have shown that it is important to have the right equipment on board in such an emergency. But it should be even more important not to fall overboard in the first place.
This requires three things: a lifebelt, also known as a harness, which is already integrated into most life jackets; a safety line, known to many as a lifeline; and stretch ropes on deck as a connection to the ship. This may sound simple, but it requires thorough preparation, as many pleasure boats do not have a permanent mooring line. Instead, they are often stored in the locker.
Lifelines: When should you start sailing with a harness?
This is not a bad thing to begin with, as the straps become brittle over time with constant exposure to sunlight. However, they must then also be attached with foresight before the conditions require them to be attached.
Britta Sloan from Sailpartner, who offers courses on sailing safety and organised the boat for the production of this article with her colleagues Michael Köhler and Lutz Böhme, recommends that sailors should generally keep a leash on at night. During the day, on the other hand, it is more difficult to define a clear limit beyond which it is only possible to go onto the foredeck when secured - this depends, among other things, on the size of the boat and whether or not there is a sea railing.
As a rule of thumb, however, the lifebelt should be used as soon as the waves and thus the ship's movements are so strong that sailors feel unsafe leaving the cockpit. It also plays a role whether staysail headsails need to be changed en route or whether the cockpit doesn't need to be left at all thanks to halyards, spreaders, reefing lines and furling headsails being redirected into the cockpit. Nevertheless, a tangled headsheet or reefing line on the furling system can suddenly make it necessary to go to the foresail.
Good preparation: This is how stretch ropes are tensioned
Ideally, the mooring ropes should be attached in the harbour before casting off. Ideally, they are stretched from bow to stern on each side on the running decks between specially designed padeyes. If these attachment points are not available, the cleats can also be used as an alternative.
Stretch ropes made from webbing have a loop at each end: on the side that is attached first, the entire strap can simply be pulled through this loop. At the other end, a lashing is made between the loop and the padeye or cleat using a piece of webbing. Under no circumstances should the webbing be knotted, as this reduces its strength.
The stretch ropes must be as taut as possible. If a crew member loses their grip, the lifebelt pulls the rope longer. This dampens the jolt, but if there is too much slack in the slack line, the risk of being thrown overboard increases.
Which way is it going?
In addition to the tension, the positioning also plays a role. Stretch ropes should run as far amidships as possible, i.e. preferably directly alongside the superstructure or even on top of it. If eyelets are attached to the deck, the owner has more influence over the course. When attaching to cleats, it can make sense to run the webbing straps crosswise on the foredeck, i.e. to secure the starboard strap to the port cleat and vice versa. However, it is important to remember that only the upper strap can be used all the way to the bow without repositioning.
Depending on the deck layout, sailors should also try out on which side of the centre of the centreboard it is best to sail forwards when the foresheet is taut.
The path to the mast is usually still well equipped with handrails, and the shrouds also provide sufficient support. However, as soon as the foredeck is reached, there is a lack of handholds, and the stay rope on the side deck cannot prevent the boat from falling overboard. In this case, it makes sense to rig an additional stay rope between the mast and the forward cleats. As soon as the shrouds have been passed, you can also pick yourself in the centre without unhooking from the long outhaul rope and thus get a better lateral hold.
Lifebelts in sailing practice: correct picking
But how do sailors hook in correctly? If things get really choppy, it's best to hook in as soon as you step into the cockpit close to the companionway. In larger cockpits, a short stretch rope can be tensioned in the cockpit. There should also be a padeye for the helmsman to pick up directly at the helm.
However, most cruising sailors do not even leave the harbour in conditions that require them to tie up even in the cockpit. It is therefore more important for them to secure themselves when leaving the protected helm station to go on deck. Before stepping over the coaming, the lifeline is tied into the mooring line. Afterwards, the way forwards is hardly any different from the usual, unroped walk to the mast or foresail: holding on is essential even when secured, the lifeline is just a kind of life insurance, it is the saving connection to the boat in an emergency.
When choosing the side, windward is recommended as you tend to fall to leeward and the lifeline will then tighten before you are in the water. If the belt is long enough to reach the mast directly, the lifeline does not need to be re-hooked. Otherwise, the mast steps on larger yachts are sometimes shaped in such a way that the carabiner can also be hooked into them. The lifeline can also be passed around the mast and hooked back into the harness. However, the freedom of movement is then severely restricted.
Control is better
Otherwise, you can also secure yourself at any other fixed point. On the Wauquiez, where we tried out the equipment and the procedures, there were stainless steel brackets in front of the mast as protection over the fans. These were ideal for holding on to as well as picking. However, one of the brackets was a little loose and no longer made a stable impression. So check beforehand whether the padeyes you are going to pick into or to which you are going to attach the stretch rope are reliable.
Those who pick themselves up rely on not losing their connection to the yacht even in an emergency. However, there are some dangers that can interrupt the secure hold of the lifeline. This is what happened during the Clipper Round the World Race in November 2017: British sailor Simon Speirs was helping to change sails on the foredeck of the Great Britain when he lost his balance and jerked his lifeline.
Normally, it should be able to withstand this load. However, the hook of the safety line had become jammed under the cleat to which the mooring line was attached and was now being loaded transversely rather than longitudinally. As a result, the hook bent open and Speirs went overboard in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The crew was later only able to recover him dead.
Stretch ropes and lifelines: sailors should avoid these mistakes
In its investigation report, the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch found that the hook complied with the standard and was actually designed to withstand a tensile force of one tonne. However, these products are not designed to withstand strong lateral forces. Therefore, the recommendation is to take special care to ensure that the hooks of the safety line do not get caught under deck fittings.
This could be remedied by using separate padeyes for attaching the spreader lines. Or, if this is not possible, a Zeiser, which is tensioned between the webbing straps in front of the cleats; it prevents the carabiners from slipping under the cleat.
Another problem can be carabiners without a safety catch. If these are hooked into large padeyes or round steps on the mast, they may open by themselves. This causes the hook to turn in such a way that the padeye pushes the latch open - whereupon the hook can come completely loose. The second variant is that the hook cants, the webbing of the lifeline wraps around it and pushes the latch open. Only carabiners with a safety catch can prevent such unintentional unhooking. With a little practice, these can still be operated with one hand.
Lifelines are standardised
Although long lifelines offer plenty of freedom of movement, they can also be a tripping hazard. On the way forwards, the safety line is pulled behind you; as soon as you turn round and take a few steps backwards, you can easily get your foot caught in it. The only thing that helps here is either to be careful or to use a lifeline that shortens when unloaded thanks to an integrated elasticated cord. This effectively prevents tangling.
What a lifeline must be able to do is regulated in the ISO 12401 standard. No maximum breaking load is specified. In the latest version of the standard from 2009, the most important innovation concerns the carabiner that connects the lifeline and lifebelt. It must be easy to detach from the lifebelt for people weighing over 50 kilograms. For lighter people - i.e. children - it should not be possible to detach the connection. This is why some manufacturers offer safety lines with a belt loop that is threaded through the D-ring of the lifebelt.
Overload indicators in the belt are not mandatory, but are a great advantage. This is a bight in the belt that is held by two seams up to a defined force. If the seam tears, the belt will continue to hold, but the colour change caused by a label attached to the bight indicates that the belt needs to be replaced.
Here please don't: Where on board should you not hook up under any circumstances?
In addition to these problems, there are some places on board that are not suitable for picking the safety line. For example, sailors should not secure themselves to the railing - it is generally not designed to withstand the weight of a person falling overboard for any length of time. And it would be impractical per se on the way forwards, as the hook would have to be released at each railing support and hooked back in again in front of it. You would then either be unsecured for a moment or it would be even more awkward, as the second hook would have to be hooked into each support and the first one unhooked.
Above all, however, securing far outboard is dangerous because the lifeline does not prevent the sailor from falling overboard. The sailor would be dragged outboard through the water and could drown.
Furthermore, the entire running rigging is taboo. Even if the foresheet can withstand the load without any problems, it can slip out of the cleat or selftailer in the next moment and then no longer offer any support. The same applies to halyards on the mast.
Can you do without a lifejacket thanks to the Lifeline?
And you should also be warned against securing yourself to the steering wheel or even through the spokes of the wheel on the steering column; the instructors at Sailpartner know from experience that this happens time and again. However, the safety line in the wheel could seriously impair the manoeuvrability of the boat in an emergency.
The question remains: Do sailors even need a lifejacket as long as they are on board on a leash? If the lifeline is consistently pegged in, a lifejacket seems useless - the connection to the boat is maintained even if you are hanging outboard and your fellow sailors quickly bring you back on deck. So a harness without a lifejacket would be sufficient. The extra freedom of movement would also speak in favour of this.
However, the example of the British sailor in the Clipper Race has shown that even a lifeline can fail. There are also situations in which sailors have to pick their way out, for example during harbour manoeuvres when crossing onto the jetty. In this case, it could be fatal not to wear a lifejacket. For regatta professionals, the better freedom of movement may be the decisive factor, but cruising sailors should not do without the automatic waistcoat.
Deck and footwear are also crucial for a good grip
Once the spreader ropes have been installed and the lifeline has been lashed in, this does not mean that sailors can now walk forwards across the side decks hands-free - even when tethered, sailors must hold on tight at all times. It is at least as important not to rush through all the work on deck in heavy weather, but to impose a pick discipline on yourself. For example, if the foresheet has snagged, don't just sprint forwards, but first secure yourself and then walk calmly and firmly to the foredeck.
It should be clear to every sailor that it is always advisable to wear sturdy shoes with a non-slip sole in rough seas. With bare feet, it's easier to slip and get injured more quickly.
And the deck itself should also offer the best possible grip. For teak decks, this means that they must be free of growth that makes the surface slippery. Treatment with Borakol helps here. All other surfaces can be prepared with special coatings.
Crew member hanging overboard on lifeline - how to react in an emergency?
If, despite all precautions, a crew member falls over the railing while tied up, you must react quickly, depending on which side this has happened on: If the crew member is dangling from the hull to leeward, there is a risk that they will be pulled under the water by their harness. A tack must then be made immediately. If, on the other hand, the person who has fallen overboard is hanging upwind, the difference in height may be enough to tighten the lifeline and pull the casualty out of the water with their upper body. In addition, another crew member upwind can come to the rescue more easily.
However, simply pulling the outboard hanger back on deck is rarely successful. Instead, use a spi halyard or a buoy: It is hooked directly into the lifebelt or the free end of the lifeline. After that, you can winch the sailor back on deck.
All content in this security special:
- Sea survival training for emergencies
- Stretch ropes: The correct handling of lifelines
- Lifejackets: 24 automatic lifejackets in a large comparison test (150N & 275N)
- Emergency transmitters - alerting, searching and finding, a system overview
- You should master these MOB manoeuvres!
- Back on board with tricks and professional recovery aids
- Safety check: Inspection saves lives
- Prepared for an emergency: 6 checklists for 6 scenarios
