WE held our first man overboard weekend for sailing/yacht clubs and marinas last month in Lymington.

Adam Wilson of Aquasafe Powerboats had been asked by Newbury Yacht Club to demonstrate various methods of recovering a crew member from the sea, and Adam asked me to help out.

We emailed all skippers involved, there were 38 people or so and nine boats and we asked them all to think about how to secure the crew in the water (CIW) alongside and then how to effect a recovery.

We deliberately did not ask for details of how skippers planned to get back to the casualty but this naturally created quite a bit of discussion by email.

Our remit was to deal with recovery only, a subject I maintain is a lot more difficult than getting back to the CIW. However it was quite clear that a number of skippers thought that the getting back was a problem and I think that this may be because they do not practise it enough.

On all the deliveries where I am skipper I brief and practise all crew in this and in particular they must be able to heave-to effectively before we set off over the horizon.

Our programme was: Talk and discussion on how to get back to the CIW. Talk and discussion of how to recover a CIW. A demonstration by each skipper of his chosen method of recovery. This was done with boats alongside a pontoon and spectators either on neighbouring boats or on a spectator boat. Then out into the Solent where each boat used a RNLI “Dead Fred” dummy or a crew member went overboard in a dry or wet suit.

For the last part we had very benign conditions with wind at f3 or 4, very few waves and no swell.

A number of skippers used slings or inflatable lifebuoys towed behind their yachts, and the major lesson learnt was that you must practise getting the line to the CIW. One boat motored four times round the CIW before the line was within his reach.

Ingenuity played its part and what was refreshing to see were the various methods of recovery used. Some used gadgets they had devised themselves whilst others used recovery equipment you can buy at the chandlers.

Providing you get back to your CIW quickly and the person is not unconscious things will be a lot easier. Bear in mind that your casualty should ideally be hauled out horizontally to avoid blood going from the head to the toes.

I am running weekends such as this throughout the year operating anti-clockwise from Liverpool round to the Wash. If a marina or a club would like such an event, please make contact.

www.sail-help.co.uk