Safety, Running Races, and Capsized Boats

Priorities for the PRO and his race committee team:

1. Safety of people
2. Running races
3. Saving capsized boats
4. Going to the party

The following guidelines are by no means exhaustive.  Nor do they deal with the myriad of variations that come up in real situations.  They are intended to help the PRO think about using the available resources to meet the above priorities.

SAFETY OF PEOPLE

If a boat capsizes or otherwise people are in the water, a rescue boat should get over to it and make sure all the people are all right.    It should find out if there are any injured or cold people who need or want to get out of the water and on the RC boat.   

A few obvious things to remember about people safety:

• Account for everyone and get any injured or cold people on the RC boat. 
• If any or all of the crew want to stay with their boat the RC boat should ask them to put on life jackets, especially if the RC boat needs to move on to check on another capsized boat.
• People should know that it is safer to stay with their boat until a rescue boat is ready to pick them up than to try to swim away.
• If a person wants to leave the boat and climb aboard the rescue boat, make sure they do not have far to swim.  They may be more tired and cold than they know.  If they don’t have a life jacket, throw a cushion to them.
• People tire and lose judgment very quickly in cold water.  Try to make sure the people are coherent.  If they aren’t they may be suffering from hypothermia.  Demand that they get out of the water.

RUNNING RACES

Once the safety of people is taken care of, the race committee’s next priority is to get the races started or completed.  Rescuing the capsized boats can wait until the resources are available.

CAPSIZED BOATS

A few obvious things about helping capsized boats:

Self rescuing boats

·        Many boats are self-rescuing.  However, within the same class--Lightnings, for example—some are self-rescuing and some are not.  

·        The skipper and crew of a self-rescuing boat may want to recover without outside help and continue racing.  That is the skipper’s decision.  However, ask them to put on their life jackets and keep an eye on them, especially if the water is cold.

Non-self rescuing boats or boats whose crew are cold or injured

·        If the boat is not self-rescuing, it will need to be righted and eventually towed to shore. 

·        Helping right a capsize boat uses a significant amount of the rescue boat’s time.  Towing it to shore uses even more.  That takes resources away from running races.  

·        The PRO must balance priorities 2 and 3 and decide just how much help to give the capsized boat.

·        For example, if racing is not underway then the PRO must decide if he has enough boats to set the course and get the racing started.  While people safety comes first, rescuing the capsized boat may have to wait until later if the RC boats are needed to start the racing. 

·        However, if the PRO believes there are sufficient RC boats to start and run the races, then the rescue boat might spend up to 20 minutes helping the skipper and crew right their boat.  At that stage, the boat should be anchored and left to be rescued later.  It is unlikely there is enough time or extra rescue boats to tow the boat to shore.  Furthermore, that is the PRO’s decision to make.  Neither the skipper of the capsized boat nor the captain of the rescue boat should make that decision.

·        A capsized boat may suffer damage, but preventing that damage is a lower priority than running races and paying for that damage is what the boat owner’s insurance is for.

Principles for Helping Capsized Boats

• Approach from downwind to avoid drifting down on the boat or people in the water.  While doing so, it is friendly to pick up stuff in the water that may be drifting downwind.

If the boat is not turtled but the crew is having trouble righting their boat,

• Throw them a line and ask them to put it throw the bow eye and tie it to the mast.  
• Tow the boat very slowly into the wind.  This should make it easier to bring up because the wind should get under the sail.
• Once the boat is up, continue to tow slowly into the wind to help stabilize the boat while the crew gets in and drops sail. 
• Once the crew has partially bailed the boat, they should be able to complete the job on their own.

If the boat is turtled and the boat has a backstay

• Attach a line with carbineer and a weight to the backstay and let it drop to the bottom or top of the mast.
• Then from a distance greater than the height of the mast, slowly pull on the line to raise the mast tip to the surface.

If the boat is turtled and does not have a backstay, there are a couple of options

• Tow the boat upside down (and slowly) to shallow water.
• Tow it with a line through the bow eye and around the mast.
• Tow it so that the tip of the mast drags across the mud and doesn’t dig into it.  It helps to have someone on the boat and tilting it so this works.
• Once in shallow water the mast can be walked up.

Alternatively,

• Put a line over the boat and tie it to a shroud or mast so the boat can be towed sideways and up.
• The direction of the tow is critical.  If the water is very deep, then it is probably better to tow the boat downwind.  The wind will be in the same direction as the tow.
• If the mast is downwind and digging deeper into the mud as the wind pushes the boat further downwind, then it needs to be towed upwind.

If the crew of the boat is cold or injured and a member of the RC team or another sailor agrees to rescue the boat, it would be very helpful if those people had a wetsuit to wear. 

Safety Equipment: Life Jackets, First Aid, Tow Lines

On the Bayliner Trophy (Black Swan) the First Aid Kit is in the cabin.  Life Jackets are there also.  On the Robalo (Signet), the First Aid Kit is in the compartment under the steering wheel.  Life Jackets are under the helmsperson’s seat, and also in a white, zippered, square bag.  You must carry a life jacket for each hand and a spare one for each boat.  Each boat must also carry a throwable floatation device.  (It’s the Law.)   Don’t leave the dock without one in each boat.

During the races keep a sharp eye out for capsized or broken down boats at extreme ends of the course. One of the powerboats should follow (or tow!) in the last sailboat after the last race.

GOING TO THE PARTY

If boats had to be left while the races were completed, the RC coordinates efforts to rescue these boats before quitting work for the day.   Frank Gallagher tells a story of a regatta in which many boats capsized and were left anchored while the crew warmed up and the races were completed.   Unfortunately, at the end of the races, the RC docked their boats and went to the party and left the capsized boats in the water overnight.  Fortunately, the boats were found and rescued the next day without problems.