Sailing safety equipment: Your essential guide to staying safe at sea
Sam Fortescue looks at what’s new for 2024 when it comes to sailing safety equipment…
Sailing safety lines
There are broadly three types of line. First up, the traditional rescue quoit – a thin polypropylene line with a rubber ring as ballast for the throw. “They’re normally just seen in liferafts these days, because they are hard to throw accurately and the thin line often tangles,” says Jinks.
Throw bags are a better bet, and a strong arm can manage a good distance of perhaps 20-25m. The line is often slightly thicker and softer, but it does need to be packed correctly. Finally, there’s the rescue sling which doesn’t travel far, but can be used to lassoo people – picking them up in the bight. Buy a good one with thickish floating polypropylene safety line.
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Crewsaver throwing line
Hold the bight in your non-throwing hand and then heft the hi-vis yellow pack towards the MOB. The basic 20m line is the easiest to throw; the 30m throwing strop does the same job but with a longer line and handy padded strop that runs under your armpits.
RRP: £45
Shop now at marinesuperstore.com
Plastimo rescue line
Combines 20m of floating line in a neat pouch with a stainless-steel rail mount system for easy stowing.
RRP: £62.95
Seago Throw Bag
With 30m of hi-vis floating line and a stainless-steel mounting bracket.
RRP: £32.50
Recovery devices
When you get to a certain size and weight, throwing lines become rescue slings and cannot be thrown far. Instead, it works better to run out the line astern and tow the sling around the MOB.
They are generally available for less than £100, made of foam and floating polypropylene line in lengths of 20-30m.
If you plan to use the sling to raise someone from the water, you’ll also need to have a purchase system of blocks to make it easier. Reckoning with wet clothing, lifting weights of 100kg-plus are likely, so you’ll need at least a 4:1 purchase, if not an 8:1. Jimmy Green does a set for £129 or £279 respectively.
Also worth noting that Duncan Wells’ simple Lifesaver line (£17.95) can make the difference when you’re trying to catch and tether a MOB in the lee of the boat. You fix it in your lifejacket and it floats free on activation.
Crewsaver Rescue Sling, £80, marinesuperstore.com
Windward Rescue Sling, £74.95, force4.co.uk
Oscar MOB Rescue Sling, £99, jimmygreen.com
Baltic Rescue Sling, with a precise 38m of nylon rope, £149, crew-safe.co.uk
Kim MOB Rescue Sling, uses a helicopter lifting strop, £140, gaelforcemarine.co.uk
Jonbuoy Rescue Sling, the limousine of MOB devices inflates when it hits the water, from £189, andark.co.uk
YachtStrop is an open strop set up with throwing weights for lassooing and then lifting someone within 2-3m of the boat. It packs into a long, thin soft case designed for rail mounting. £299, seastrop.com
Seago Rescue Sling has a really well padded sling, £69, marinesuperstore.com
Parbuckling
This is a technique whereby you lash a net, sail or some other flexible material to the side, manoeuvre it under an incapacitated MOB and haul them aboard through a mix of lifting and rolling.
Lifeboats and SAR teams have expensive specialist equipment for this, but there are also options for leisure boats. And you could simply use a length of scrambling net bought online for a few quid. It’s recommended for avoiding
Ocean Safety Pickup Sail
Resembling a triangular mesh sail, the Pickup Sail is fastened at the foot around a pair of stanchions, with a halyard clapped on at the head. Lowering the belly of the sail into the water, you float the MOB in, then raise them using a halyard winch. No need for handy billies or extra purchase – you use the yacht’s existing systems.
RRP: £372
Shop now at suffolkmarinesafety.com
SOS Marine Recovery Ladder
Raise an incapacitated MOB and provide a safe way for an ablebodied casualty to climb back aboard with this two-in-one device. Four attachment points and profiled rungs make this easier to climb than some ladders, offering a safer alternative than the bathing ladder at a slamming stern. It may not be the most comfortable parbuckling sail, but it should still work using a halyard to raise it. Only hitch is that you must order from the Aussie manufacturer.
RRP: AU$244.50
Shop now at fawcettboatsupplies.com
MOBMat
This recovery device has a semi-rigid ‘floor’ to it, so that the casualty doesn’t get rolled or squeezed as they’re raised. You pull the whole thing up using a halyard. Battens keep the shape, then remove for more efficient stowage (60x80cm) in a rail bag or a locker.
RRP: £480
Shop now at adecmarine.co.uk
Jonbuoy
As an inflatable system, the Jonbuoy Recovery Module is both lightweight and efficient to stow. Heave it over the side in an emergency, and it quickly inflates to become a danbuoy, horseshoe buoy and lifting strop all rolled into one.
It does these last two jobs particularly well, providing lots of buoyancy for a casualty to hang onto as well as a comfy inflatable ‘seat’ which vastly improves the experience of being winched out compared to a simpler sling.
A retroreflective finish makes it show up better under torch- or searchlight, and it has a drogue pocket built in to stop it from blowing downwind. It comes in a hard container for rail mounting. Not cheap, but definitely a lifesaver.
RRP: from £255
Shop now at suffolkmarinesafety.com
Best PLBs and EPRIBs
As a highly regulated safety product, the function of these distress beacons is pretty similar across the board. They raise the alarm via satellite, and can confirm that your message has been picked up if you opt for one with the relatively new Return Link Service.
A new feature of some brands is the ability to communicate with an app on your phone to check battery health and status. Category 1 epirbs (attached to the boat) deploy automatically when they sense water, but even manual ones float and have a minimum 48-hour battery life. A personal locator beacon is smaller and will fit in a lifejacket. It can be semi-automatic, so the lifejacket triggers it when inflated.
Best Epirbs
RescueME Epirb 1, £547.32, amazon.co.uk
RescueME Epirb 3 adds AIS, return link and NFC, £799.95, suffolkmarinesafety.com
ACR GlobalFix V5 with AIS, return link and NFC, £825, amazon.co.uk
ACR GlobalFix V6 with return link and NFC, £699, acrartex.com
McMurdo Smartfind G8 AIS, £860, gtc.co.uk
Best PLBs
Ocean Signal PLB1, £355.16, amazon.co.uk
Ocean Signal PLB3 adds AIS, return link and NFC £582.55, amazon.co.uk
McMurdo FastFind 220, £330, amazon.co.uk
ACR ResQLink 410 RLS, £429, amazon.co.uk
Best AIS beacons
AIS beacons do a different job, and many argue that they are more helpful in a remote location when there are crew aboard the boat to help the MOB. Once triggered, they transmit the wearer’s position over a frequency which is picked up by any AIS-enabled vessel within a range of a few miles.
That means that someone on the boat you fell off can pinpoint your exact location and track back to find you. This will usually be faster than waiting for search and rescue to arrive. For obvious reasons, this approach doesn’t work if you are singlehanding.
ACR AISLink MOB, £332, amazon.co.uk
RescueMe MOB1, £331.87, amazon.co.uk
McMurdo FastFind Crew1, £264, amazon.co.uk
Weatherdock easy2, £299.95, easyais.com
Simy My_AIS, from €279, simy-beacons.co.uk
sMRT Alert AIS beacon
AIS beacons are the latest evolutionary step in MOB equipment, because they make it possible for the crew of the yacht to find you quickly. Wescom won a Dame Award for this little box of tricks at the METS trade fair in Amsterdam last year, and it is the first on the market that complies with new EU legislation.
The proliferation of AIS transmitters in maritime hotspots is congesting the airwaves, so regulators have agreed that AIS beacons will not in the future transmit on so-called “core channels”.
That is because AIS is intended as a tool for preventing collisions between vessels, not for locating MOBs. From the start of next year, therefore, new AIS beacons must only transmit on channel 2006. The upside is that so-called Class M requirements also mean that beacons must include a GNSS and DSC receiver, effectively making them two-way. The wearer can see when their signal has been acknowledged, and the beacon stops broadcasting its DSC alarm to all stations. Relief all round!
The sMRT Alert will trigger automatically when immersed for more than two seconds, informing the wearer that it is working with a strobe light and an audible ‘beep’. So you can fit it to your lifejacket and forget it. A smartphone app allows you to check the status and battery level of the unit for those times when you do remember it.
RRP: £270
Best liferafts
Usually only for deployment when the boat is irretrievably damaged, the liferaft could provide a useful way of securing the MOB if all else fails. You’re best to invest in a decent offshore liferaft, which must meet ISO standard 9650 Part 1. Choose the 24hr+ pack, which includes a little more drinking water and food.
Crewsaver 6-man canister (24hrs+)
RRP: £2,450
Shop now at marinestore.co.uk
Ocean Safety 6-man valise (24hrs+)
RRP: £2,661.08
Shop now at suffolkmarinesafety.com
Plastimo Transocean ISO 6-man container
RRP: £1,949
Shop now at suffolkmarinesafety.com
Lalizas ISO Racing liferaft, 6-man valise
RRP: £2,021.95
Shop now at force4.co.uk
Seago Sea Master Plus ISO 6-man valise
RRP: £1,199
Shop now at force4.co.uk
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