How to recover an crew overboard with a rescue swimmer

Ben Lowings tackles whether you should use a rescue swimmer to recover a crew overboard and how to do so if you choose to

Whether or not a rescue swimmer would be useful for a crew will depend on their sailing yacht’s emergency procedures. It can be very effective for larger crews operating in cold waters, which is why the Clipper Round the World Race has adopted it, but crews competing in events such as the Rolex Fastnet Race and the Newport-Bermuda Race, for example, are not required to designate rescue swimmers.

The RORC’s racing manager, Steve Cole, says a rescue swimmer is only mandatory in a Category 0 race, as classified by the World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations. “None of our races are Cat 0, and therefore we do not have a view on them,” Cole confirms.

The regulations stipulate that at least a third of the crew, or at least two crewmembers, should have practised a crew overboard recovery drill within a year of the race start. Statutory guidance issued by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) doesn’t mandate a rescue swimmer but notes that if a support boat crewmember has to ‘enter the water at short notice’ they should wear clothing deemed appropriate considering the time in water, and the temperatures of the water and air.

Assuming you are operating with a larger crew in waters where a rescue swimmer could be invaluable, what should happen? Regardless of wave height, freeboard, water temperature and visibility, the plan is that the rescuer will be lowered into the water, reach out to the casualty close by, attach them to the boat and help bring themselves both back inboard over the side.

This article doesn’t go into how best to bring the vessel back into contact with the MOB, but instead gives some things to consider on how a rescue swimmer should prepare and operate.

Tethered or free swim?

Most rescue swimmer protocols are based on having the swimmer attached to the yacht by two halyards. The unattached rescue swimmer option is based on US Navy and Coast Guard procedures. Their rescue swimmers don helmets, goggles, fins and snorkels and lifeguard floats, jump from low-hovering helicopters, swim out to the casualty, and tow them to a rescue vessel or fit a helicopter lifting strop.

Texan yachtsman Taylor Grieger, director of the veterans’ sail training firm Skeleton Crew, says he practises recovery of a person in the water “quite a bit”. Grieger is a former US Navy rescue swimmer himself, and jumped from helicopters based in Guam. What advice does he have for a designated rescue swimmer who may feel afraid of the prospect of a real-life rescue?

“You should be afraid. The number one rule is don’t be a victim. There’s only one difference between the rescuer and the casualty: you’re rested and in control, and the other party is scared of dying.” Grieger’s warning is as frank as it is serious: “If you don’t have confidence in yourself, then don’t do this.”

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Pause to think

A rescue swimmer is called into action by the shout of ‘Man overboard’. Regardless of how much training there has been in picking up fenders or dummies, there’s a natural inclination to panic and rush into the recovery manoeuvre.

Bruce Jacobs, director of UK-based adventure sailing company Rubicon 3, says experience shows there’s no way of avoiding an initial level of panic. But that doesn’t mean chaos. One of Rubicon’s crewmembers, a member of the London Fire Brigade, told Jacobs that no matter how much you train, the first two fires are a challenge and only on the third emergency do you start to get it right.

For this reason it is Rubicon 3’s practice to pause everything once the MOB shout has gone up. More than a minute of calm, Jacobs says, will help everyone get control of the situation and avoid follow-on risks such as danbuoys being tangled up, sheets coming loose, ropes or sails going in the water and injuries from crash tacks.

He says the initial hove-to and pause is absolutely key. “Time and again it shows the value of stopping and planning rather than trying to race back.”

Equipping the rescuer

From the moment the MOB shout is made, the clock is ticking. If the rescue swimmer has to be made ready, he or she will have to go below and put on a drysuit, helmet, harness, lifejacket and lifting strop. Having a crewmember on deck already wearing a drysuit cuts out that delay.

A harness already fastened also makes it quicker. A manually inflated lifejacket is recommended.

US-based yachtsman John Schafer, whose company Ministry of Sailing offers its own rescue swimmer training courses, says it’s critical that clothing and other kit is clearly labelled and placed in an easy-to-access locker.

Lowering the rescuer

The deployment point for a rescue swimmer is usually at the shrouds, and usually to leeward. It is best to be closest to the person in the water when the boat is closest to them. On Rubicon 3 and on Clipper Race training yachts, they have two crewmembers assisting the rescuer at the shrouds. They clip a halyard to the rescuer’s central harness webbing loop. A second halyard is prepared with a lifting hook attached.

Bruce Jacobs uses a bowline in both cases, as well as a snap shackle. Clipper uses a webbing tether around the rescue swimmer’s halyard and the shroud, to prevent the rescuer from swinging too far out from the rail. Crew assisting are expected to ensure the halyards don’t twist around each other or get snagged on the guardrail or stanchions.

Lowering the rescuer needs to be done in good time before the vessel’s first pass towards the MOB. The halyards supporting the rescue swimmer are both eased at the same rate from separate winches. Their operators must be very alert and ready to hold securely at any moment if the rescue swimmer demands.

Facing inboard with feet braced apart and walking down the topsides, abseil-style down towards the water could help the rescuer’s confidence by keeping them in contact with the vessel for as long as possible. But in any seaway it must be balanced against the risk of being washed back against the boat.

MOB recovery is taught on the basis that the casualty is only brought inboard when the boat is stopped in the water. Real-life MOB rescue accounts often mention that closing in on the casualty can take several passes, and that a fully inflated lifejacket can be a hindrance.

It’s crucial to also note how quickly the rescue swimmer risks becoming debilitated themselves.

Reaching the casualty

In some cases after the call ‘Contact!’ has been made, the casualty may slip from the rescuer’s grasp. Despite recognising their rescuer, the casualty might panic or even try to fend them off, perceiving them as a danger; without a float or rescue aid, the casualty may fear that the rescuer’s weight will sink them both. The RNLI Beach Lifeguard manual says that when a lifeguard has no rescue aid, ‘they must get into a position where they can avoid being grabbed by the casualty. The lifeguard should swim behind the casualty and provide words of reassurance to calm them down.’

Attaching the rescuer to the casualty can be easier if the rescuer swims away from the vessel and makes some kind of temporary hold before fastening a lifting hook. Lifejacket lifting beckets can be used, as can tethers (if the casualty was not clipped on, or their tether came loose). The casualty can help themselves by, for instance, clipping on the rescuer’s lifting hook if they’re able.

Bruce Jacobs says Rubicon uses a scaffolding hook (a carabiner with a wide gate) to go through the lifting strop. Lifting beckets, usually red loops of webbing, are sewn into the main straps of the lifejacket and rely on a fastened crotch strap for a secure lift. Consequently, all the casualty’s weight is on the crotch strap during the lift.

Taylor Grieger uses his old US Navy swimmer rescue strop. This goes under the casualty’s arms and has a large cuff round the lower back with a crotch strap.

Recovery aboard

Towing an MOB back can be done with the rescuer holding the strap and pulling the casualty along as they swim on their side using a sidestroke. The RNLI advises lifeguards to pause and pull the casualty close if a large wave approaches. The dangers of dragging and possibly holding a casualty and/or rescuer underwater are reported to increase rapidly if boatspeed rises above even three knots.

Provided the attachments are all secure, winching both halyards back in is usually straightforward. The weight of saturated clothing should not be underestimated – nor should the effects of adrenaline, adds Bruce Jacobs: substantial weight can be pulled by hand to get a casualty over the rail surprisingly quickly. The rescue swimmer’s job is now done, and the next step is a medical assessment of the casualty.

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