"Don White" wrote in message
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"Frogwatch" wrote in message
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On Apr 8, 1:27 pm, "Capt. JG" wrote:
"Wayne.B" wrote in message

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On Thu, 8 Apr 2010 08:48:02 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

I have one but when I consider how it is to be used, it makes no
sense. In most cases, you will want to be able to throw something to
the person and you simply cannot throw the Lifesling. After
considering various throwables, I settled on a cheap JimBuoy with a
poly (floating) rope attached via a ss clip. The 150' of light line
goes into a canvas bag on the stern rail where it is protected from
the sun. The ring buoy is detached and put below when I am not on the
boat and the line is stuffed in its bag out of the sun. When I go
aboard, I simply attach the line again.
Of course, this is in addition to the tethers we use that attach via a
carabiner to our inflatable life jackets. The tethers go to a ring
bolt in the cockpit. At night, everybody wears a tether.
The inflatables each have a strobe as well and mine has a new EPIRB.
YES, I am paranoid.

You misunderstand how a Lifesling is supposed to be used. The idea
is to let all of the line out behind the boat and then circle the
person in the water like you were bringing the tow rope to a water
skiier. This is a maneuver that needs to be practiced.

You should really try to find a "Safety at Sea" course in your area.
They typically provide live demonstrations of all sorts of safety
equipment and some very worthwhile discussions by experts.

http://offshore.ussailing.org/SAS/Seminars.htm

Yes, that's what I participated in... a couple of years ago. The other
good
point, which Wayne mentioned and I'll reinforce, is to get instruction
and
even more importantly get in lots of practice. It can be fun to do - if
the
water's warm and it's a nice day - with a volunteer. If it's not a nice
day,
practice one or more of the regular non-Lifesling techniques, such as the
Quick Turn (aka Figure 8). You can't practice enough.

--
"j" ganz

I understand the circling bit until the Lifesling gets to the person
but that just seems kinda slow when what you really want to do is get
contact with the person ASAP.
Yes, I do need more practice though.

I believe, in a sailboat, the objective is to approach the victim while
sailing upwind. You don't want to run him down & finish the job, eh?

Yes. In fact, the object is not really to get to the person ASAP. Assuming
they're wearing a PFD, they're not going to sink. The initial object of the
process is to get yourself and your boat under control. Then, approach them
in a sensible way... from downwind... typically a close reach, since a close
haul give you no ability to point higher without stalling, and a beam reach
is too fast and nearly impossible to let out the sails enough to stop.

The object even after you've reached the COB is not to "get him out of the
water," but rather to attach the COB to the boat, then retrieve.

The Lifesling cuts the time to get back to the water vs. a more traditional
approach (e.g., Figure 8) and gives the COB something to grab that's
attached to the boat. Thus, in rough wind/sea state, you don't have a great
of a potential to lose sight of the COB.

Everyone needs more practice. I practice with my private students and even
some charters if they're interested.

It's really one of the essential lessons for sailing instruction. On the
bay, we typically teach the Fig. 8, since we're interested in teaching sail
trim and boat handling. It's too dangerous in these waters to put someone in
the water. I've done that in the Carib., but not here, save the seminars
previously mentioned.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com