Have You Had First Hand Experience of a MOB Incident?

Created by sue. Last modified on 2008-07-11 17:33:46
Topic: Safety

The UK magazine Sailing Today in conjunction with the RLNI, are planning a MOB initiative by tackling head on the scenario that a husband and wife are out sailing (she only goes along to keep him company and has very little confidence and sailing ability) and he falls overboard.

A real sea trial (and a real MOB) will take place, and the aim will be to be as realistic as possible while having the RNLI in attendance to offer guidance and help if needed. All findings will be published in an article on MOB recovery in Sailing Today.

Author Clive Loughlin says "I really hope that we can make this a highly informative exercise that will both save lives and give extra confidence to those who may one day be in the position of the "wife"."

Clive hopes that any cruisers out there with first hand experience of a MOB incident, will contribute to the article with both statistics, reports of what worked and what didn’t and general advice.

For example:
- What happened?
- What were the sea conditions?
- Was it in daylight or at night?
- Underway or at anchor?
- Was the MOB wearing a Lifejacket?
- If they were did this help or hinder?
- Was the MOB able to help themselves at all?
- Was the MOB an experienced sailor or novice?
- What techniques were attempted and which worked and why?

Clive also welcomes suggestions from anyone on particular methods for both getting back to the casualty and also (most importantly) getting them back on board.

Contact clive@coastlinetechnology.com with details.

Our thanks to the Ocean Cruising Club for this information.