I’m not writing this to scare people, or put anyone off sailing.  More to raise people’s awareness, not only so you can make yourself safer when you are sailing, but also so you can keep other people safe when you are on rescue.  We are going to talk about ‘Entrapments’ – a topic that the RYA has done a lot of research on over the last couple of years.

Setting the scene – It was an almost perfect Jumbles wind. SSE force 3 – 4 coming over the dam wall mainly, but also a bit over the trees as well.  So it was a bit shifty and gusty, but we were having a decent sail.  As it was the first time we had sailed together in this boat, we decided to call the 1^st race our practice race.  It was now the 2^nd race and we were going to show everyone what we could do and not get beaten again by another young person that I taught to sail!!

We were sailing an RS400.  One of those fast ‘modern’ boats with an open transom and a self draining cockpit. 

What happened – We were out on the water waiting for the 2^nd race to start.  As everyone was still faffing around on the jetty getting their boats ready, it was clear that the start would be delayed.  So we decided to go and see what the wind was doing and sail up to the windward mark to have a run downwind with the spinnaker.

As we gybed around number 6, we got hit by a gust right at the point that the sail came across.  The boat spun round and was on its way over.  We hovered for about 10 seconds, just at that point where we weren’t quite capsized, but we were both hanging over the side of the boat looking at the centreboard wondering which way it was going to go next.  But the centreboard came up, the mast went down and we both went into the water with a big splash!

So there we were, boat on its side and the two of us in the water between the boat and the sail as you do when you capsize.  We both went to do the normal thing to start the recovery.  I swam round to the back and waited at the rudder to make sure that Richard was on his way.  He was on his way but had to negotiate the centre mainsheet.  He passed the falls of rope over his head, but didn’t notice one of them catch on the shoulder strap of his buoyancy aid.  At this point the sail was starting to sink and the boat was slowly inverting.  Richard noticed this and started to swim out to clear the side of the boat which was rapidly coming down to the water level, but wasn’t able to get clear of it.

We now had Richard underneath the upside down boat, and me in the water by the rudder, trying to look inside the boat to see if he had an air pocket.

How we managed the situation –  I shouted to him “Richard have you got air?”.   He shouted back “yes I have, just enough”.

I now had to act quickly.  I put my brain into gear and remembered what I had been taught on my RYA Safety Boat course, and what I had read in my RYA Safety Boat Handbook.  I had to get the boat back up as quickly as possible to give him air and to bring him back to the surface if he was under the water.  So I climbed onto the side of the boat and pulled like mad on the centreboard whilst waving my arms in the air to attract attention.  The boat wasn’t budging at all, but Richard was still talking.

Luckily the rescue crew had just got in the rescue boat and saw me waving my arms.  Within less than 2 minutes of the boat going upside down, they were on the scene.

As they arrived on our windward side I carried on trying to right the boat and shouted to Doug to exit the rescue boat and get pulling on the centreboard with me.  As soon as Doug jumped onto the side of the boat, it started to come up.

Once the boat was on its side with the sail flat on the water, I stayed on the centreboard to balance the boat and Doug swam round to check Richard was ok and to get him out.  Thank god, he was ok as I looked over the top of the boat.

He had the mainsheet hoop caught under the shoulder strap of his buoyancy aid, and he was half way to getting his buoyancy aid off to free himself, but couldn’t quite get it over his head.

We quickly got him free and got the boat fully upright.  Richard’s classic comment was “Well it’s a good job I tied my glasses onto my head so I wouldn’t loose them”.

What Richard did right -  Richard actually handled the situation better than I did.  Probably because he knew what was going on under there and I didn’t. 

• He didn’t panic
• Realised something was snagged on his Buoyancy Aid, so as a last resort he tried to remove it to swim free
• Managed to find his knife in his pocket and was preparing to cut through his buoyancy aid shoulder strap, when he realised he couldn’t get it off over his head
• Kept talking loud and clearly, so that I knew he was ok.

What I did right –

• I checked for a response from Richard to see if he was still there, and kept checking
• Went to right the boat immediately – going under to try and free him was only a last resort and isn’t recommended as I could have ended up stuck as well
• Waved like mad to get attention of the rescue crew
• Instructed Doug to get on the centreboard and help right the boat – they didn’t have time to try and figure out what was going on.
  
  

What the rescue crew did right –

• Both of them were dressed in dry suits in case they had to enter the water
• They were in the rescue boat as everyone started to go out for the race – not inside finishing their cup of tea, or in the toilet taking a leak.
• Came at full throttle and didn’t waste time and they didn’t assume that we were ok as we are two experienced sailors who always capsize with no difficulty
• Doug immediately did as I said and jumped on the centreboard, then when the boat was on its side, he swam round to free Richard
• Richard (Monks) handled the safety boat very well, kept the propeller away from us all, was wearing his kill cord, dropped Doug off at the centreboard and then drove around the other side to watch out for Richard coming from under the boat. Most importantly, he didn’t scratch my lovely new boat
  
  

What you can take from this –

• If you don’t carry a knife when you are sailing, get one.  Preferably a folding one that you can open with one hand without looking at it.  Practice this and see if you can do it.  Keep it in the pocket on the front of your buoyancy aid. Make sure it doesn’t go rusty
• If this happens to you try and stay calm, communicate with each other.  Shout loudly and clearly so that you can hear each other through the boat.
• If you have a casualty trapped under the boat, don’t try any heroics by diving under trying to cut them free.  Tests by the RYA have shown that the quickest method by far to get someone back to the surface is to get the boat upright as quickly as possible.
• If it’s windy and gusty, consider mast head flotation to prevent your boat inverting.
• If you are not very experienced, wait until the rescue boat is out on the water with a crew in it before you set sail.
• If you have not capsized for a long time, or are not very confident, practice it in a controlled environment.  Does you boat invert quickly, or does it stay on its side?  How easy is it to right with just 1 person on the centreboard?
• If you are sailing with someone you are not used to sailing with.  Discuss what action you should take if you capsize.  Do this before you go afloat.
• If you do capsize, look out for ropes.  Is it safer to swim over them, than duck under them?
• If you do capsize, be aware of the boat slowly inverting above your head.  Keep an eye on the mast and rigging to see if it starts sinking.  Get out of the ‘danger zone’ by swimming out over the sail and then heading for the back of the boat, rather than getting tangled in the mainsheet.

• If you do rescue boat duty, get yourself a copy of the RYA Safety Boat Handbook.  It has clear pictures of lots of rescue scenarios and comes with a DVD showing them in action.  You can buy it online at www.rya.org.uk. Nancy may even buy some in bulk if you give her the money as we have an account with the RYA and can get them cheap.
• If you are on rescue, make sure you are out in the boat when people start leaving the shore, not stood inside looking through the window because it is raining!
• If you are on rescue and you attend a capsize, even if it is a single handed boat, ask them if everybody is there – check for heads.  The kid on the Topper may have taken his friend with him.
• If you are on rescue, don’t assume that they are ok just because they are a competent sailor

So why have I made a big issue about capsizing and written this story which is 10 times longer than I expected? I wasn’t the only one to capsize today! 

Well entrapments are a big issue that people need to be aware of and know how to deal with them.  I am lucky in that I’ve been ‘RYA’d, but not everyone has.  For those people that think the RYA don’t do anything apart from spend £££’s on Olympic medals and mince about on posh boats, it’s because of them that I and our safety boat crew knew what to do today.

In recent years there have been a small number of fatalities caused by people getting trapped under sailing dinghies, which has lead the RYA to research and advise on the subject.  But don’t all panic and give up sailing because I have broached this subject.  It is a fact that more people drown every year in car accidents, and whilst riding horses than they do taking part in Watersports.

It was only 2 days ago that we were delivering staff training at work on how to deal with entrapments under sailing boats.  Never in a month of Sundays did I think that I would have one under my boat.  Luckily we acted quickly and my boat didn’t get named the ‘Death Boat’.

Big up Richard for not crying like a big Jessie and instead insisted that we carried on racing.  We missed the start by over 5 minutes but at least we had an excuse and once the water had cleared off his glasses, he could see where we were going!!

Geoff Stones