Crew overboard
Emergencies · Power & sail
A person in the water can be lost from sight in seconds and, in cold water, may have only minutes of useful strength. Shout, point, throw flotation, mark the position and stop near them. Getting a person back aboard is often the hardest part: plan and practice it on your boat.
Safety first
- UK accident research cited by the RYA found crews had on average less than 11 minutes to recover someone from cold water before they became unresponsive, and sometimes only 4 or 5.
- If the person is still tethered to the boat, stop completely: being towed even slowly can force water into their lungs. If you can't stop, consider cutting the tether and coming back.
- Don't let a would-be rescuer go into the water or lean far overboard without a life jacket and a line; rescuers can become second victims.
- Watch for trailing lines when you use the engine. A fouled propeller can leave you unable to get back to the person.
The first seconds
- Shout 'Man overboard!' so the whole crew knows, and give one person the sole job of keeping eyes on the person in the water and pointing.
- Throw flotation at once, such as a life ring, cushion or dan buoy. It helps keep them afloat and gives the helm something bigger than a head to look for.
- Save the position with the plotter's MOB button and send a DSC distress alert or MAYDAY. Short-handed sailors differ on timing: some press it only if it is right at the helm, so no one loses sight of the person going below.
- Stop or slow down to stay close. Under sail, the Quick Stop (tacking at once and leaving the jib backed) keeps you near the person with little sail handling.
Getting back to them
- Powerboats have no widely accepted return maneuver. In BoatUS Foundation tests, turning back at high speed threw up wash that hid the victim, while slowing at once and returning slowly took no longer.
- The RYA advises approaching so you end up upwind of the person, letting the boat drift down to them as you stop. In the BoatUS tests a 42 ft trawler did this well, stopping a boat length or two to windward with one engine off and the other in neutral, while a smaller, lighter boat drifted too close.
- Under sail, circling the person while trailing a sling-type recovery device brings its line to them; then stop the boat and pull them alongside. Using the engine is fine, provided no lines are trailing that could foul the propeller.
Getting them aboard
- Once alongside, put the engines in neutral or shut them down. A turning propeller must never come near the person.
- A swim platform is not a reliable recovery point in waves. In the BoatUS tests, a 2 ft chop made a trawler's platform pound like a hammer; a side boarding ladder, scramble net or lifting gear worked better.
- Many people cannot climb out, especially cold and in wet clothes. Plan a lifting method for your boat: a halyard and winch, a tackle from the boom, a davit with a lifting sling, or a partly inflated life raft or dinghy alongside.
- Lift the casualty horizontally if you can; the RYA links vertical lifts to medical complications from 'hydrostatic squeeze'. But getting them out of the water comes first, because drowning is the bigger risk.
- Afterward, remove wet clothing, warm and watch the person closely and get medical help. Shock, hypothermia and secondary drowning are all risks after recovery.
Prevention and practice
- The best recovery is not going in: life jackets on, clip on in rough water, move along the high side, and keep one hand for the boat.
- Practice with a fender or dummy and your real crew. In the BoatUS tests, the more often a crew practiced a maneuver or device, the better they got.
- If the skipper goes over, someone else must be able to stop the boat, call for help and steer back. Teach at least one other person aboard.
Sources (3)
General guidance for recreational boaters, researched from the sources listed and written in our own words. Your equipment manuals, local knowledge, the Navigation Rules and a qualified instructor come first.