MAN OVERBOARD

Man overboard is a situation in which a person has fallen from a boat or ship into
the water and is in need of rescue. Whoever sees the person's fall should shout "man
overboard" ("man" here meaning "person") to alert other crew members and attempt to
maintain visual contact with the person in the water. Pointing continuously at the victim can
aid the helmsman in approaching the victim.

Signal flag Oscar indicates "man overboard".
Causes
A person may fall overboard for many reasons they might have been struc! by a part
of the ship" they may lose their footing due to a slippery dec! or an une#pected movement of
the boat" or any number of other reasons. $alling overboard is one of the most dangerous and
life%threatening things that can happen at sea. &his is especially so from a large vessel that is
slow to maneuver" or from a short%handed smaller boat. When single%handed and using self%
steering gear it is usually fatal.
&herefore it is important to prevent such accidents from happening" and to be
prepared for them if they do. 'n large vessels" passengers on dec! should never climb or sit
on the railings. &hey are usually high enough for people to !eep their center of mass well
below the top rail and in all but the fiercest weather( from this position it is difficult to be
washed" blown or to trip overboard. 'n yachts and motorboats this is not always the case and
so e#tra precautions are necessary. )very passenger and crew%member should have their own
safety harness that has been ad*usted to fit them before leaving port" and it should incorporate
leg or crotch straps and built%in inflatable flotation if possible. 'n the dec! and in the outdoor
sitting areas there should be *ac!stays and strong points provided so that everyone may clip
the tether of their harness safely to the boat.
+arnesses should be worn whenever the wearer feels it necessary. &ypical guidance for
when to clip on to the strong points might include
Whenever the sails are reefed due to the wind strength
When approaching an area of tidal disturbance
Whenever a person is alone on deck
Always after dark
Whenever else a person feels the need to
Apart from staying safe" most yachting schools also teach" and re,uire students to practice"
man overboard drills. &his is recommended so that" should the worst occur" everybody on
board !nows what to do" as well as being a good opportunity to practice close%,uarters
maneuvering.
Recovery under sail
&here have been various sailing maneuvers recommended and taught over the years.
&hree common ones follow. &hey all have various points in common. Whoever sees the
accident should shout" "-an overboard." loudly and clearly to alert the rest of the crew. At
least one person should do nothing other than stand and point at the casualty maintaining
continuous visual contact. Whatever mar!er and flotation e,uipment is to hand should be
thrown as near the casualty as possible by other crewmembers. &his may include a horseshoe
buoy or lifebuoy" a danbuoy or man overboard pole" and perhaps a floating smo!e signal. /f
the e,uipment e#ists" then man overboard alerts should be triggered on whatever electronic
gear is available including 0PS receivers and 1S2 radio transmitters.
Quick stop or crash stop
&he most direct action is to stop the boat immediately" very near to the casualty. &his
can be done by immediately tac!ing the bow of the boat through the wind without handling
the *ib sheets" so that the boat is effectively hove to. /n some circumstances" this may be
enough" and the casualty can be recovered as the boat drifts bac! down onto them. /n many
cases" however" the maneuver will have left the boat too far away for that. /n this case" the
mainsail is sheeted in hard and the turn continued until the boat circles" the wind is *ibed
across the stern and the boat is sailed downwind" past the casualty again and finally brought
to rest by turning upwind again. /t is recommended not to ad*ust the sails for efficient
downwind sailing" so that too much speed is not built up when approaching the casualty.
Reach-turn-reach
&he more traditional maneuver is more time consuming and re,uires more sailing
s!ill" but is more fle#ible and less li!ely to fail as it gives the helmsman more time to ma!e
ad*ustments and corrections to the course and the approach. /t is more suitable for the open
sea and rougher" windier conditions.
/mmediately after the accident" the boat is put onto a beam reach away from the
casualty" with a crewmember maintaining constant visual contact. 'nce there is room to
maneuver" the boat is either tac!ed or *ibed bac! towards the casualty. /t is important that the
casualty is approached on a close reach" so that wind can spilled from the sails in order to
slow down and stop on station. +elmsmen are recommended to test this during the approach
by spilling wind on the way" and losing ground to leeward to correct the course if necessary"
to ensure that this is possible. /f the casualty is to windward of a close reach during the
approach" it may be necessary to gain ground to windward close hauled to ensure that the
boat does not stall head%to%wind downwind of the casualty at the end.
/n the end" the boat is luffed to windward close to the casualty" with a view to
recovering them amidships. &his may be upwind of them and close in light winds" so that it
drifts down to them for recovery( upwind and a few meters away for a throwing line in
moderate winds( or downwind within throwing distance if they are conscious in a heavy blow
to prevent dropping heavily upon them.
The deep beam recovery
An alternative maneuver" somewhere between the two above in terms of comple#ity
and fle#ibility" is to put the boat onto a deep beam reach immediately after the accident" and
sail a few boatlengths away downwind and to one side. At this point" the boat is rounded up
and tac!ed so that" as in the reach%turn%reach" the casualty is approached on a close reach
maintaining the ability to steer" slow down and stop as re,uired by the conditions.
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Recovery under power
/n a motorboat" or a sailing boat with a wor!ing engine" most people having to
maneuver in an emergency will use the engine. &his introduces the added ha6ard that the
casualty may be further in*ured by the spinning propeller at close ,uarters. /t is important that
a double%chec! is made for ropes trailing in the water before the engine is engaged. &hese
may have been dislodged by the casualty falling into the water" or may have been thrown
later by people on dec! trying to help" but once around the propeller" they can put the engine
out of use" *ust when it could have been most useful. &he yacht au#iliary could be used
during final approaches of any of the sailing methods described above" and a motorboat's
engine(s) will be used in any case. &he engine(s) must be out of gear before the casualty is
approached" and may be switched off entirely during the actual recovery to ease
communication" reduce fumes and allow people to concentrate on the tas! in hand.
Recovery
-ost hulls have the lowest and clearest side dec!s mid%ships and this is where the
casualty should be brought bac! aboard. /f the guard rails are wire" there should be rope
lashings at one end so that the lower" or both" wires can be freed to ma!e recovery easier. All
crew members involved in recovery should be harnessed on if the sea conditions that led to
the first fall could lead to further people ending up in the water. &he answer to a person
overboard is never for more people either to *ump over to 'help' them" or to fall in themselves
by accident.
&he recovery operation is different for a conscious compared an unconscious casualty"
but in either case there are two rules to be aware of. $irst" after a very short time in cold
water" even a fit conscious person will have lost considerable strength and agility and will
need help to get aboard" especially in heavy wet clothing. Second" the condition of a person
in the early stages of hypothermia can be made considerably worse by hoisting them
vertically so that what circulation they have drains from their head into their feet. /t is much
better to recover the casualty as hori6ontally as possible. 7arious pieces of e,uipment are on
the mar!et to help short%handed or wea!ened crews deal with this problem" but really nothing
beats the combined efforts of several strong hands gripping various items of clothing on the
arms" body" and legs" and hauling in unison. /n a rough sea" the waves that caused the fall can
sometimes help by lifting the floating person up within easy reach of the sidedec! as the boat
rolls. 2are must be ta!en as to what to do as each wave subsides if the person is not yet
aboard" as their weight can pull unsuspecting helpers in themselves. 8oops of rope passed
under the arms and behind the !nees on one wave can be held during the trough and hauled
again during the ne#t rise" if this is possible.
A fitter casualty may climb a ladder more or less unaided" although the dangers of
approaching the stern of the boat in a rough sea should be considered if that is where the only
useful ladder is. A fitter casualty may be able to get a foot onto a simple loop of rope and lift
themselves to the rail. A hypothermic" in*ured or unconscious victim may be ,uite incapable
of helping themselves. /n this case netting" slings" an inflatable dinghy or liferaft may be
employed" with or without the additional assistance of a 49 or better tac!le. Such a tac!le
may be fashioned from a mainsheet" a boom vang (!ic!ing strap)" or may be purpose%made
for the *ob and stored in case needed. &he yacht's winches may also be of assistance.
Technology
&echnology can also be used to assist in the retrieval of people who fall overboard.
-any 0PS chart plotters designed for marine use have a -an 'verboard button (-':). &his
button is pushed as soon as a -an 'verboard alarm is raised" causing the plotter to record the
latest !nown position of the person overboard. &his allows the boat to be easily returned to
the fallen crew member even if visual contact is lost.
Several manufacturers ma!e man overboard alarms which can automatically detect a man
overboard incident. &he hardware consists of individual units worn by each crew member"
and a base unit. Some systems are water activated when an individual unit comes in contact
with water" it sends a signal to the base unit" which sounds the man overboard alarm. 'ther
automatic detection systems rely on a constant radio signal being transmitted between an
individual unit and the base unit( passing outside the transmission range of the individual unit
and;or falling into the water cause the radio signal to degrade severely" which ma!es the base
unit sound the man overboard alarm. Some manufacturers' hardware integrates with other
systems on the boat( for e#ample" it may activate a throttle !ill switch or control the autopilot
to return to the point of the downed member
A MAN OVERBOARD RESCE TRN
A !an overboard rescue "urn is a sailing maneuver usually implemented immediately
when it is learned that there is a -an overboard &o maneuver closer to the person's location"
implementations of the principles described are the #uic$ "urn (also !nown as the %&"urn or
the 'igure eigh" "urn)" the Anderson "urn" the (illia!son "urn" and the Scharnow "urn.
%uic$ "urn
%uic$ "urn
&he #uic$ "urn is the traditional response to a man overboard emergency on a sailboat.
1espite many new approaches" it is still a robust strategy and often the best method. 2ertainly
when the crew is short handed" or when the vessel is in heavy weather" the ,uic! turn method
has a lot of merit because it avoids a *ibe. &he ,uic! turn is essentially a figure eight. 'n a
sailboat it consists of the following steps
9. 2hange course to a beam rach and hold for 9< seconds
=. +ead into the wind and tac! leave the *ib fluttering
>. 7eer off until the boat is at a broad reach
4. &urn upwind until the vessel is pointing at the victim( at this point the vessel should
be on a close reach.
<. Slac!en the mainsail until the vessel comes to a stop with the victim in the lee side of
the boat
Anderson "urn
&he Anderson "urn is a maneuver used to bring a ship or boat bac! to a point it previously
passed through" often for the purpose of recovering a man over board" an emergency situation
in almost all circumstances.
&he Anderson turn is most appropriate when the point to be reached remains clearly visible.
$or other situations" a Scharnow turn or a Williamson turn might be more appropriate. :oth
will re,uire more time before returning to the point in ,uestion.
9. /f the turn is in response to a man overboard" stop the engines.
=. Put the rudder over full. /f in response to a man overboard" put the rudder toward the
person (e.g." if the person fell over the starboard side" put the rudder over full to
starboard).
>. When clear of the person" go all ahead full" still using full rudder.
4. After deviating from the original course by about =4? degrees (about =;> of a
complete circle)" bac! the engines =;> or full.
<. Stop the engines when the target point is 9< degrees off the bow. )ase the rudder and
bac! the engines as re,uired.
/f dealing with a man overboard" always bring the vessel upwind of the person. Stop the
vessel in the water with the person well forward of the propellers.
(illia!son "urn
&he (illia!son "urn is a maneuver used to bring a ship or boat under power bac! to a point
it previously passed through" often for the purpose of recovering a man overboard. /t was
named for @ohn Williamson" ASBC" who used it in 9D4>. +owever" according to Uncommon
Carriers by @ohn -cphee" the maneuver was originally called the Butakov pipe and was used
in the Cusso%@apanese War as a way of !eeping guns at the same distance from an enemy.
&he Williamson turn is most appropriate at night or in reduced visibility" or if the point can
be allowed to go (or already has gone) out of sight" but is still relatively near. $or other
situations" an Anderson turn (,uic!est method) or a Scharnow turn might be more
appropriate. &he choice will in large part depend on prevailing wind and weather conditions.
/t was also used by A.S. Bavy nuclear submarines to clear their sonar dead 6ones
.
9. Put the rudder over full.
=. /f in response to a man overboard" put the rudder toward the person (e.g." if the person
fell over the starboard side" put the rudder over starboard full).
>. After deviating from the original course by about E? degrees" shift the rudder full to
the opposite side.
4. When heading about =? degrees short of the reciprocal" put the rudder amidships so
that vessel will turn onto the reciprocal course.
<. :ring the vessel upwind of the person" stop the vessel in the water with the person
alongside" well forward of the propellers
/f dealing with a man overboard" always bring the vessel upwind of the person. Stop the
vessel in the water with the person well forward of the propellers.
Scharnow "urn
&he Scharnow "urn is maneuver used to bring a ship or boat bac! to a point it previously
passed through" often for the purpose of recovering a man overboard. /t was developed by
and named for Alrich Scharnow.
&he Scharnow turn is most appropriate when the point to be reached is significantly further
astern than the vessel's turning radius. $or other situations" an Anderson turn or a Williamson
turn might be more appropriate.
9. Put the rudder over hard. /f in response to a man overboard" put the rudder toward the
person (e.g." if the person fell over the starboard side" put the rudder over hard to
starboard).
=. After deviating from the original course by about =4? degrees" shift the rudder hard to
the opposite side.
>. When heading about =? degrees short of the reciprocal course" put the rudder
amidships so that vessel will turn onto the reciprocal course.
/f dealing with a man overboard" always bring the vessel upwind of the person. Stop the
vessel in the water with the person well forward of the propellers.
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