The man-overboard exercise is the one every candidate practises and the one that still produces the most anxious moments in the exam. The reason is that it tests everything at once: boat handling, sail trim, crew management, seamanship and calm. The examiner drops a fender and a bucket (or a weighted dummy) over the side without warning, says "man overboard", and watches what you do.
The sequence, whatever the method
- Shout and point. "Man overboard!" One crew member is detailed to point at the casualty and never take their eyes off them.
- Throw. Lifebuoy, danbuoy, throwing line: anything that floats goes in immediately.
- Mark. Press the MOB button on the plotter or GPS (say that you are doing it).
- Manoeuvre. Stop the boat's progress away from the casualty and begin the return.
- Prepare. Engine on in neutral (check no lines over the side), recovery gear ready (a line with a bowline, the boarding ladder, a halyard), and a crew member briefed to take the casualty.
- Approach. Under control, at minimal speed, stopping with the casualty alongside the shrouds or the quarter, to leeward of the boat so that the boat does not drift down on them.
- Contact. Get a line to the casualty and make them fast to the boat before anything else.
- Recover. State your plan for getting them aboard: ladder if conscious and capable, halyard and lifting strop if not.
- Consider help. A PAN PAN or MAYDAY by DSC and voice if the casualty is not immediately recovered or is injured.
Under sail
Two methods are widely taught and both are acceptable. Use the one you can execute reliably.
The reach-and-return (figure of eight). Immediately bear away onto a beam reach, sail five or six boat lengths, tack (never gybe), and return on a reciprocal reach, easing the mainsheet fully so that the boat can be slowed. Approach the casualty on a close reach with sails flogging, stop with them to windward of the boat's leeward side... more precisely, arrive with the casualty on the leeward side at the shrouds, using the mainsheet to control speed. The advantage is control; the disadvantage is that the casualty is briefly further away.
The quick stop (crash tack / heave-to). Tack immediately without releasing the headsail so the boat heaves-to near the casualty, then furl or drop the headsail and use the engine or the main to make the final approach. The advantage is proximity; the disadvantage is that the boat is briefly out of control and the final approach still needs to be made properly.
Examiners are indifferent to the method and attentive to the approach. The boat must arrive slowly, under control, with the ability to stop, and the casualty must end up alongside where a crew member can reach them. Charging past at four knots and shouting "got it" fails.
Under power
Drop or furl the sails (or leave the main up if it can be depowered), turn the boat back towards the casualty with the pointer's guidance, and make the approach up-wind (or up-current, whichever is stronger) so that you can stop the boat alongside with the casualty on the leeward side, in neutral before contact so that the propeller is stopped. Examiners insist on neutral. A turning propeller near a person in the water is the one thing in this exercise that turns a fail into a permanent memory.
Recovery on board
The exercise usually ends with the fender alongside and the examiner asking "now how do you get them on board?" Have an answer that fits the boat: the boarding ladder for a conscious casualty; a halyard clipped to the lifejacket lifting loop or a strop for an unconscious one, winched up by the crew; the dinghy alongside as a platform on some boats; the mainsail lowered into the water as a scoop on others. Know where the gear is and say so.
Australian factors
- Cold water in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the south-west: the casualty has minutes of effective function, and hypothermia changes the recovery (horizontal lift if possible, gentle handling). Examiners in the south ask about it.
- Warm water and marine hazards in the north: stingers and crocodiles mean nobody goes into the water to help, which changes the recovery plan to "line, ladder, halyard" only.
- Swell. On the open coast the casualty disappears behind every crest. The pointer's job is real.
- Current. Off New South Wales, casualty and boat drift together in the East Australian Current, but the boat drifts faster with sails up; drop them.
What fails candidates
- Gybing in the initial manoeuvre in a fresh breeze.
- Losing sight of the casualty because nobody was told to point.
- Approaching too fast, or from downwind so the boat blows over the casualty.
- Engine in gear at contact.
- Doing everything alone instead of directing the crew.
- Silence. Examiners cannot assess a plan they cannot hear.
Practice
Do it twenty times before the exam in as many conditions as you can find: flat water and a chop, light air and 20 knots, with and without the engine. By the exam it should be a drill you could perform half asleep, which is exactly what it is for.
Questions people ask
Will the examiner drop a real person in the water?
No. A fender and bucket, a danbuoy or a weighted dummy stands in for the casualty. The exercise ends with the object alongside and a description of the recovery.
Should I use the engine for the sailing recovery?
The sail exercise is assessed under sail; the examiner wants to see that you can do it without the engine. Starting the engine in neutral as a precaution is good practice and will not count against you, provided the recovery itself is made under sail.