Bill Bell, #41, Kialoa

I have given man overboard arrangements a lot of thought over the years and here are some of my conclusions:

l) If you go over the side - even when attached in some way, your chances of getting back aboard are truly grim. Our jolly sailing journals don 't talk about it, but it is true.

2) The market is saturated with stuff claimed to save your butt when it goes over. I say FORGET IT - if you go over the side, attached or not, you are most likely a goner. The fancy bag hanging off the pushpit looks salty - but try using it sometime, just for drill.

Consider how people go over. Consider the hot dog, healthy young men in the Fastnet Race. Read Rousmaniere abut the guys that drowned a few years ago. They had the best in gear and 6 or 8 of them failed to make it. Others were lost when their boats sank - but 6 pr 8 simply fell over the side.

"Motor Boating and Sailing" had the guts to print a story of man overboard problems some years ago and pointed out that many sailors, tethered to their boats. drown right under the counter or off the sterns of their boats as they re helpless in the turbulence. Try hauling yourself to safety some day with the boat doing about 2 or 3 knots. Then think how it would be in you were in a choppy sea, encumbered with foul weather gear and boots and one or two screaming crew.

The jackline can kill you because the lanyard attaching you to the jackline is long enough to let you go over the side and drown.

The solution is a rig that will not let you go over the side! It can be done. It is simple and CHEAP. As no one will ever make any money off what I'm going to describe to you, you will probably never see full page ads for it, so pay attention, this may be the only time you'll ever read about it!

What we call the "Center Line Lifeline" was thought out by brother-in-law Kirk Bosworth after we'd sailed together for years. Kirk saw the futility of lines that may drag you to your death, a foot on the wrong side of your boats' hull. His idea was too avoid getting hung up on futile schemes for getting the lone man on watch out of the water when the boat is running on auto tiller at normal cruising speed at night and everyone else is asleep in their bunks.

Kirk's idea was to run a line down the center line of the boat and equip each man on deck with a strong belt with two lanyards attached to the belt. On my Triton, the line starts at the stem. bowlined to a shackle at the stem fitting, brought aft to a low cleat on the mast at which point the line takes a turn around the mast and then continues aft. At a point in the cockpit area, my center line life line terminates in a 3" diameter stainless steel ring made of 3/8" diameter stock. Another line, also secured to the ring by a long splice goes to one corner of the cockpit where it takes a turn or two around the corner of the pushpit at the height where the stanchion-supported lifeline terminates and then crosses to the pushpit corner on the other side of the cockpit and then returns to the stainless steel ring where it is secured with your best bowline. The triangle made by the lifeline aft of the ring gives you a handy location to stand, for the tiller to poke up and for your ease crossing the cockpit. From your waist belt, the strong lanyards - with a maximum length of 2' - let you move anyplace you need to move. I can go below to check a chart, to use the radio, to get a bite to eat or tap the coffee pot. If I have to forward to the head, I can take a chance on unclipping my lanyard as I am actually standing on the cabin sole before I am detached from the line.

If you are clipped on and on deck, the only place you can't go is over the side!

The second lanyard is meant to be used when you have to go forward of the mast. I have often used it when taking up the anchor when single-handing. With lots of scope, I have to put the boat under power, slowly creeping into the wind. Well secured on the forward deck, I can devote full energy and attention to hauling in the rode and then the anchor as she comes.,I have no concern whatsoever about getting bounced off the foredeck if it is a zesty day. And I am totally secure and comfortable.

Another time when I bless the Centerline Lifeline is when it is time to reef and things are a bit lumpy. I can go to the mast and do all those miserable things that have to be done right without any fear of going over. If you will rig one of these and use it, you will feel much better about those unavoidably awkward moments when you wish to high heaven that you could not possibly be separated from your boat.

I put illustrations of the Centerline Lifeline in one of the last NTA "Improvement Bulletins" I edited. You might be able to find a copy somewhere (it was published in the 1991 bulletin.)

I have sailed "Kialoa" since 1967, from Block Island to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Over this time, I have pulled three guys out of the drink. Two of them were still breathing. The third one could have been - but he got a foot to the wrong side of his own hull and fatigued....(a drawing will follow asap.)

Good luck - Bill Bell

Mark Harington, #166, Ananke

I also agree with everything said about not going over the side to begin with.

I however, don't like the idea of unclipping at the mast. My system uses a line tied to the center foredeck cleat and running back on both sides of the mast to a cleat on the vertical surface on each side of the companionway. I also have a strong (3/8ths) u bolt set in the vertical rear of the bridge deck. I use a Wichard double tether (3 and 6 ft). Clipping the 3 ft on the line running forward, I can move all the way forward without having to unclip.

I'm still working on a configuration that works when I have a dingy lashed on the foredeck, but something will work out.