Man Overboard after a severe broach. (2015 version with narration)

This is an upgraded 2015 remake with voice narration of the original video posted in 2012 which offers useful information to sailors.

I was the skipper and mostly I am off camera, but my red cap can be seen to the bottom-right of the screen from time to time, as I was hiking as hard as possible to help keep the boat flat.

There was no time to grab onto a life line, plus the G-forces during the broach at the back of the boat were huge and would probably have dislodged a hand on a life-line anyway.

As I went overboard, I had snapped the tiller extension off (which we only discovered much later).

I watched the head-sail go up and the boat sailing upwind on starboard tack. They tried to tack but the boat went into irons. A second attempt saw the same result. At that stage some 7 minutes had passed and I had inadvertently taken a few mouthfuls of salt water as the sea was choppy and filled with wind driven spume. Shipping had ceased due to the wind strength and I had a mental debate whether the crew would have had the presence of mind to put out a May Day call. The bulk of Table Mountain to the south was no consolation as the wind was driving me offshore. It was a very scary few minutes and I genuinely thought my time on earth had come to an end.

I was too tired to pull myself up, but strong young hands hauled me bodily over the rail without too much fuss.

Yes, we made many mistakes on the day, but the purpose of making this video is to help others to learn from those mistakes and that the training that we had done, helped this potentially fatal incident to have a successful outcome.

Mistakes:
1. We shouldn’t have gone sailing knowing the wind was over 30 knots
2. We should have been wearing harnesses in those conditions
3. The crew should have left the jib down and gybed immediately and approached gently under reefed main only. That would have reduced the recovery time by 70%
4. The crew should have immediately dispatched a MayDay MOB call
5. Designated crew member should have hit the MOB button on the GPS.

Considering the skipper was not on board – a totally unexpected turn of events - also goes to show that a designated crew member should know how to steer the boat and take command in the event of such an emergency.

The two most important things we did right was wearing life jackets and the fact that we had trained several MOB drills in the past.

[KevinFlanaganQuinn]

Still teaching a lesson ... 6 years later. Nice job skipper! You mentioned 2 things saved your life that day ... I'd add a 3rd ... Your Loyal Crew.

[szymondworski]

well done! The good point you mentioned is to discuss who will take over the boat if the skipper goes into the drink.

[interestedlen]

Generous of you to put both videos up as teaching moments, thank you. Way too much excitement for one day, but I understand the call of going for it once everyone else had headed in. Glad everyone got home in one piece.

[AndyPackard]

Thanks for re-posting with your hindsight commentary. The importance & role of the (accidental) red cap is interesting, too.

[weisshalivniwine]

Great video, Nice explanation. Glad everyone is safe!

[abark]

I once went overboard with the other crew while dinghy sailing. The water was a hair above freezing. It was similar to having the wind knocked out of me-- muscles pretty much instantly became uncooperative and it was very difficult to breath. Thankfully, it was in a small river basin and a support boat quickly arrived. Getting us both out of the water while we were all but useless was a challenge. I was glad it was a warm sunny day that is for sure.

[ratherbeesailing]

Well done, great explanation. This is a MUST see for our crew. Thank you!!

[brycenew]

Excellent video & commentary. Many many thanks Trygve!!

Very trying conditions; it seems to me that your crew did a great job in such conditions and you did too in training them for such an event.

[nasanction]

Prop's to your crew for taking control and performing the M.O.B Procedure. A little sloppy, but they did very well under stress.
Thumbs up!

[victor-charlesscafati]

Do you think that the companionway should be closed when you're flying a spin in 40 knots?

[Sail]

Great video! Looking back on it, is there anything specific you think could have been done in the moment to prevent the broach?

[OneMouseGaming]

This is a great film. Both heart stopping and refreshing to hear and honest breakdown of the account and what went correct versus where your crew could improve.

Do you not carry a life sling 2 attached to your stern? I am not familiar with your boat as it may have a transom without lifelines like other planning focused boats.

They are a great device in the fact that they function as a U, the idea is the crew gets it close and circles the MOB until the MOB's path crosses the rope. I have utilized this to retrieve MOB crew members before. Once the MOB has the Life Sling, they put it under their armpits and allow the crew to retrieve them, this can be invaluable if the MOB is hypothermic as they can both hold on to this configuration easily, but can be winched out via a halyard with less risk of falling free.

Thank you for sharing a view of your amazing scenery.

[davidterare]

Thanks from Australia..I'm getting a red hat 🙂

[Cptnbond]

Maybe a good idea to close the wash boards, thus not to flood the interior boat ...than you would have had to wait fora long long time before being rescued. Anyway good to see all was ok at the end. Cheers.

[jlfelber]

Great footage! Thanks for sharing.
I thought sharks were prevalent in that part of the world. Did the MOB survive by shear luck?

[Mikinct]

Maybe in hindsight you tie a small raft to either pull in back of boat that can be untied so man over board could swim to it

[jasondark]

they did well. but should have luffed the sails sooner!

[bryanogrady]

How come nobody was wearing a lifeline? Had the skipper done so he wouldn't have become a MOB.

[Powerslider]

Gforces huge? Data reveals Alonso's 305km/h Melbourne crash peaked at 46G