Lion - Tethered, dragged, and lost: the racing yacht Lion
Clipped on and in a lifejacket, Lion's skipper went over the bow at night and was towed at 9 knots on his tether; though the crew slowed the boat and recovered him, he could not be saved.
What happened.
At 0027 on a dark, rough night on 18 June 2011, the skipper of the Reflex 38 racing yacht Lion went over the bow 14.5 miles south of Selsey Bill — wearing a lifejacket and clipped on. Still attached by his 1.8 m tether, he was towed at 9 knots, pinned against the leeward side, before the crew could slow the boat. It took 16 minutes to recover him to deck, where he was pronounced dead.
Shortly after midnight, at 0027 on 18 June 2011, the crew of the Reflex 38 racing yacht Lion were passing the No.1 genoa back into the cockpit, about 14.5 nautical miles south of Selsey Bill in the English Channel, when they realised the skipper had fallen over the port side near the bow on a dark night in rough seas. He was wearing a lifejacket and was still connected to the starboard jackline by his 1.8-metre tether. Held by the tether, he was towed at about 9 knots, pinned against the leeward side of the boat; the crew slackened the mainsheet and released the foresail, slowing the yacht to about 1.5 knots roughly three minutes after he went over. It then took 16 minutes to recover him to the deck, where he was pronounced dead by a consultant cardiologist who was among the crew. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch's report (4/2012) drew widely-discussed lessons about the dangers of being dragged on a tether and the difficulty of recovering a tethered casualty.
What it teaches.
- 1When a tethered crew member goes over, stop the boat instantly. Lion's skipper was dragged at 9 knots until the crew slowed her to 1.5 knots about three minutes later. A person towed through the water cannot breathe — dump the sheets and crash-stop the moment anyone goes over the side, before anything else.
- 2A tether keeps you attached, not alive. Clipping on is right and it kept the skipper with the boat — but being dragged face-down at speed is itself lethal. The tether only buys a chance of recovery if the boat is stopped at once; treat it as half of the system, with an instant stop the other half.
- 3Recovering a tethered casualty is slow and brutally hard — practise it. It took Lion's crew 16 minutes to lift the skipper to deck. A heavy, waterlogged, possibly unconscious person needs a rehearsed hoist — a tackle, a halyard, a recovery sling — because a tether alone will never get them back aboard.
- 4Foredeck sail changes at night are the highest-risk work aboard. The skipper went over while a headsail was being handled on a dark, rough night. Keep tethers short, keep one hand for the boat, and have the cockpit primed to stop the boat instantly whenever crew are working forward in the dark.
Where this comes from.
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Procedures involved.
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