I am looking for information (references, articles, or experiences) on the best (most realistic short handed) procedures for Man Overboard in a (40ft – 50ft) cruising catamaran.

I recently moved from chartering monohulls in the Caribbean to chartering multihulls (wished I did it a lot earlier). I sail with my family (wife and 8 year old daughter), and sometimes with another non sailing family. On our next trip down I plan (at the behest of my wife) to do some practice runs (which I should have done on the first trip). In preparation for the trip I have been thinking about procedures that I would use (and have practiced) on a monohull. I have a few issues with, questions about those procedures.

The figure eight: It seems to me that the speed at which a cat moves would put you uncomfortably far from the MOB. And then (if I am thinking this through properly) jibbing twice without adjusting sail seems more difficult (or more dangerous) then it would be on a monohull.

That leaves the quick stop. The quick stop seems like the better choice however in a monohull you tack without adjusting sails to make your circle around the MOB, which would be very unlikely on a multihull. This would not be a problem if I am still on board. However, I keep on getting asked the “what if” question (which is usually followed by a question about insurance).

Any direction would be appreciated.

Richards