I had the line-wrap thing happen to me during a pitchpole on my Hobie-18. I was driving from the rear corner doing the wildthing when the boat dove in a gust. I slid down the tramp in the initial stuff and as the boat was going over and I was trying to climb back I found I had been snagged around the ankle by the jibsheet. I was able to free myself before the boat went fully over but it was close. I wonder if I would have had the presence of mind to cut the tramp with my knife to breath instead of continuing to struggle with my caught foot. Even with a sharp knife I wonder if I could have cut the line easily.
Most of the places we sail the regularly the mast will hit the bottom before the boat fully turtles. But out in the middle of the Bay....
I got trapped under the tramp of an 18 in a similar situation. A pitch pole while heading dead down wind. The jib sheet caught round my neck and I was under the tramp for perhaps 15 seconds (it felt quite a bit longer). I ended up ripping off my hat and glasses to get the rope off and lost both to the bottom of the lake.
On reflection I think the diving knife or safety hook is an excellent idea - time to go shopping.
My thoughts on this tragic accident - if regulations called for the 11 year old to be supervised then the employees of the company do appear to be negligent. Fitting mast floats to rental boats would appear to be a very sensible practice. When people buy and sail their own boats I would defend their right to personal choice and not mandate floats.
