Anecdotal Wisdom [color:"red"]DUMBASS[/color] is the phrase that I coined several years ago that describes what I had done to save my life when my boat ran away from me as I fell off the back during a broad reach. While feeling the boat speed away from my via the mainsheet passing quickly through my hand as I tumbled in the ocean behind, I grasped it quickly enough to get a rope burn. I had to wrap the spooling line around my arm to harness it. The boat then dragged my butt under the water while my resistance created enough mainsheet hardening to produce enough weather helm for the boat to develop weather helm and round up into a capsize.
I called that the [color:"red"] D[/color]ragging [color:"red"]U[/color]nder [color:"red"]M[/color]y [color:"red"] B[/color]oat [color:"red"] A[/color]utomatic [color:"red"] S[/color]heeting [color:"red"]S[/color]ystem. Had I let that sheet get away from myself, I would have been stranded several miles from the nearest landfall in cool water.
Had I been tethered onto a long line, I suppose the shock load may have either caused a safety tether failure or broken my back. That boat was moving pretty fast and weighed about 400 pounds; lots of energy there. So I guess that the shock absorption of the mainsheet system really increased my survivability in that occurrence.
I sail solo more often than with crew, and being a sea-going sailor and still here to tell you about it, should obviously mean to all of you that I do in fact remain tethered to my boat. I have been dragged by my boat on at least four occasions that come off the top of my mind as I type this.
As with any change you make to your rigging, style, practice, and habits, you are going to run into unexpected problems. I hope that everyone who changes their safety practices are all able to sort things out without getting into trouble. One thing you should know is that when you are being dragged at almost any speed, you are going to be under the water and fighting for your life, fighting to breath. You also are going to find out that pulling yourself on that tether, enough to get any slack in the tether for any amount of time is going to be so severely difficult or, more likely, not possible. I suggest having a buddy tow you, for practice at a slow speed so that you can find out what it is like. Now, try being towed from any of the spots on your body where you are considering attaching your tether. You will be amazed at how hard it is to pull yourself back to a moving boat that refuses to round up or capsize. You will also probably find out that if you do manage to pull yourself to a moving boat, that you will not have the strength to get a grip on it that will keep you up there with that boat.
If you'd like to read about a rough time I once had, you can take a look at this event that I wrote about in 2003.
Being dragged by my boat during a cut off low pressure systemI have a lot more to say about this topic than what will be said in a single post.
GARY
