What's with the skipper on Orange TRI telling people he isn't a very good swimmer...How can you single hand a 60 foot tri going 35 knots and not expect to swim at some point?

http://www.xsracing.org/

Yeah, file that under "I didn't mean to say that"

I dont think swimming is a high priority when you capsize a 60 footer solo. Not being knocked senseless is probably #1, getting out of the boat/from the nets is probabl #3. Getting back on the boat and using the safety gear is probably #3.

If you fall overboard from a 60 footer at speed, sailing solo, you are fishbait.. And there is not much point in swimming unless there is land close by.


My father worked on tank boats most of his life. He told a story where they picked up the chief from a gas tanker who had exploded. This guy was in the middle of the Atlantic, swimming for the african coast.. The odds of spotting a swimmer in the middle of the ocean is as good as zero.

You've got to set goals for yourself. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I agree. The key to survival is to not give up hope. I can't imagine what was going through that guy's head, but giving himself a mission to complete probably kept his sanity (and his life) intact.

Hope and determination seem to be running themes on the Discovery Channel's "I Shouldn't Be Alive" series.

When I went off shore racing on a 50 and 60 footer, rules state that you have to be harnessed in for safety reasons, so I think they might have the same type of rules in this case so he doesnt go over

Surely it must be more humane to _not_ be hooked to an ORMA60 doing 25knots under autopilot <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />