Based on the last two chapters in this Online Book, we can now say with near-certainty that, while going over the side and being dragged is not necessarily fatal (except on fast boats), it’s way safer to stay on the boat in the first place…well, duh, John.
And that’s also backed up in the worst possible way by several recent fatalities from dragging.
That’s easy to say, but something I have long despised is “experts” who tell us about dangers that we should reduce, without making practical suggestions about how that can be done. Not the AAC way.
Or, to put it another way, the fact that most of the boats I see out there still have jackline systems with a high drag risk is not because the owners are lazy or stupid, but rather because reducing drag risk, in a practical and usable way, and without making it no fun at all to sail the boat is challenging.
That said, Phyllis and I developed, and used for 10 seasons and tens of thousands of miles, a near-zero drag-risk system on our McCurdy and Rhodes 56 (M&R 56) that worked well and did not impede our ability to sail the boat, or the fun of doing so.
But that’s a big boat, this gets more difficult as the boat gets smaller.
So in this chapter I’m going to share the changes and safety compromises we had to make when adapting that system to our new-to-us 36-foot J/109.
I will be assuming that you are clear on the fundamentals of our system since I’m not going to cover all of that again. To that end, please read, or reread if it’s been a while:
- Continuity of attachment and watch the video.
- Better jacklines.
I will also not be covering building the jackline and tether system since I have already covered all of that in three chapters starting here.