Chichester Yacht Club Magazine April 2017 | Page 15

Stress Free Sailing and MOB Retrieval: Single and Short-Handed
Techniques – by Carole Middleton
On Sunday 12 March more than 100 people
filled the Upper Deck hoping to get some tips
and new ideas. We were not disappointed.
Most CYC members sail/motor boat as part of
a couple or single handed so anything that can
help reduce the workload and make things
easier is always welcome.
For many people mooring is the most
stressful manoeuvre. Duncan
showed us a number of useful
techniques including the use of a
bridle instead of a spring, which he
considered old hat. He
recommended learning to lasso and
using oxo when attaching a rope to a
cleat.
He also demonstrated the use of
some handy knots. He is seen here
tying a Rustler’s Hitch.
The final part of the talk covered Man
Over Board and how to get a person
back on board if they aren’t able to
help themselves.
Helen Jupp introduced the speaker, Duncan
Wells, an experienced sailor, Principal of
Westview Sailing, RYA Instructor, feature
writer for Yachting Magazines and author of
“Stress- Free Sailing” published in 2015 and
the just published “Stress-Free Motorboating”.
He showed us his MOB Lifesavers device
which is attached to a lifejacket and floats out
on the water when the lifejacket inflates
enabling the person on deck to grab the line
using a boat hook.
The MOB can then be secured
to the boat while the retrieval rig
is sorted out. The device has
now been approved for inclusion
in several lifejackets. Fitting
instructions for the Lifesavers
are on the website at
www.moblifesavers.com
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