The First Minute Decides Everything

Few emergencies at sea are as unforgiving as a person in the water. From the moment someone goes over the guardrail, everything depends on how quickly the crew acts and how calmly they do it. The sea is cold, the boat keeps moving, and the casualty is almost impossible to spot once you have travelled more than a few boat lengths away. The good news is that man overboard recovery is a skill, not a stroke of luck, and it can be rehearsed until it becomes almost automatic.

The first thing to understand is that your priority order never changes: shout, throw buoyancy, keep the casualty in sight. Everything else — the sails, the engine, the radio, the paperwork — comes second.

Shout, Throw, and Never Take Your Eyes Off Them

The instant anyone realises what has happened, they should shout "Man overboard!" loud enough for the whole boat to hear, then point at the casualty with an outstretched arm. The pointing matters more than it sounds. In a seaway, a head and a wave crest look much alike, and a person drifts astern quickly. Someone must be appointed as spotter and do nothing else but point and watch.

• Deploy the lifebuoy, danbuoy or horseshoe immediately — throw it slightly upwind and beyond the casualty so it drifts to them.
• Press the MOB button on the chartplotter or GPS, which logs the position and gives you a course to steer back.
• Switch the engine on and leave it in neutral, ready for an instant start.
• Send a Mayday or DSC distress alert early if the conditions are rough, visibility is poor or the crew is short-handed.
• Get a headcount of everyone else aboard. Two casualties are far worse than one.

Recovery Under Power

Under engine, the standard drill is the Williamson turn: put the helm hard over to the side the person fell, hold it until the heading has changed by about 60 degrees, then reverse the helm until you are roughly 180 degrees from your original course. You should end up running back down your own track, which puts you very close to the casualty's position. In tighter situations, a simple immediate turn back is quicker and often just as effective.

Approach slowly, into wind and sea, keeping the casualty on the leeward side so the boat drifts down onto them rather than being blown over the top. Stop the propeller — neutral or engine off — well before you reach them. A turning prop is the single greatest danger to a person in the water, and the person most likely to be injured by it is the one you are trying to save.

Recovery Under Sail

Under sail, the classic response is a crash tack or the quick-stop method: tack immediately without touching the sheets, leaving the jib backed. The boat stalls, drifts downwind and stops close to the casualty. From there you can heave to, assess the situation, and either sail a tight circle back or start the engine if you have one.

If you intend to sail the boat alongside, aim to arrive on a close reach under reduced sail, luffing up into the wind just short of the casualty so you lose way right beside them. Practise this with a buoyant fender on a line in flat water — retrieving a bucket or a fender is far easier to arrange than retrieving a person, but the boat handling is identical.

Getting Them Back Aboard

Getting a wet, heavy, possibly unconscious adult over the guardrail is much harder than most crews expect, especially in a chop. If they are able, lower a boarding ladder or swim platform and let them climb while you keep the boat as still as possible. If they cannot help, you will need a lifting system: a halyard led to a winch, a bosun's chair or a dedicated recovery sling under the arms.

Once aboard, treat them gently. Lay them flat, shelter them from wind and spray, remove wet clothing only if you can replace it with dry insulation, and wrap them in blankets or a sleeping bag. Handle them horizontally — sudden movement of a hypothermic casualty can cause dangerous heart rhythms. Warm them slowly, never rub the limbs, and give nothing by mouth unless they are fully alert. Call for medical advice on the VHF or phone as soon as you have signal.

Practise Before You Need It

None of this works if you read it once and forget it. Every season, on a calm day with warm water and a light breeze, run a drill. Throw a fender and a bucket over the side when the crew least expect it and time how long it takes to get back alongside. Rotate roles so everyone has shouted, pointed, helmed and thrown the buoyancy. Practise under both sail and power, because the two feel completely different.

Know where your lifebuoy, danbuoy, throwing line and recovery sling live, and check that they are actually ready to use rather than tangled under a locker lid. Fit a light and a drogue to your danbuoy so it stays visible. Rehearse the radio call too — a panicked Mayday wastes precious minutes.

Do the drill often enough and the day it matters, nobody has to think. That is the whole point of seamanship: you make the hard things routine while the water is flat, so that when it is not, your hands already know what to do.