NIKKI HENDERSON

ALL YACHTS SHOULD HAVE THE MEANS TO GO ALOFT AT SEA AND A CREW MEMBER WILLING AND ABLE TO DO SO

What do you do if a halyard lock gets stuck? What if your spinnaker is wrapped? What if your mast track gets damaged and the mainsail won’t come down?

I’ve been running a webinar series based on various ‘what if ’ scenarios with a community of performance catamaran sailors. Some participants were lifelong sailors, some first time boat owners, and some were preparing to start a new life as liveaboards.

Even the most experienced sailors might encounter new scenarios at sea. The best way to prepare for unexpected ‘emergencies’ is to break them down ahead of time, so it doesn’t feel entirely new in the moment. Hence the roundtable discussions. We had been first addressing the immediate risk to the crew and boat of various ‘what ifs?’. Themes emerged. Most scenarios don’t pose imminent life-threatening danger or catastrophic boat damage, but if handled incorrectly, can quickly deteriorate.

One risk during any unforeseen situation on board is panicking crew. Most terrified people can be stabilised, if not calmed down completely, by a reassuring hand on their shoulder, looking them in the eye, calmly saying “It’s going to be OK”. Other tools include giving someone a menial task to follow so that they can regain a sense of control.