QUESTION OF SEAMANSHIP
How best to assist an inverted dinghy?
QAlice and Ben are sailing Lydia, their 10.4m Arcona 345, home after a few days cruising with a couple of friends. It’s a perfect sailing day, 15 knots on the beam and warm sunshine. As they approach their home port they notice a few high performance dinghies out practising in the open water, clear of the harbour entrance. It is a great sailing day for them too and they are enjoying planing under spinnaker. Some of them look like beginners and there are several capsizes. Suddenly, there is urgent shouting from a sailor sitting on top of an inverted dinghy.
Alice and Ben furl the jib and motor to the dinghy as there is no safety boat anywhere near. The distraught dinghy sailor screams that his crew is trapped under the boat. He has tried several times to dive down and release him but the crew is clearly panicking and so it is impossible to work out what has happened under water. They were both trapezing when it happened.
Alice brings Lydia alongside the inverted dinghy while Ben drops the mainsail. The dinghy has racks either side which the two sailors stand on when trapezing.
Is there anything the yacht crew can do or do they have to call for help? One of Lydia’s crew starts preparing to dive in. It is very unlikely that a lifeboat or even a helicopter will arrive in time.
AThis clearly requires immediate action. Alice and Ben have a duty to do all they can to save a life. If the trapped dinghy sailor is panicking it is going to be almost impossible to locate the problem underwater. The solution is to right the dinghy, and fast.
The usual way of righting an inverted dinghy is to lean on or pull the dagger board or centreboard, but with the crew trapped it makes sense to use the yacht’s equipment.
The crew of Lydia should tell the dinghy sailor on the hull to attach a rope to the dinghy shroud or rack away from the yacht and retract the daggerboard. One of Lydia’s crew should send a Mayday call; being trapped under a dinghy is definitely grave and imminent danger. Meanwhile the rest of Lydia’s crew should pull the rope as fast as possible. The dinghy is going to bump against the yacht hull and the dinghy helm can stand on the rack or gunwale to sink the side of the dinghy nearest the topsides. As the dinghy rotates, the crew should pull until eventually it is upright.
If they are lucky the trapped crew will be conscious and breathing when they come up, if not, it is time to get them on board the yacht as fast as possible and start CPR. It is at moments like this a yacht crew needs someone on board who knows First Aid.
Fortunately, it is quite rare for dinghy sailors to become trapped under an inverted dinghy; it is more likely to happen to inexperienced sailors who panic.