Safety at Sea

Our friends at the Marion Bermuda Race, Marblehead Halifax Race and Bermuda 1-2 Race are jointly sponsoring the inaugural Northeast Ocean Race Symposium on March 25, 2023 at Bentley University in Waltham, MA. The Marion Bermuda Race, as lead organizer, has teamed up with with the Marblehead Halifax Race and the Bermuda 1-2 Race to offer this unique event. The event is open to all race participants and the public; it is not a race requirement. Join us for a full…

By William Strassberg, Cruising Club of America Safety & Seamanship Committee Chair Advocates of the phrase, “leaders are born not made,” discount expertise and dwell on behavioral traits such as charisma, compassion, extroversion, boldness, etc. These personality attributes certainly play an important role in acquiring allegiance within a group. But when it comes to the complexity of command at sea and the risks linked to offshore racing and cruising, the inverse is true: leaders are made not…

Editor’s note: As we reported in our January/February 2020 edition, our friends at the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) and the Cruising Club of America (CCA) have joined forces to co-sponsor International Offshore Safety at Sea seminars. These US Sailing Sanctioned seminars provide hands-on training for full certification in offshore ocean races, but are equally valuable for cruising and deliveries, power or sail. The CCA’s Safety & Seamanship Committee has also published a list of recommendations entitled…

By Richard du Moulin, Storm Trysail Club For the past thirty years, leading sailing organizations have developed best practices to maneuver back to and attempt to recover a man overboard (MOB). The Storm Trysail video, “Safety-At-Sea: Man Overboard Recovery”(available on Facebook and YouTube), is probably the best video production of MOB practices, combining footage from on-the-boat, off-the-boat, drone, and a helmet-mounted GoPro camera worn by the MOB. In that video, various methods of approaching (returning to) and recovering…