harness related death on tornado catamaran

a sailor participating in a tornado (olympic catamaran class) was killed recently when he was trapped under the boat by his harness. the incident raises several issues that we have discussed here.
http://www.madforsailing.com/SAIL/Articles.nsf/LookUp/ 5E15E221C57FD3B...

hopefully the link will work.

jeff feehan

I love that keyhole harness idea. I don't think it would work well for windsurfing, though. It would be great if someone could come up with a way. It hasn't happened to me for awhile, but being hooked in and trapped under the sail is one of the least fun parts of windsurfing, higher on the list than even longboarding! (Naw, I'm just trying to rile up Jack. I'm taking the longboard out for some racing practice later today probably).

Hans

It's not a safety harness that they wear, but a harness like we use in windsurfing. It enables them to hook onto a wire that is attached to the mast, so they can get their weight outboard and keep the boat more upright. It allows them to sail faster in bigger winds - same as windsurfing. It's not designed to keep them tethered to the boat in the event that they fall overboard, like in ocean racing.

The harness used on dinghies and cats is alot different from windsurfing harness. The part you wear is sort of a loose seat with shoulder straps, and it clips to a wire from the mast tip, so that the sailor can hike out on it, with just your feet touching the hull side. Although it's supposed to be a quick-release, it's not as easy to release or clear as a wondsurfing harness hook. A windsurfing harness will often clear itself; a dinghy harness never will, it has to be manually released.

agreed, but the purpose is similar to that of a windsurfing harness. my point was that it's not designed as a tether, as the previous poster was under the impression.....

Actually this harness hook has been around for quite a while in trapezing boat scene but it is not very popular because it is a little harder to hook up as the target area is smaller. When you are a proficient race team and are tacking you want to be able to hook up with out looking as you are concentrating on your sail handling and making a smooth transition from one side of the boat to the other. It is much easier to get tangled up in a trapeze boat than a windsurf sail. The cable that you are suspended from is small and flexible and when the boat pitchpoles or capsizes the crew gets flung forward and that cable with you attached can go around the mast stays or bow bridles. The tension is so tight that it is difficult to unhook and get out. Sometimes the hook can get tightly tangled up in the trampoline laces, downhaul systems and othe rigging and you have great difficulty getting out. When I used to race these things I carried a pair of cable cutters and a knife on my life jacket. Ive never had to use them but I have a ton of racing stories that include big time capsizes and near crisis. Fortuniately in windsurfing with the rigid harnesslines it is easy to get out. RON

i think most people refer to the lines and associated rigging on the boat as a 'trapeeze'. The thing that the sailor wears, which hooks in to the trapeeze, is usually called a 'trapeeze harness', or commonly just a 'harness'

now, in dinghies and catamarans, there is plenty of rigging other than the trapeeze for the harness to become caught in. one report of this particular accident actually said that it was not the trapeeze rigging that the hook caught in, but some other part of the boat. the link i posted says it was the trapeeze. anyway, it seems useful to distinguish between the part that is on the boat - the trapeeze, and the part that you wear - the harness. most sailing catalogs call the part you wear a 'harness'. and it is th e hook that usually causes problems.

jeff feehan

Yeah you're right, in the interests of conciseness some clarity might've been lost there