You have some good ideas there, and write clearly - I probably understood you better than you were able to understand my presentation.

In particular, the idea of using velcro to hold a line (the jack line or whatever) outside the shrouds is magnificent. Of course, velcro works better on webing than line, so webing is the way to go. I like the idea.

As for your use of a caribiner, a word of caution, which you may have already considered, is appropriate. When under substantial stress, they are almost impossible to unhook. The swing gate can be activated, but detaching them with the force required, and the arms being close in and having minimum leverage, is a known limitation. You might consider using a snap shackle such as are found on commercial tether. The West tethers, for example, have a caribiner on one end to attach to the jack line, and a snap shackle that attaches to your harness. The snap shackle will release and free itself under pressure.

One of the other ideas I have pondered is to make a tether that is actually a 6:1 block and tackle, with a jam cleat. That way, if overboard, a 40 or 50 pound pull down could lift the manoverboard out of the water. The question I haven't resolved is how to get that much gear into a tether and still have the tether compact.

As for sailing, you are fortunate. We have had rain, wind, everything. Friday 10 foot seas are forecast and gale force winds. The hurricanes that hit New Orleans, I believe, impact our weather, and unsettle it. The moist low comes right up the Mississippi valley, and somewhere around Wisconsin hits the northern high and that ruins what would otherwise be nice fall sailing. Greetings, looking out from shore.

Peter