Theis, Ed, and Billl,

Thanks for the helpful comments, insights, and suggestions. Properly testing of these bright ideas is so important.

My sure-fire method for helping someone back onboard in an emergency is my Garhauer lifting davit. With a six to one block ratio, a 200 lb wet sailor would take 33 pounds of pull to lift. I have used the lifting davit at sea and it does work. So for a two person crew, once a line is securely around the overboard sailor and clipped onto the Garhauer carabiner, or once that carabiner is clipped onto the sailor's harness, the Garhauer Lifting Davit will permit one person to lift a 200 lb load onto the deck. Just don't jibe or tack while the lifting davit is in place.

The emergency boarding ladder arrangement is my approach to dealing with the risks facing the singlehander. I sail alone more often than I sail with crew. The system has to work under a variety of conditions, and not merely when the boat is at rest. The ladder has to be accessible by a overboard singlehand sailor without unclipping from his or her harness tether, and must be capable of being deployed on either side of the boat by a sailor in the water.

A steel or aluminium ladder that has to be attached by a crew member who is on deck doesn't do very much for the single hander who has fallen overboard. Owners of boats with flat transoms can solve this problem with handy fold-down two part metal ladders. I could not visualize one of those working on an Ariel stern.

Hence the rope-based ladders with PVC rungs and the pull-down lanyards on Augustine. I have played with the system at the dock, and it appears that it will work at sea, but it is quite another thing to lock the tiller under sail and jump overboard forward of the shrouds to see if it really works. I just installed this system in October, and have not yet had a skilled crew onboard to insure safe testing conditions. Keep in mind that the harbor has been closed here for much of the winter. Obviously I would not be eager to jump overboard while the boat is sailing close hauled at five knots even with an experienced crew onboard, especially during the winter. Around here we call that trolling. And there is always the possibility of being inadvertently keel hauled in the process.

Playing with the system at the dock, it appears that an overboard sailor will be able to use the lifelines adjacent to the lifeline terminals shown in the photo above as hand holds. These terminals are through-deck-mounted eye bolts. Once standing on the bottom step, it is possible to reach other secure handholds on the deck, such as the wooden coming boards. It is quite another thing to do all of that while the boat is sailing forward at five knots with the rail down (or up if one is trying to climb up the ladder on the windward side).

The idea behind the system is to increase the possibility of survival should one fall overboard while alone, and not to create an undeserved illusion of safety, which might cause one to take unnecessary risk. Frankly, anytime you sail out of that harbor alone you place yourself at risk, and every time you leave the cockpit to go forward that risk increases geometrically. The most important objective is to stay on the boat. That is why I like to use a three foot tether connected to the upwind jack line whenever possible.