#sailing This is the way Charlie Cahill used to teach this maneuver, and if you can pull off all of the steps at the beginning quickly, you'll stay very close to the COB (Crew Overboard). I have a lot of success with it. - VC ### Pros of doing a Quickstop Crew Overboard * You stay quite close to the victim. * You don't pick up much speed at any point. * Very reliable if done properly. ### Cons of doing a Quickstop COB * Only applicable when sailing at a close reach or close hauled. * Inadvisable in very heavy wind. * Requires many things to be done quickly at the beginning. * Note: The gybe is not a con, since the main will be sheeted in all the way and cleated, so it’s perfectly safe. ### Steps * Announce “Crew overboard." * Throw flotation, or order it. * Assign a spotter. * Announce “Ready about" immediately. * Announce “Helms a-lee” and tack. This tack should be as soon after the COB as possible, within a boat length or two of the COB. * Announce “Leave the jib backwinded” (or “Leave the jib sheet alone” for inexperienced crews). * Quickly sheet-in the main completely as you go through the tack and cleat it. This makes the gybe a safe non-event later, and just as importantly, keeps the speed low (because the boat is poorly trimmed for the whole maneuver). Sheeting it in quickly as you go through the tack takes advantage of it luffing. * Turn through the tack until the victim is abeam (at 3 or 9 o’clock). * Keep the victim abeam, hopefully about 2 boat lengths away (a bit less in very light wind). You are tracking a perfect semi-circle around the victim. * When the jib gets loose, order that it be blown (fully eased), and announce “Prepare to gybe.” * Once the gybe has happened (an extremely controlled event, since the main is trimmed in completely) wait several seconds and turn up toward the victim. Keep the main fully trimmed and cleated until you do turn up toward the victim. The reason you have to wait a little is as you continue to keep the victim at beam is—if you turn exactly when you jibe, you’ll be at a beam reach to the wind and you'll be unable to depower. You want to be able to slow down and stop next to the COB, but also be able to power up in case you fall short of the victim, so you’re seeking a close reach. Once you turn up, consider aiming a little higher (the side the wind is coming from) than the COB- as you slow down, the boat will slip to leeward a little. J-24s don't do that much because it's a performance boat, but swing keel and shoal keel boats are more prone to that. * When you turn up, immediately depower the main (pushing the boom if you have to to make sure that the boom is swinging freely and luffing). If you aren’t quite going to make it to the victim, you can power up by grabbing the purchase of the mainsheet, and pulling it in for a little power. * Pick up the victim on the windward side of the boat. If you memorize these steps, you will have successful first-try quickstops everytime. One useful situation to use quickstops is just after an unsuccessful COB pick-up from a figure-8 — you will be on a close reach, so your next attempt should be a quickstop.