AC – Man Overboard – “I guess it’s just an occupational hazard”

Account of BMW's bowman going for a quick swim. C/o BYM

Americas Cup. BMW Oracle mid bowman describes the bloodbath

Thursday, 05 April 2007

Working in their precarious, narrowly defined world at the front of the boat, America’s Cup foredeck crew face a host of hazards, one of the most dreaded of which is falling overboard.

Yesterday, as the fleet of yachts went through the mayhem of a dramatic weather change during the final downwind leg of Race Three in the Louis Vuitton Act 13 regatta, BMW ORACLE Racing mid-bowman Phil Jameson found himself pitched into the sea as the spinnaker pole broke. The wind was close to 20 knots and had just gone through a massive shift in direction, which left the yacht heeling heavily and overpowered. The crew was in the process of hoisting a genoa headsail and dropping the spinnaker. Jameson was up at the forestay, the narrowest part of the boat, helping with the sail change when disaster struck.

“We had a bit of a scurry on,” said Jameson, whose team nickname is ‘Blood’. “Suddenly the spinnaker pole failed. I don’t know exactly what hit me, but I got slammed in the back. It was either the fore guy, the brace or the pole. Next minute I was watching the yacht going by as I was thrown into the water. “I heard Brad Webb (bowman) yell, Get Blood! Blood is gone!”

Despite the sudden dunking, Jameson reacted very quickly. “The spinnaker was flogging, but I could see three ropes trailing in the water and I just grabbed at them. It was tough hanging on. With the boat going at 10 knots or more, you just get dragged straight under the water. It didn’t feel cold at the time, but it was pretty cold about 20 minutes after it happened.”

Apart from the obvious safety concerns, a man overboard has serious strategic implications as well. Under the rules, if the crew is able to recover the man from the water without any outside assistance, they can resume racing without any penalty. If, however, the team chase boat – which is always in attendance – makes the rescue, the yacht has to execute a penalty turn. Because of the congestion in a fleet race, the chase boat is not allowed to put the man back on board. In the more usual match race format, the man can be returned to the yacht, but the penalty still applies. Even as he struggled in the water, Blood was thinking about the penalty and determined to hang on for grim life.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the boat, where the powerhouse grinders go about their business, Rodney Daniel was head down and spinning the handles with fellow grinder Brian MacInnes to hoist the genoa. “I heard the pole break,” said Daniel. “All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye, I saw a head pop up in the water next to the boat. I reached over and managed to get hold of him and hauled him in close to the boat.

“I made one attempt to heave him back, but didn’t quite make it. Next minute I saw another hand reach over (it was Sean Clarkson) and we got him back on board. It was all over in seconds. Blood didn’t say a word. We all had a bit on and just got back to work.” Said Blood: “They just grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and my harness and dragged me on. I ran straight back to the bow and carried on.”

Jameson has had similar dunkings before, once when a mast broke and a couple of times during testing. This was the first time he took a swim during a race. “I guess it is just an occupational hazard,” he said.

Inevitably, the wags will refer to it as a ‘Bloodbath’, but notoriously superstitious sailors might also wonder if he was tempting fate: His team sailing number is 13 and he was competing in Act 13.