I'm a good swimmer. But in those conditions, and I grew up swimming in rough surf, I don't know if I could have reached that floatation. To speak of the condition ,we're told there were 6 ' seas. You can't really swim. You can ride up and down but basically you are trying to time coming up for breath. One or two waves away from the boat can be fatal. If his PFD had inflated he'd have a better chance but I suspect not that much. As SBO forums have concluded, staying on the boat is the way to survive. I've done a bear hug on a mast that you couldn't believe.