What would you do? (Episode II)

[Capt. Dick]

MAN OVERBOARD

Throw one or more flotation devices while releasing the sheets and puting the helm over to start coming about. When clear of person in the water, start engine and drop sails. All the while, keep the P.I.W. in your sight and try to assess his condition as this will determine your course of action. If he is o.k. you can plan strategy for getting him back aboard. Probably via a swim ladder. If he will require major assistance you may need to use a sling from the boom or a partially inflated raft that he could roll into. If serious injury is suspected it is time to put out a "Mayday"

 

[Tony Gore]

Real live case

Although the details of this are incomplete, it happened to one of our club members (who has moved on) about 3 years ago.Club member G was sailing his boat - about 30 foot with one crew who was inexperienced on board.Where we sail, the river Brue joins the river Parrett which goes along the sea front - width at high tide about 1200yds. We have the second highest tidal range in the world, so tides are strong, and as a result, along with quicksand and mud flats, we now have two inshore lifeboats and a rescue hovercraft.Anyway, the coastguard have seen one of thes beach inflatables, but it was too far away for them to see if there was anyone on it being swept out to sea, so they called my friend "G" and asked him to take a look."G" altered course, under sail, and getting close, he gave the helm to the inexperienced crew and he himself went to peer over the side to look at it.The inexperienced crew had no idea, and neither had realised that the wind was right behind them (I forgot to mention that with land on 3 sides, we get very variable wind directions, and I have experienced a 90 degree wind shift in the time it took to tack).Guess what - the boat gybed, hit "G" on head knocking him unconscious, but fortunately not over the side on this occasion.So now we have someone who barely knows how to sail in a 30 foot boat with an injured and unconscious skipper in a narrow channel with strong tides.The net result was the coastguard had to ge a helicopter to airlift "G" to hospital. I don't know how the boat was returned to the club - they probably took womeone out in the inshore lifeboat to skipper it.We have had cases of people falling overboard and not being able to get back onboard - people forget that their clothing gains a tremendous amount of extra weight when wet - especially any old fashioned wool jumpers. I wear modern activity gear that stays warm when wet and does not soak up the water to the same extent.Over here (in the UK) the RNLI (lifeboats) have developed a MOB alarm mainly intended for fishermen that links to the GPS etc onboard and triggers a MOB alert and location so that the recovery procedure can start as soon as possible.Four years ago I was on a very large sailing boat that was in collision with a speedboat. The crew of the sailing boat got lifebelts to all those of the smaller boat who were thrown into the water before they had even passed the stern of the larger sailing boat. I have never seen a MOB drill quicker than that.Personally, I have never had to do a MOB, and our water is too cold to find a willing volunteer to practice on. But what would I do? I have a MacGregor 26M1) hit MOB on GPS2) get horseshoe lifebuoy into water immediately as closeNow I have a GPS position and something visible.3) lower outboard and start; engage and get head to wind and quickly lock helm for a few seconds (not bothering with autopilot4) release main sheet5) get jib/genoa roller reefed ASAP - this can be done from cockpit6) drop mainsail; as I come aft, open hatch and drop sail in7) pull in mainsheet to stop boom swinging and pull hatch too, thus trapping most of sail out of the wind8) this will have taken about 2 mins, but I am now free to concentrate 100% on getting back to the MOB under powerWhilst I have been getting the sails down, I will have been working out which way the wind/tide combination have been taking the MOB from the GPS position; based on a person being about the same as an iceberg i.e. 10% out of water with a lifejacket on, then the wind is equivalent to 1.5 knots of tide. Tide here is usually 3 knots, but in places can reach 8 knots. So depending on time of HW, springs/neaps etc, it varies. An hour either side of high water springs, it will be 1.5kn as a first approximation.1.5kn = 50 yards per minute, so if wind and tide combine, then the drift is 100 yards per minute.With this information, I can approach the MOB position from further than I anticipate the drift to be, or use it as a starting point and know which way to work from it.I am assuming that as the only person on the boat, it will have been impossible to keep the MOB in sight all the time.

 

[Anchor Down]

Some Hard Choices

This scenario gives very little information, but the information it does give is chilling:1. Unfamiliar boat/equipment.2. Moderate/fresh breeze.3. You're alone.4. MOB is injured.Some responders are still not reading the situation carefully as it was given. You're not on YOUR boat, with all the equipment YOU so wisely bought: you're on SOMEONE ELSE'S boat, one with which you may not be familiar, and this is really the wicked twist in this situation: you're at a big disadvantage, because you probably don't know how his boat behaves in 15kts of wind, or the peculiarities of his running rigging. Gary didn't say you'd ever been out on this boat before, so you have to assume that you haven't.There are also many other assumptions being made here that makes it easier to give answers, when those conditions may not be true at all, and some of us are apparently super-men, which has been pointed out. At best, because of the limitations you're working under, this is going to be slow, and probably clumsy; possibly tragic. Some things are simply out of our control.If we stay within the limitations of the scenario as given, and allow for all the things we don't know, any proffered solution will have to be given in general terms. So, generally:1. I'd throw something first. He went over the leeward side, and you heard him hit the boat (freak swell to do that, but that's what happened), so you have to presume that he's injured in some way. Getting floatation to him, esp. if he dislocated a shoulder or took a clock-cleaning knock to the head, is paramount. By the time you get to the stern rail to grab whatever-he-has-hanging-there and control your adrenaline-shaky fingers enough to dislodge it (Damm it: only a coiled line with a monkey's fist: I never should have given him that Book of Knots for Christmas! Grab a cushion, fast!) he should be visible at/near the stern, if indeed he is/has surfaced at all. If you don't see him, you still want to put out a marker as close to the MOB as possible. Two reasons to throw first.I can't assume there is a GPS, or if there is one, that I know which buttons to hit to trip the MOB function on his unit. If I'm unfamiliar w/ his equip., I don't think I'd spend any time trying to figure it out, unless it's pedestal mounted and I just happened to see a big red MOB button. I'd take a tenth of a second to jab at it, then get on to:2. Checking the forward motion of the boat. I don't have any other crew, so unless I'd already practiced an awful lot (and I admit I, for one, haven't: any other honest posters out there?), I'd skip Figure Eights or Quick-Stops, and just heave-to. The advantage of heaving-to alone is three-fold: A) your hove-to vessel has a good chance of winding up directly to weather of the MOB, or nearly so, B) you'll stay closer to the MOB: 5 kts = 8.4 ft./sec. If I can get the boat stopped in ten seconds, I'm only about 30yds. away, and C) it keeps the body of the boat and sails out of your line of sight, and lets you act as spotter and boat handler simultaneously. You will then begin to come back down toward your marker, approximately. You will have a minute to3. Spot or re-confirm a visual on the MOB. If you can see him, you're clear to4. Start the engine. On a 30-footer, I'm assuming an inboard diesel, still warm from steaming out.If you do not see your MOB, or did not at least see him clear the boat and know that he is well away, YOU CANNOT START THE ENGINE: there is a possibility that he's hung up on the prop/rudder. He's already dead at this point, but you don't want to be responsible for the gruesome consequences of touching that starter button and shifting into gear.4. Of course you've been keeping an eye on you MOB, As you drift down hove-to, you will have a few seconds to try to spot him and assess his condition. Both arms around the float: probably lucid and not injured much; one arm around the float: likely an injured arm and/or concussed/semi-conscious; float only: of course you scan the area immediately, but his soul may have shed its mortal coil already.5. As you near your float/MOB, blow both the the genoa sheet and main sheet, flogging be damned: the sail loft can repair that later. This will allow the hull to be driven by the engine. You will likely remain approx. beam-to as you drift down the remaining distance, and will need to power either in reverse or forward to bring your stern close to your MOB without running him under.6. Drop the swim ladder (sorry, sugar-scoop, walk-through transom people; without info. to the contrary, we have to assume a traditional design. Remember: NOT YOUR BOAT).7. He's at your stern. Communicate to assess injuries and/or his level of orientation. Does he respond to his own name? Is his head up? Can he communicate clearly? This evaluation will determine a lot of what happens next.The wind speed is 15-17 kts, which is at the border of Beaufort Scale 4/5, moderate breeze/fresh breeze, with wave height of about 3 feet, max (not 5 feet, as was suggested). Beam on, it's a little rolly, but not too bad for a 30-footer of 10,000–14,000lb. You can still get things done with one hand for the boat. Depending on his ability to assist in his own rescue, from here the preferred actions, IMO, would be:8.Shut off the engine to preclude complications from exhaust as you work off the stern.9. Extend a boathook or similar reaching device that he can grab to get him to the ladder and assist as he re-boards under his own power (he's able-bodied and clear-headed).If he's unable to grasp or hold onto the boathook, snag some clothing & gently draw him to the ladder. If he's at all disoriented or even just moderately injured, you will very likely not be able to do much more than this by yourself, and must content yourself with stabilizing him in the water until help arrives.10. Now is the time to get a line around him (the horseshoe buoy tether? Mainsheet tail? Sail ties? Whatever is at hand), secure extra flotation to him, secure him loosely to the ladder so he's not buried under passing seas, with some protection (fender, cockpit cushion, whatever) between him and the transom if the swell makes the hull a danger to him and/or he's not able to keep himself safe.11. Issue a PAN-PAN on ch. 16. Chances are the current situation is not immediately life-threatening, and you can wait the 15 minutes to get medically-trained manpower with sophisticated equipment. He's heavier than you: you will not be able to lift him straight up into the cockpit; and not only is attempting to rig a boom-and-sling not necessary, it will likely exacerbate his injuries and add trauma, which is spelled S-H-O-C-K. He's more stable in the water with you talking to him to keep him calm/lucid and slipping away briefly to answer CG calls on the VHF. Your flogging sails will make you stand out from the weekend crowd, so tell them about that. Hypothermia is not a threat conidering the time window you're operating in. No need for off-shore heroics when you're a thousand yards outside the breakwater. (Don't move an injured person unless you need to).12. Attend to your friend to keep his face/head as clear from the water as is comfortable and practical under the circumstances, and keep a lookout for other traffic you may have to wave off. Your vessel is now not under command, and you don't want powerboaters coming close and throwing big wakes your way that could bury your MOB's head under. You might have to provide artificial respiration by lashing him in a bit tigher and hanging over the tranom if the swell allows, or as a very last resort, donning flotation and climbing down the ladder to him. The CG will just have to find you on its own, then.13. Thank God for the creation of the modern Coast Guard in 1913 by the combination of the LIfe-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service.*** *** ***Whoever cited reach/throw/go is correct: only if I got the boat close and stabilized (drifting), would I consider going in after a struggling victim, and that's only after reaching/throwing attempts were ineffective and the MOB could not keep his face above the water with minimum distress. Even then, I'd bring flotation: a PFD if one were handy, or a nice long cockpit cushion or two, or a medium or large fender. A hastily emptied ice chest with a line run through the handles is awkward, but can serve in a pinch. But I'm a former lifeguard, and know how to keep a panicked and flailing victim from dragging me under. For most of us, once he's under the surface and out of the reach of flotation, diving after him is likely to result in a double-drowning. You might get lucky with a sinking thrown line (maybe that monkey's fist saved his life after all). And Leaving the boat before you're sure it's under control could result in someone else's death as it causes untold havoc. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Sadly, alone, you options are limited.

 

[Withmesailaway]

oops

Get married again.:>)

 

[Gary Wyngarden]

The Reason for the "Wicked Twists"

Anchor Down mentioned the "wicked twist" in the scenario for this thread as the fact that you are not on your own boat. When you think about it, a boat that you're not all that familiar with, the need to recover a much larger person from overboard by yourself--this is just the scenario a wife might face in a typical cruising couple if the husband fell overboard.(I'm not trying to be sexist here, and I fully recognize there are many competent skippers who are female and some who are very strong. I also recognize there are many couples who share responsibilities equally and have equal skill in handling the boat. But my years of observing cruising couples is that the majority of the time the guy is the more experienced sailor and usually significantly larger than his wife/partner.)As the dialog has shown so far, a good reason to wear a PFD and tether up to the boat.Gary WyngardenS/V Wanderlust h37.5

 

[PBJ]

Practice Makes Perfect!

To begin with, never sail with a person that doesn't wear a PFD while on the boat. That said, first thing is heave to to prevent the boat from going too far from the MOB.Next is get something that floats into the water, MOB Pole, Type IV device, etc. This will serve as reference to the MOB location as it drifts with the person.Then if you've practiced all of your MOB processes, bear away from the wind and continue your Quick Turn MOB. If you're not practiced, you can consider starting the engine and dropping sails if it can be done quickly. Whatever you do, you need to constantly monitor your position relative to the MOB visually. Maintain communication with them if they're conscious.Once you're along side secure them to the boat with a line. Get them back aboard, treat for hypothermia and consider calling the CG for medical assistance. Ways of getting them onboard could include using the main halyard as a hoist, Life Sling Hoist Device, their assistance via a swim ladder, whatever you have. Whatever you do, make sure you're secured to the boat and are wearing a PFD on so you both don't end up over the rail!If you can't get them onboard, put out a PAN call on Channel 16. Get the boat stabilized and wait for help, monitoring your friend as you can...That might mean dropping sails and starting motor if they are clear of the prop. If you have one, keep your portable radio on you to talk to the CG and be ready to guide them in...You might use a spotlight or other signal devices if they're having troubles seeing you.Never go for a sail without practicing something for safety.

 

[Franklin]

Lets be real

nobody here (Kemah) wears their PFD except for some of the children because that's required by law. In my 4 seasons of sailing in two different states, I think I've seem maybe 15%, including children, wear a PFD. Let's face it, it just isn't cool to wear a PFD and a majority will not do anything if it isn't cool.Sure, we should, but if it was hard enough to get your woman to go out with you, do you think you're going to ruin her day by telling her that she HAS to wear a PFD while she is tanning? Not if you want her to go out again with you. Maybe if somebody made PFD swimsuits they would Ok...women in swimsuits may actually be a minority of people on sailboats, but I think the only way people would wear them is if they were required by law for all ages and infoced too.Ok...I'm ready to be slammed for telling the truth. Go ahead...I'm ready

 

[jviss]

Not true

We have a rule: on deck underway, PFD. We use the inflatable belt packs, though, which won' thelp if you are knocked unconcious.

 

[Seattle Scott]

Light a Flare?

Who knows if the MOB boat owner has a flare, but if I got to stage of MOB secured to boat but unable to get him aboard, I would look for a flare. I think half the boaters would make a beeline to orange smoke to lend a hand, or at least call the CG reporting orange smoke.On the issue of a little person getting a big person aboard, has anyone practiced using the main sail as a sling with most or all of the luff out of the mast?

 

[Ross]

Display of a red flare is permitted when

life or limb is in jeopardy. So yes when the mob is head and shoulders out of the water but still not on board do what ever you must to get help including Mayday Mayday Mayday.

 

[Mark Wieber]

Very interesting twist

It is easier to say what I would do on my own boat. I will have to admit to not being as careful to think through possible emergencies on someone elses boat. As a matter of fact, if I was not the captain, it is quite possible I might have had a few cold ones So...1) Put my beer bottle into the cup holder at the helm.2)Attempt to locate my wayward companion and keep a fix on him. (try to asses his condition and location)3)look around for a "life sling" or throwable floatation near the helm (hopefully some sort of man overboard items are available)4) Stop the boat or beguin the applicable retreaval manuvere.5)Frantically try to asses whether some line, sheet, or halyard could be used to winch PIW back into the boat.6)assuming success, drink remainder of beer and break bottle over friends head as payment for the years he just robbed from your life.The last time this happened to me I was a passenger in a 12' Zodiac. The friend at the helm made a full lock turn at speed, and trampolined out of the boat as we ran over our own wake (no life jacket). So there I was Beer in hand (in the bow) screeming across the lagoon at full tilt boogie with no helmsman and a PIW. Fortunately Zodiaks present a far superior retreaval platform than most 30' Sail Boats, and outboard engines are relatively easy to operate. I did learn something about windage and aproach vectors

 

[Jim Kolstoe]

Hey Anchor Down

I applaud and endorse your answer. The steps you outline would give the best chance of recoving the mob alive, or at least limiting the incident to one victim.  FYI, on the hypothermia, as a volunteer search and rescue diver many years ago I attended a seminar on cold water hypothermia. One of the interesting tidbits I recall was that immersing volunteers in near freezing water with no protective suit, it took 15 minutes to detect a 1 degree celsius reduction in core tempreture. The problem swimmers encounter is loss of strength in arm and leg muscles, which cool faster. The consequence is that while not at risk of unconsciousness or death, the mob becomes unable to effictively assist in the rescue.Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo

 

[Mike Green]

I guess that would work.....

... but it sounds like an awful lot of work.Probably best just to motor back to port, and maybe even pick up the boat cheap as part of an estate sale.

 

[James M]

Drill done once or twice

Both recovered people, and once been the swimmer.Shout, Throw, Slow, Locate, Secure, Return, Retrieve.SHOUT: "Man over board". Even if you are now alone, it will help you switch gears and spring to action. THROW: any thing and everything that floats, MOB pack, life ring and cushion. You are still close and it's the only real aid you can give now. Multiple objects in the water increase your ability to relocate MOB, and the probably they will be able to find one to hang on too.Don't throw a line, even if you could throw it accurately, and most of you can't, no one can hang on to a line when the boats underway. SLOW or STOP: SLOW or Stop the boat. Put helm down, put in irons, what ever it takes to reduce or kill your speed.LOCATE: Locate your boat AND the person in the water. Press GPS MOB button if known. Locate the person in the water. Locate your self, where is boats heading? Where are you in relation to MOB? Are there shore reference marks? Drop any other floating items to hand. If you have a GPS take the time to WRIGHT THE POSITION DOWN ON PAPER.SECURE: Now get sails down, rolled, dumped and stopped. You have to have a still boat to retrieve a MOB. Unless it is a very small boat, and you are very skilled sailor, you can't keep the boat still with the sails up, not while retrieving a body from the water. So dump the halyards and drop the sails and secure the boom by pulling in mainsheet. If sails are loose put a quick couple of sail-ties on. RETURN: Return to MOB. Use visual markers dropped. Use reverse course. Use GPS. IF no visual markers are visible, make note of current location by GPS or shore sight lines before attempting search pattern. Wright down the starting POSITION on paper.Start engin and return slowly under power. MOB may have swam towards boat and you don't want to run them over.After visual contact is made, bring the boat close and shout something reassuring. Tell them to stay with flotation device and NOT to swim to boat until you are ready.RETRIEVE: You need to prepare for a successful retrieval, take your time. Put on your safety harness. Drop stern ladder and prepare rope. Make loop in working end and make your end fast near the stern. Turn sailboat around and APPROACH STERN FIRST FROM DOWN WIND. This is important!!You can't see objects close to the bow, and in a fresh breeze or sea you can't hold a sailboat still pointing into the wind, the bow just blows off. If you APPROACH from the windward side you will just blow over the MOB and bonk him on the head again.Manoeuver boat slowly, stern first, approaching from down wind !!If subject is conscious then, when very close, about 6 to 10 foot away, take engin out of gear and then throw rope. Encourage and guide MOB to swim ladder. Do not get on the ladder your self! Ladder may not take the weight of two and you are putting your self at risk. On the ladder you will need one hand to hold on and will block the access so you will not be much use. You can't pickup some one with one hand. If they are unable to scramble up, get them to place loop in their end of the rope around body and then you pull. Use winch if nothing else works but don’t cut them in half.If MOB is unconscious then you have to carefully evaluate IF you are going to enter the water, and if so prepare carefully to enter the water. At this point you don’t know if MOB is worth saving.Either way, first send a distress call, fire off flairs and deploy floating smoke. Look for any other close craft that can provide assistance.Secure boat. Make sure sails are tied down, and boat will not start sailing away. If you have it, deploy sea anchor over the bow. Before entering water you want to have personal PFD AND safety harness clipped on to the long rope attached to the boat. Look in cotpit lockers for spare sheets or use anchor line. Dock lines are often too short.Got wet suit? put it on. You are going to be a rescue swimmer dress like one.Aim in water is to get loop in the end of rope around MOB, then get back to boat before you become victim number 2. If you have not previously prepared your main boom for MOB work then don't bother with boom. Just pull MOB along side and tie rope to the end of mainsail halyard. You should have a shackle on the mainsail head board, remove it and tie to MOB rope. Pull out slack, put on winch and start cranking. (Yes the main sheet would be faster because it's multi part, but then you have to deal with the topping lift being strong enough, rigging a preventer, etc.)________________________________________________________________To practice this drill, take 5 of the portable 5 gallon water jugs commonly used on a boat. Fill them almost full, and tie the handles together. This will be as heavy and floppy as a person. I think you will have trouble just getting the jugs over the side, let alone retrieving them. Dump the jugs when underway, at full speed with a sea running. Do this with a full crew but for the exercise just let two people handle the boat with the rest taking notes.

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Shout!

Good call James.Shouting Man Overboard! and then shouting to the person in the water are great first steps.If you shout "ARE YOU OKAY?" and get no answer, you know you are dealing with an unconscious victim ... it's time to make that MAYDAY call. If you get a response, you can put your recovery drill into practise, since you know that the crew in the water can help themselves to some extent. If they are in the water for any length of time, you may still have a maday on your hands, but getting the person back to the boat would take precedence over calling for help or setting off flares.If the person in the water is conscious, approach from downwind. People in the water always face downwind so they can see and breath in the wind and waves.Hopefully your buddy's boat has a life ring and buoyant line. Life rings can be thrown upwind, Lifeslings, and horseshoes cannot.Once the person in the water is close alongside you can rest for a moment. If there are other boats close by, a smoke flare or red star should get you some help much faster than the VHF.The hard fact is that if the person in the water cannot help themselves back aboard, they are probably going to die. I've never seen data on how long an unconscious person will be alive in the water, my guess is not very long.

 

[coolbreeze]

heave to

A MOB manoeuver while on a reach that is fast and easy is to heave to. Bear away and sail a boat length and a half and then heave to on the opposite tack. You are now windward and to the side of MOB and with adjustments to the mainsheet tension you swoop down on MOB. When they are midships you ease the sheet and put the helm down. This puts them along side at the stern with you ready to be grabbed. With a little practice this manoeuver is very easy to do and a hove to boat is stable and is not going anywhere. Floatation devices already thrown and a haul in rope handy are of course part of the drill but to put your boat on your MOB I recommend this manoeuver.

 

[sloop john b.]

NOTHING

if he's stupid enough to fall over the side of boat, leave him there. maybe someone else will feel sorry for him and pick him up. plus, it sounds to me like he's just a "tad" overweight. maybe treading water and swimming for shore will help him lose some of those extra pounds. and, when you get back to the dock, you can say you just have no idea what happened to him...you went below to go to the head and when you came back, he was gone. you looked and looked and looked, but you couldn't find him. maybe you'll get to keep the boat!!

 

[Bill Roosa]

sloop john b.

Well lets see where should I start. There are so many things you bring up.What if it where you going over the side? Oh thats right you would never put yourself in a situation like that. You are way too smart and savy. I have found that the good Lord has a way of taking you down a notch or two when you temp him like this. I'd be real smart and savy for a couple of years. As for not knowing where he went, I'm sure the local authorities are going to question the living daylights out of you. Would it not just be easier and faster to just save his life? As for getting his boat it WILL go to his wife or some kin way before you so it is just wishful thinking.The bottome line is it is the law of the sea to help someone in distress. It does not matter that he is really dumb. In fact that is who the law applies to more often then not if you ask me. So instead of being a (pause while I think of the right word) person who is part of the problem, why don't you just save the guy? He may be eternaly grateful and include you in his will.

 

[Clyde]

A single-handed MOB recovery is very slim

Based on the given scenario, what is known:1) It's the MOB's production 30 footer.2) The headsail is fouled on the pulpit.3) The 30 footer is sailing to windward.4) The water temperature is 60 degree F and the wind is 15 - 16 knots.5) The MOB wasn't wearing a PFD.6) The MOB was hit by the beam of the boat as the boat passed.7) The MOB is 40-60 pounds heavier then me is a bit older.What is unknown:1) If the MOB was injured.2) If the MOB was wearing adequate foul weather gear for the cold water.3) The time of day and ambient light available to maintain the MOB within eyesight.4) How far from shore, whether there were other boaters in the immediate area, and how far is the nearest USCG helicopter station.5) What type of MOB equipment was onboard the 30 footer.The USCG's small boat crew wears anti-exposure work suits (immersion suits) when the water temperature is between 50 - 60 degree F and wears dry suits if the water temperature falls below 50 degree F. In 60 degree F water temperature a MOB has about a 2-hour survival time if he is exhausted or unconscious if he is wearing a PFD. Swimming increases heat loss by 35-50% therefore the MOB's survival time could be between 30 minutes to an hour; since he might be injured the time is probably less. Even if you get the MOB on deck the MOB's core temperature still could be dropping to the point that death by hypothermia is possible. You need to get the MOB immediate medical attention. This is what I would do.1) Throw the MOB some kind of flotation, whatever is available in the MOB's 30-footer.2) Stop my forward speed as fast as possible.3) Start the engine. If I can't start the engine I would have to do either a "Quick Stop" or a "Fast Return" MOB maneuver, it will depend on the MOB's 30-footer. Since this isn't my boat, it would depend on how well I could manage the 30-footer using either maneuver.4) Broadcast a "MAYDAY." Give my position, stating that the MOB doesn't have a PFD and might be injured in the water, and that I'm attempting a single-handed MOB recovery.The success rate doing a single-handed MOB recovery in 60 degree F water temperature without a PFD is slim on the open ocean. With an injured MOB without a PFD the chances of a single-handed recovery would be like winning a lottery. I would broadcast a "MAYDAY" in the hopes that an USCG helicopter is within flying distance to reach the MOB in time to prevent hypothermia if I can't pull the MOB out of the water. Based on the previous responses, most sailors didn't think this scenario was a "Life and Death" scenario, but hypothermia can kill very quickly. The last reason I would broadcast a "MAYDAY" is let the USCG be the judge as to whether this is a real "Life and Death" situation. I wouldn't want to have waited too long in trying to be SUPERMAN and do a single-handed recovery and then call the USCG when it was too late for a helicopter rescue.In the previous responses, some people said that they would immediately "Hove-To"? Production sailboats can't decelerate quickly enough without having to perform a standard MOB recovery maneuver to get back to the MOB. Hove-To doesn't mean you are totally stopped. Hove-To is placing the sailboat in the minimum possible forward speed. It’s balancing the two opposite forces between the back winded Jib and the mainsail with the tiller lashed to leeward. The back winded Jib is trying to force the bow to leeward as the mainsail is generating just enough forward power. The rudder is trying to keep the bow to windward, but as the boat loses speed the water flowing across the rudder makes the rudder ineffective and the bow is forced to leeward by the back winded Jib. The mainsail begins to develop power and the boat speed increases. As the boat speed increases the water flowing over the rudder increases it effectiveness and the rudder forces the bow to windward. As the bow heads to windward, the mainsail starts to luff and the boat speed drops off as the back winded jib begins to overpower the mainsail and the bow drops, depowering the mainsail and causing the cycle to start all over again. A sailboat Hove-To can be traveling a knot or two in high winds. The production 30-footer would be moving away from the MOB in the water and wouldn't drift back to the MOB in the water.Another statement was that they would use the Boom to lift the MOB out of the water. You do not use the Boom to lift the MOB in the open ocean. The Boom isn't high enough to lift the MOB over the lifelines. A swinging Boom to lift a MOB is VERY dangerous! Use a halyard or if the MOB isn't injured run a line from the bow cleat back to the cockpit. The MOB and step on the line and you can winch the MOB up.Don't rush and move about the boat quickly trying to steer the boat while preparing a line to recover the MOB, you'll only put yourself at risk of also going MOB. Unfortunately, the likelihood of a successful recovery in cold water of an injured MOB without a PFD is almost nil.Fair Winds,Clyde