High Speed Sailing / Restraint Systems

[Doug Lord]

Tom Speer made this observation under the Peoples Foiler thread, last page, post #39: " If you would not travel at a certain speed in an off road vehicle without wearing a seat belt, why would you consider operating at the same speed on water completely unrestrained?" That question has a lot of relevance these days on numerous boats from small to giant. My interest is in exploring the idea of some kind of restraint system that could be easy to get out of and that might work on small high speed sailboats. I have an experimental foiler prototype undergoing modifications and it has shrouds that I would just as soon not be thrown into; the new foiler design has no shrouds but if the foils broke it's conceivable that the crew could be thrown some distance from the boat.
Is there a restraint system that could work on small high speed sailboats without restraining the crew dangerously (like holding them undewater)? But that could prevent me or anyone else from being thrown into the shrouds on the prototype? Or too far away on the new boat?

[usa2]

You would probably have to design something from scratch if you wanted a "restraint system', or you could just wear a harness and clip onto padeyes on/near the stern with one or more tethers.

[jehardiman]

It is my belief that there is no good answer. Having a restraint for someone on deck when an Open 70 submarines at 30 knots is different than what is needed when a Wabbit stuffs it at 10 and launches the guy on the wire to the spreaders. Both can cripple/kill. And with any given restraint system, both may cause as many problems as they fix.

As someone who writes damage control procedures, I know that the safest boat is one that is tied to a pier, but thats not what a boat is about. In chosing a restraint system, you are only chosing how to be harmed, not removing the risk.