From August 9-12, 2005, BoatU.S. Foundation staff attended the 2005 Crew Overboard Retrieval Symposium, of which it was a co-sponsor. Held at the Modern Sailing Academy in Sausalito, CA, the event drew over 100 people, including sailing instructors; members of the press; device manufacturers; international participants from France, Japan, Germany, Canada, and Iceland; a senior official in the Coast Guard's safety office; and two senior members of the sailing staff at the Naval Academy. Many friends, colleagues, and local sailors also came as volunteers.

Over 400 exercises were performed, and no one stood on the sidelines. Crews were made up of all who were present, which meant press members teamed with manufacturers, and local racers with sponsors. Over four days our own two staff members served as crew on a Grand Banks 42, a Beneteau 43, and an Island Packet 38, and on two separate safety boats.

During testing, hundreds pages of written observations were collected, thousands of photos taken, four days of GPS tracks were recorded, and dozens of rescues were videotaped. It will still take some time yet to analyze the massive amounts of data, but in the meantime, we invite you to read our first impressions in Foundation Findings #41, and view the photo gallery here for some lessons learned.

Click here to view the photo gallery

Click here to view the PDF.