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a bit faster, but sea-state, fuel levels and consumption, and visibility will also dictate your search speed. It may also be helpful to stop occasionally, shut down the motors and listen. Do not give up. And do not leave the area (even if that requires you drift) until it is saturated with search assets and fuel requires returning to port. You may also want to consider what you will say to the victim's next of kin.

Man Overboard, Port Side!
If someone saw the victim go overboard, they should immediately yell, "Man overboard, port/starboard side!" And continue to yell until the entire crew is alerted to the situation. They must maintain constant visual contact with the victim and point at the victim the entire time. A man overboard is an extremely small target; only the head and perhaps shoulders of the victim are visible, and in any kind of sea-state the victim will disappear in the troughs of the waves.

Ideally, someone can immediately deploy a horseshoe or life-ring flotation device but as soon as possible deploy your man-overboard gear. Attached to all MOB flotation devices should be a MOB flag (Bravo), a whistle, and a strobe light. Providing flotation to the victim is critical, but helping to pinpoint their location in a sea (flag), and providing them visual (strobe) and auditory (whistle) signaling devices is essential.

At the very least it is also helpful to throw some buoyant and visible gear, such as seat cushions, overboard to help pinpoint the victim's location. Don't over-do it on the gear as you run the risk of creating too many targets that must be tracked and searched.

One year on a sailing-club cruise the members decided to practice man-overboard techniques. I volunteered to be the victim. I'm a strong swimmer and am comfortable in the water. We were in the fairly sheltered waters of Long Island Sound, on a fairly calm day (+/- 1-foot seas), with a thin overcast and excellent visibility (10+ mi). I was wearing a Type-1 offshore life jacket.

As the 20 or so yachts lined up, I plunged over the side, and my crew took its turn to "rescue" me. They maneuvered to reverse course and "pick me up." We stipulated that I would not swim to any of the yachts, but rather, each boat had to maneuver close enough to pull me aboard using their prepared man-overboard gear. Some boats chose boat-hooks, others had Life-Sling's, still others had heaving lines. Whatever their method, they had to sail past me, then reverse course, and come back to retrieve me. I had no

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