The quick turn is the traditional response to a man overboard emergency on a sailboat. Despite many new approaches, it is still a robust strategy and often the best method. Certainly when the crew is short handed, or when the vessel is in heavy weather, the quick turn method has a lot of merit because it avoids a jibe.
As is shown in the drawing, the quick turn is essentially a figure eight. On a sailboat it consists of the following steps:
- Change course to a beam reach and hold for 15 seconds
- Head into the wind and tack, leave the jib fluttering
- Veer off until the boat is at a broad reach
- Turn upwind until the vessel is pointing at the victim; at this point the vessel should be on a close reach.
- Slacken the mainsail until the vessel comes to a stop with the victim in the lee side of the boat
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)