{"id":3880,"date":"2026-09-12T14:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T14:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/?p=3880"},"modified":"2026-09-12T14:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T14:58:29","slug":"no-harness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/no-harness\/","title":{"rendered":"No harness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why don’t I wear a harness?<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

This is a contentious topic. I used to wear a harness \u2013 indeed, I contrived a sort of \u201cself-rescue system\u201d involving a line around the scuppers on both sides, which I could reach up and pull to disconnect the self-steering.<\/p>\n

Then, when the boat rounded up into the wind and stopped, I would unclip and manhandle myself round to the stern, where I kept a folding boarding ladder. However, it should be said that Rivals have a reputation for just carrying on by themselves with no one at the helm.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the theory was that I would climb up the ladder, dry off and count my blessings over a cup of tea with a large slug of rum in it.<\/p>\n

However, when I became seriously old, I rather doubted that I would have the strength to do all this in the sort of conditions that caused me to fall overboard in the first place.<\/p>\n

Of course, the real purpose of a harness is to stop you falling over at all \u2013 the tether is supposed short enough to stop you before you reach the rail. But to do that, it has to be so short it is impossible for the person on the end of it to move about at all \u2013 fine for clipping on to perform a ticklish job with both hands while standing up at the mast (in which case it\u2019s better to lash yourself to the mast) but hopeless for a job like rigging a spinnaker pole which involves lots of moving around.<\/p>\n

I have spent many hours thinking about this \u2013 I\u2019m not short of time to think \u2013 and I have imagined myself falling over the side, coming to the surface, treading water and watching my boat sail away.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m OK with that. I was born in the first half of the last century. A lot of people from that era are living in care homes by now \u2013 and we\u2019ve all got to go sometime. I think I should be allowed to decide for myself how I live until that time comes, and how I go when it does.<\/p>\n

Once this online discussion had started, we got to: \u201cThat\u2019s all very well for you, but what about the people who will be obliged to mount a hazardous and costly search and rescue operation to look for you.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s easy,\u201d I replied. \u201cMy next of kin are under instructions to say that I do not want a search and rescue operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh,\u201d responded some know-it-all, \u201cthe rescue authorities won\u2019t take any notice of that. How do they know your next-of-kin don\u2019t want you dead?\u201d<\/p>\n

Good point. I have now written to HM Coastguard as follows:<\/p>\n

I wonder whether there is any way you can keep on file my request that no search and rescue operation should be initiated if it is suspected that I have fallen overboard from my sailing yacht.<\/em><\/p>\n

I should explain:<\/em><\/p>\n

I am 77 years old and, a few years ago, I decided that I would no longer wear a harness at sea. I found it cumbersome and knew that if I were to fall over, it was unlikely I would have the strength to pull myself back aboard.<\/em><\/p>\n

Also, now that I have well over 100,000 social media followers who watch my daily videos, I am sure I would face intense pressure to give up and put myself into a care home.<\/em><\/p>\n

Frankly, I would rather spend my last moments treading water and watching my boat sail into the sunset.<\/em><\/p>\n

On the other hand, if I hit the proverbial container through no fault of my own, sink, and activate my EPIRB, then yes, please do come and get me.<\/em><\/p>\n

The reason for asking this now is that I had assumed that if there should be an emergency, you would contact my next-of-kin, who are under instructions to request no search & rescue. However, someone made the point that you would still go ahead because you could not be sure that my wife didn’t want me dead!<\/em><\/p>\n

I hope you can help in this. I hate to think of anyone getting involved in an expensive and, possibly hazardous, operation to rescue anyone who would prove so ungrateful.<\/em><\/p>\n

I have now received the following (inconclusive) reply:<\/p>\n

Good day John<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I hope you\u2019re enjoying yourself.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As a pleasure craft user, there is no legal requirement for you to wear a harness or lifejacket. There are lots of recommendations for you to consider, which you seem to have thought about, EPRIB etc.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
People sail all around the world for pleasure and racing. We are always here to help, and cost doesn\u2019t come into it.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If you need assistance, please just ask.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Have fun on your adventure.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Best regards<\/em><\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n
Steven Mann<\/b><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
National Network Commander<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HM Coastguard Operations<\/b><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

I have replied:<\/p>\n

Hi Steve,<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Well, I’m not quite sure what to make of your reply. But thank you for it anyway.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Just\u00a0so you know, I have a tracker on my phone https:\/\/www.polarsteps.com\/johnpassmore<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As long as the phone is plugged in, it should keep transmitting indefinitely. If I\u00a0were to fall over the side, I imagine that after a few days, people would notice that my daily videos had stopped and my track was wandering all over the place.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But, by that time, I don’t think there would be much point in looking for me.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It would be nice if someone salvaged the boat, though…<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Best wishes,<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
John<\/em><\/div>\n

_____________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why don’t I wear a harness? This is a contentious topic. I used to wear a harness \u2013 indeed, I contrived a sort of \u201cself-rescue system\u201d involving a line around the scuppers on both sides, which I could reach up and pull to disconnect the self-steering. Then, when the boat rounded up into the wind … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-singlehanded"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3880"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3884,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3880\/revisions\/3884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}