Norm, I am not beating up your safety ring. But I have spent a lot of time racing offshore, dealing with safety at sea, and talking at seminars about person overboard. First is to stay on the boat. (safety harness and precautions). Second is to be sure that you have some floatation device on. Third is to locate the person in the water. Fourth is to get a device to that person, and bring the device and person to the boat. Fifth is to get the person aboard the boat. We have not talked about this for a year or so. But it is so important. Even in the waters where you boat--and even in the Gulf of Mexico, hypothermia and exhaustion set in very rapidly. It is not just getting a flotation to a person, but it is getting that person back aboard.
We had the pleasure of spending several days with the inventor of the Life sling (an Admirality Law Attorney, who has given away all of his profits from the device) and it was developed because of the weaknesses other retieval systems. There are a number of testimonies--and I have been on pannels on safety where people have had their lives saved by the use of a life sling. There have been many lives lost because the crew could not get a person back aboard.
U S sailing, along with West Marine and a number of other sponsers puts on a symposium (on the water testing really) every few years. The most recent one was in 2005:
http://www.ussailing.org/safety/Studies/COB.pdf
This should be manditory reading for all boaters!
The report was authored by John Rousmaniere, famed for his heavy weather sailing works. The traditional life ring is not even mentioned or considered as a life saving device in this most recent study. There are some new devices which have not yet been studied--mostly in the alert of person overboard, or location of POB.
You don't have to be boating in frigid or turbulant waters. I have seen several deaths in S. Calif. in calm waters, where the crew of a small boat could not get the person aboard and they died. We have them on an almost regular basis in Florida in the Gulf. In the severe conditions you better be wearing a survival suit!
The problem is that most of us boat with a husband and wife team--the smallest must be able to get the largest of us aboard. Marie and I have practiced (with wet suits--which gives some advantage to the person in the water, with increased flotation)--with various devices. Our conclusion is that the life sling gives us the best chance. Yes, there are talks of using a ladder, of using the motor, tilt etc. But you still have to connect to the person--and it is often in more difficult conditions that you have a person overboard. We have the advantage of the Garhauer davits on both of our boats--but other block and tackles can be made up to bring a person out of the water, using the hand railings of the C Dory's cabin top.
I bet that new ring would be a great decoration (I know it fills the requirement, but so does a cushion)--and in the long run you would be safer with a device which allows you to connect as well as lift. The life sling is not the only device--there are inflatable collars, as well as MOB packs. For ocean racing. Thru the years the requirements for MOB gear has changed--but this has been intensively studied since 1980 by USYRU--the predicessor to U S sailing.
Cost of a life sling? In the West Marine Catalogue about $10 more than the 30" bouy.
