Every week, Boats News presents you with a question about your boating license. It’s all about validating your knowledge, or discovering unexplored areas. This week, they tackle a question on piloting.
The Admiral Boutakoff maneuver
The Admiral Boutakoff maneuver is generally applied to large cargo ships and other vessels. This involves starting the manoeuvre from the side where the fall occurred, to move the stern away from the ship so that the crew member is not caught in the propeller.
On our small pleasure boats, there’s a good chance that the crew member will already be in the wake when you start the manoeuvre. In this case, you can start the first turn on the side you want.
The maneuver consists of making a complete U-turn and then coming back to face the castaway, at 180° to its initial course. You start by turning to one side, then begin a full rotation in the opposite direction. This brings you face to face with the castaway. We then choose to protect him from the wind, so that we drift towards him after having cut the propeller rotations, dead center, at his height. The wrecked man can then be rescued.
In practice
This Boutakoff maneuver can be requested on the day of the exam, but in practice, it’s enough to carry out the maneuver of your choice to present yourself to the windward side of the castaway. The only condition is to remain maneuverable at all times, i.e. at low speed.
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Source: Boats News
