Comment by squigz
I think the top yards are not much, if any, wider than the deck, are they? Depending how quickly this happens, you may not have enough time to get across the yard and prepare for a 50m jump into water
I think the top yards are not much, if any, wider than the deck, are they? Depending how quickly this happens, you may not have enough time to get across the yard and prepare for a 50m jump into water
In case anyone's curious, here's a picture of a couple sailors on a topyard [1] - I'm not sure you're easily getting any "horizontal momentum" on that thing while 50m in the air in choppy water. Nevermind the safety harnesses.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-detail-of-main-mast-of-tal...
You see it’s going to happen and move towards the edge of the yards.
You then get a bit of horizontal momentum and jump away from the centre of the ship, giving you a few seconds to fall away and hopefully hit the water.