This happened a year of two back so although you may have seen this before is too good to leave languishing in cyberspace. Many thanks to Andy Rankine for editing this down.
This is a short video clip of a Coastguard helicopter exercise conducted in conjunction with Sea Essay.
This exercise was pre-arranged I believe. The helicopter crew would have initially briefed the skipper about what is going to happen and what direction to sail etc. The pilot often requires the yacht to sail on a close reach while the crewman is lowered down on the winch. The helm’s role is critical and they need to avoid looking up at the aircraft or otherwise being distracted. Note the level of noise. It is extremely hard to communicate on board with a helicopter hovering over your heads.
Note. This calendar is under development. Its main focus is for tracking availability of Sea Essay and Training Events.
If you try this, whether you like it or have difficulties, please feedback to the CSD webmaster@channelsailing.org.
The advantage of this calendar is that it can be shared with members. If you already use Google Calendar you can subscribe to a read only copy of this calendar by clicking on the + sign at the Bottom Right of the calendar below. You will then be able to view this calendar it alongside your own.
That said, in the event of any conflict between this and the Official Sailing Programme which is Excel based you are advised to refer to the Official Programme. This calendar is maintained and updated by the webmaster.
