Hi Richard,

...I would find the prospect of maneuvering a small sailboat alongside such a behemoth, and attempting to make the transfer to a Jacob's Ladder, absolutely terrifying...

There are now numerous such transfers recorded and posted on YouTube... The danger of such a maneuver is extreme, in one event 2 years ago one of the crew fell into the water between the boat and the ship, it was a miracle he wasn't crushed between the two... The closest I have ever come to having one of my crew seriously injured, occurred going upbound in the extreme turbulence in one of the locks in the Welland Canal... The violence of the movement of a large yacht against a solid wall can be truly frightening, I can't imagine it against the side of a ship in gale conditions, or with a swell of 10 feet or more running...

Seems to me a far safer transfer would be to use a tender or liferaft to shuttle between the yacht and the ship's ladder. VIEWFINDER had a hard bottom inflatable stowed on their foredeck... get that thing inflated and over the side, and once a secure tether had been established to the ship, get the crew in that thing, and make the transfer that way... If one happens to miss the ladder, or go in the drink, there is minimal risk of being injured by being caught between the two...

Again, perhaps it's just me - but that's certainly the method I would prefer to employ, if I were ever in such a situation...

best regards,

Jon