First, I thought that the sailboat's skipper seemed to let the boat get caught in the troughs. Especially when he was committed to the entrance -- before he got overtaken. If you're going to surf-in, you've got to stay in front of the breaking wave. It seemed like he was letting the boat stall. In the trough, with no water accross the rudder, you can't make the boat do what you want, in fact, all you do is go broadside to the wave when you least can afford too. Maybe it was an illussion of the long lens, but I think not.

When it comes time to shoot the waves, you just have to shoot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osQaGc8Chfc

Secondly, The issue of the turn into the harbor -- which I didn't realize until I got the picture of the entrance involved a controlled "bail-out" to starboard. From the picture, you've got make the starboard turn as you come-in well before the trough. You have hazards in front of you (breaking surf) and rocks to port. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ukstws19D4

Thirdly, maybe it was an illussion of the long lens, but a) the sailboat (after the de-boated crew left for the drink) got in the only place that it could: In the mouth of the channel. He would have only killed them trying to recover them from the surf; b) the safety (unless the current was running out) was to swim to the relatively sheltered place the sailboat was standing to. Easy to say...

Fourthly, like D'arcy and others, the launch really was lucky or very very good. The launch really could have smashed into the swimmers from the wave, or had them driven into it's prop or motor, etc. Really harrowing for me to watch. They got all of them -- I think that was the most amazing thing to be happy about. I dont' think you could approached them any other way in that position. A line wouldn't work because you couldn't bail-out well (and it might have fouled the prop); and you'd be pulling them into harms way or making the launch less stable. Really well done;and/or lucky.

I think watching this, really makes what you would have to do easier to learn from then actually trying to survive FUBAR conditions.