Sailing Harnesses: Crotch Strap Debate
There are two camps of thought regarding sailing-harness design. Based on feedback from survivors of recent sailing accidents, Practical Sailor tends to favor crotch straps for PFD-harnesses and sailing harnesses. However, crotch straps do have their downside. Many sailors find them so cumbersome that they interfere with onboard safety. Practical Sailor tester and veteran racer Skip Allan is one of these who aligns with the anti-crotch strap camp. His disdain for crotch straps, he says, is primarily due to the complexity of putting the whole thing on and adjusting it.
During our testing of a harness without a crotch strap, the harness did tend to ride up on the victim, but there was no tendency for the wearer to slip out. If the waist strap is tighter than the wearers shoulder width, its not possible for him to slip out. This insight begs the question: What about people whose tummy is wider than their shoulders? Harness waist belts should be worn as taut as is comfortable. If that practice is followed, then the wearer is unlikely to slip out.
However, survivors in three fairly recent sailing accidents that were investigated by US Sailing all indicated that they would have felt safer with crotch straps, which would have helped prevent the PFD-harness from riding up around their necks while in the water and would have helped them float better. For this reason, Practical Sailor recommends that all offshore sailors wear PFD-harnesses with crotch/thigh straps. We also recommend that the PFD-harness have a sprayhood and that wearers know how to deploy and use it.
Ultimately, it is imperative to test your safety gear in the water to see how comfortable you are with or without crotch straps, and whether you can live with the inconvenience when working on deck.
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