Left for dead after falling overboard

Roger Cottle was presumed dead after falling overboard and lost at sea for five-and-a-half hours in a holed lifejacket, at night. He tells the story for Practical Boat Owner magazine:

Falling overboard, I discovered that what they don’t tell you on the sailing courses is that a safety harness is great until you fall in, and then you become a waterskier. I was dragged across the waves and then under the bottom of the boat for about half a minute, where I hit my head on the propeller.

Then the stanchion eye, which I had clipped onto, was ripped from the boat. It was quite a lightweight 27-foot yacht, and the weight of me in all my sailing gear being dragged through the water, pulled it clean out.

I ended up swimming in the Atlantic with the metal weight between my legs. I released it and kicked it off, along with my boots, and watched the boat sail away. – Full report