A good rule of thumb for self-rescue: Never willingly choose to abandon your sailboat, unless it means stepping "up" into the life-raft or dinghy - as it sinks beneath you.
Remember this: Often, after crew have attempted self-rescue by abandoning their sailboat - the boat is found relatively undamaged.
This was true in the tragic disaster of the 1979 Fastnet Race.
This was true of the Westsail 32, Satori, featured in the true life events memorialized in the movie, The Perfect Storm.
And, was true in this more recent story:
Mahoney also lost his wife to a tragic sailing accident
