The boat is stowed at the ship’s stern on an inclined ramp with the bow pointing down toward the water. When the coxswain pulls the release lever inside, the boat goes under full load and gravity does the rest. The impact is hard, so the cabin matters as much as the hull. In many designs the seats face aft, so the deceleration is caught across the seat back instead of the neck, a general safety principle similar to rear-facing crash seats.
On some boats the coxswain’s seat is set to a special launch position before the drop, then returned to its forward-facing steering position once afloat. The seats are shaped to the body and angled to hold people in place, with a four-point harness and head restraint. They are fixed so that occupants stay protected even if the hull or canopy flexes under the force.
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