I don't think so. Dumping the sails and getting rid of the energy in them can be accomplished by doing a few different things, anyone fo which may be appropriate in a certain set of circumstances. If you have a main with a vang, blowing the vang can dump a lot of power, and I've done that to avoid rounding up. Heading the boat into the wind can almost always work, if you have the available water and have water over the rudder.

I think your best bet is to use a harness and keep yourself in the boat, and you also need to try and avoid conditions more likely to remove you from the boat. If you want to put something on to help keep you in the boat, and keep you afloat if you leave the boat, try something like: http://stores.implex.net/sailboats/delux...0264af67e9ba311

And I guess with no hand on the tiller or wheel, unless they are lashed or there is an autopilot on, a sailboat will fall off the wind and slow rather than continuing to drive forward.

That's about it. Then it will drift between the winds and the currents. If you wear a harness and lifejacket, then you will end up swimming to it and getting back onboard.

Otherwise, it drifts away and becomes another "Mary Celeste".

Sort of. Man Overboard Beacons can be hooked to an auto-pilot that will hard over the rudder when set off. However, worth noting that simply getting back into the boat, self-rescue, can be a challenge if the boat isn't properly prepared and equipped and doubly so in colder waters.

I'm thinking it would be helpful to have some kind of swim ladder deployed or deployable so you could haul your wet, tired self back onboard. And having set aside a non-alcoholic, quick energy man-once-overboard revival drink might be handy.

Trailing a ladder off of the stern, especially a folding type that you can handle while in the water is quite common.

I am not familiar with the avg water temps along the west coast of California.

Actually, your survival odds are pretty good at those water temperatures, as long as the PFD keeps you afloat. Without floatation, you're a gonner once you are unconscious. PFDs significant enhance the survivability factors.:



Add a life raft, as suggested, and once out of the water everything improves. Moreover, the whole idea of the EPIRB and PLB is to get you rescued in hours, not days.

Having said all that, an exposure suit would be a definite advantage, particularly in even colder waters further north, but I can think of few recreational sailors who carry one.

A harness and appropriate safety lines to ensure you stay on board also adds to the equation. No single piece of gear solves all the issues, but a system with belts and suspenders type approach will provide coverage to take care of most situations.

Most of the year the nearshore coastal water is high 40s and low 50s ala Mark Twain's "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco." Thick wetsuits on surfers, divers, and kayakers.

Far south waters much warmer most of the year. Thin, partial, to no wetsuits on surfers, divers, and kayakers.

These guys seem to have thought a lot about sailboat safety gear:

http://www.solosailor.org/pdfs/mac08reqequip.pdf

2300 miles to Hawaii. From there it's another 2560 miles to Samoa, 2590 to Tahiti or 3090 to Fiji. You shouldn't have too much trouble with ocean temps at any of the above or points in between. Learn to fish and get some good kelp recipes.