I'm not quite sure why the S61 crew didn't winch out over the sea and then carry the pax to the deck - that way they could have operated at a safe height over the deck. I realise they are hamstrung by the regulations requiring a max height of 10' over the deck for the passenger but that could have been achieved in this situation. It may be that they are prevented from winching a single pax in a strop over the water but this could have been circumvented by doing a double lift ie the winchman and pax together. The risk of this is that there is no one on the deck to receive the pax and the winchman and pax might arrive less than deleicately if the ship is moving a lot.
The sensible choice would have been not to do it at all or to winch out the pax at height, accepting the very minimal risk of the wire breaking and preventing the much higher risk of a blade/tail strike.