This was one of the references I was recalling - and it does say you need to steer with a drogue - but not with the JSD...
Quote:
A drogue, on the other hand, is deployed off the stern. There are two basic types of drogues. The low-drag, speed-limiting drogues are sized to allow the boat to maintain three to six or perhaps even seven knots in conditions where it might otherwise be driven well above hull speed. The slower speed prevents a boat from surfing down wave fronts. With the stern held down, the chance of pitchpoling is reduced. When speed is controlled in this way, yawing is reduced, making it easier to keep the boat from turning beam to the waves. The low-drag speed-limiting drogue is an active device. It makes steering easier, but it does not eliminate the need for the crew to be in the cockpit steering the boat. Most drogues are of this type.
The medium-pull drogue is also deployed off the stern, but it brings the boat almost to a stop. Downwind drift will be 1 to 1 1/2 knots in storm conditions, which is not fast enough to steer. The designer of the Jordan Series Drogue recommends that the crew go below and strap themselves in. The medium-pull drogue is a passive device like the parachute anchor.
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So now, if what you're saying about the hydrodynamics is correct - that is that there is no possibility of rudder damage due to breaking waves on the stern...then I guess that's that. Still, what do you do with the tiller/wheel?
BTW - here's a video that makes me question the boat/wave velocity issue. Watch the breaker smack the quarter of the boat near the start, then stern of the boat right at the end. That looks like some force to me. And this boat is actively sailing with a tri-sail and a storm jib. Hold it in place at 1-2 knots and what happens to that force?
Also, keep in mind that the dude sailing with Pete Goss
got his leg broken from them getting pooped by breaker while he was at the companionway hatch.
Yeehaw.