SeaAnchors/Drouges How and Why

[Sailman123]

Never used a sea anchor... and don''t really understand what they do and how they work.

I assume one would be sailing windward and fly a drouge off the stern to slow down?? And why would one want to do that?

Just never made sense to my fuzzy logic?

Thanks....

[paulk]

Never assume anything. A sea anchor or drogue IS used to slow you down. But not when you you''re sailing to windward. A sea anchor might be deployed after you have taken all your sails down, because it''s blowing 60 to 80 knots. (Just about any sail - even a 14 oz. storm trysail - would tend to blow to bits in such wind.) The windage of the spars & hull will be causing you to "sail" at perhaps 6 to 8 knots. Waves catching the boat can add to the speed cause it to rush down into the trough, where it can pitchpole. You do not want this to happen. Boats that pitchpole often have their decks ripped open as the mast hits the water, twists out of the step and then breaks under the leverage of the boat upside down on top of it. This is why the Offshore Racing Council requires all lockers and batteries to be able to be secured for a 180 degree roll. In many cases, the next wave fills the boat, and down she goes. You don''t hear much about those cases. Slowing the boat down with a drogue or with lines, or lines tied to buckets, or anchors, helps to keep this from happening. The bow doesn''t get buried in the trough because the boat''s speed is reduced. There is some discussion as to whether it is better to deploy sea anchors from the bow or the stern -- to have the bow or the stern into the waves. Each boat is different in this regard. It may also depend upon the steepness and speed of the wind and waves, as to which would be most effective.
Essentially, you do not want to be out in conditions that would require a drogue. But if you are, you''ll be glad to have one. I''ve been out three times in 50 knot squalls, luckily in protected waters where the waves were minimal, and they passed within an hour. In one Chicago-Mac race, the wind drove us at 8 knots under bare poles while the anemometer registered 50. If we''d been in a storm at sea that had had time to develop waves, we''d have needed to do more.

[Sailman123]

Paul,

That makes sense... One more Q..

Some of the sea anchors I''ve seen look like small parachutes, i.e. they are made of canvas or some other strong material. My first impression of the use of these beasts is that they work like a parachute "in the wind".... which would not be what you so well described. Is that the case or do these "parachutes" also enter the water and slow down the boat the same way a bucket would.

Thanks again....

[mmccoy]

I have neither a sea anchor or drogue but I''ve researched them thinking it might be a good thing to have.

A drogue and sea anchor are two different things and have completely different uses.

Sea anchors (i.e. parachutes) are used off the bow. They essentially hold a boat in place while keeping her ''hove to'', bow into the wind. Useful if (for example) you''ve lost power, wind too high for sails/dismasted, etc. and find yourself on a lee shore. While it is a sort of ''brake'' it will NOT eliminate any drift (due to tide/current, etc.). As large as they need to be, as you might imagine if they aren''t rigged right they are extremly difficult to recover.

Drogues on the other hand are used off the stern. They slow a boat so as to maintain steerage, keep pace with wind/waves, etc.. Think of it like the ''chute'' on back of a drag racing car. As Paul says, a similar effect would be towing the longest, largest rode you have with each end tied to the stern cleats (forming a large ''U'' behing the boat), streaming anchors aft, anything to create ''excessive'' drag.

[paulk]

All the stuff we''re talking about (except the storm trysail) goes in the water.

[kimberlt]

For a day and a half we had had occasion to be on a drogue 350 miles south of Bermuda.
It was a Jordan series drogue. The series drogue versus a gail rider or a sea anchor , which is one device, consists of a series of 150 small cone shaped drogues on a 300 foot line.
It worked well in STORM conditions.
The sea heights were 20-30 feet with winds in excess of 50 knots.
Fair winds,
Eric

[alexNB]

try to go to www.sea-anchors.com it''s sea-anchors informational website and they have all the articles that used to be print in magazines
May help

[sailnaway]

My wife and I found out the hard way last year 2004 that huricane Charlie had passed us by in Clearwater so the next day we left for New Orleans (home port) by way of Panama City Florida. Offshore we encountered water spouts and gale force winds to 70 knots and 8-10'' seas one knockdown and recovery because we were turning away from the waterspout at the time and moving at around 7 knots full speed running scared. A sea anchor would have been nice after the spouts passed and the danger of being blenderized had passed. I was tired and she was to and no rest for the wicked or weary.But I will have one when I find the right one for my boat. Oh by the way waterspouts can be so wide at the base they look like a squal line and not the whirling death that they are.Her eyes caught the spout I had missed it and I was watching for them.It passed within 100yds astern.

Capt.Jake and First Mate Judy