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Beausoleil · 13-10-2009, 12:51

So, I've heard in the past that a boat like mine, a "clipper-bowed", full-keeled Formosa 51, will sit on a sea anchor nicely, but doesn't do as well running downwind trailing a drogue. So far, we haven't been in large enough seas to try either.

My gut feel is that there's a time for either, and they usually don't overlap.

I saw at the boat show">Annapolis boat show a smaller parachute drogue (48" diameter, I believe, and it was +-shaped, not a full chute) which had a nice feature - two attachment points rather than a single, so to retrieve it you just slacked one of the lines and the thing collapses, making it easier to retrieve than having to use a trip line first. I guess one drawback was that the whole thing could pop out of the water, while a series drogue will almost never do that. But there's less of this chute to drag back on board.

Thoughts?

barnakiel · 13-10-2009, 15:59

Drogue to trail behind and slow down.

Parachutes to 'moor' the bow into the seas.

The Pardeys have written a nice book on the Para. They used a mixt technique - the para plus the tri, that I do not quite understand but they claim it works on a heavy hull.

I have a double-ender and I trail warps (now the drogue) but I am not 100 cent sure if a huge breaker gets me - probably my cockpit well is to voluminous and my washboards are not as tank-bullet proof as they look.

I think if I come across a trusty para I will get one and try it out one day. Why not.

b.

**GordMay** · 14-10-2009, 04:18

**sneuman** · 14-10-2009, 05:06

I used a Delta-type drogue (cone shaped with apex and corners cut out), which did help with directionality.

After reading the Pardeys' Storm Tactics, however, I am convinced that lying to a sea anchor would be much better 90% of the time (and coincidentally in my particular situation, if only I'd had one aboard).

I also saw the "two line" (x-shaped) drogue at the show. Drogues have a tendency to spin a lot in the water and two lines might be a problem. The Pardeys note that they gave up on even a small tripline for the para-anchor for just this reason.

For me, I'll have a para sea anchor and a Galerider next time.