Sea Anchor Rode

[searcher]

Hello fellow sailors, I have just bought a "Para Tech" sea anchor second hand (unused). It has a 1/2'' rode, my yacht is all steel & weighs 14-15 Tonnes & is 40 ft long, the underbody is full keel with the foreward part cut back for easier tacking. The para is around 12ft across. Will the 1/2'' nylon rode be strong enough to hold my boat or should I go to a larger diameter rode?? Thank you in advance for your feedback. Paulo. Nelson N.Z.

[tager]

5670 lbs is the stated breaking load for 1/2 nylon line. I would use heavier line in your situation.

[Wotname]

Seems a bit light to me.
I using 9/16" rode (14mm) with a 9' para anchor for a 31 ft, 4.5 ton boat.
Without looking up the figures, I would have thought that 3/4" rode would be more in the ballpark for your vessel.

[osirissail]

If you Google the manufacturer of the sea-anchor you normally be able to download a copy of the instruction manual. In there you will find the recommended sizes of the rodes to use.

[ggray]

The rode might be properly sized for the sea anchor, but I suspect the sea anchor is too small for your boat.

Their specs call for 18 ft sea anchor, which is a lot bigger.

[searcher]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I was thinking of 3/4'' nylon so you have reinforced my thoughts, that's good. I've gone for the 12' anchor as Lyn & Lary Pardy recomend going to a smaller size, Para Tech say a 15' would be right for my boat length but also up to 25tonnes, my boat weighs 15 loaded so I think the 12' will be fine? Like everyone else I hope never to have to use it in a survival situation but will definately try it when taking a brake or heaving too. Thanks again for your feedback eveyone, I enjoy this site & read many threads. Good sailing to all (& motoring)..Regards Paulo.

[ggray]

Para-tech specs for the 12 ft is up to 33 feet and up to 12000 pounds. They told me to ere on having a larger size sea anchor. I'm thinking a tonne is 2200 pounds, so you are way over that.

I've not had to use mine so I'm not speaking from experience.

[maxingout]

My catamaran is 39 feet 5 inches long, weighs in at 20,000 lbs with 14 years of cruising gear on board, has an eighteen foot diameter para-anchor international sea anchor, and has 500 feet of one inch double braid rode.

We went through a winter storm north of New Zealand using our parachute sea anchor, and everything worked perfectly. It was the right size and right rode for our catamaran.

[searcher]

It's all good advise & I thank everyone for your input. Regards:- Paulo