Multihull storm tactics?

[little boat]

i heard a very exciting and informative interview on local radio by a well known usvi cat sailor. i'm sorry, his name escapes me at the moment.. he decided to run away from lenny at sea and when the storm continued backwards, he ended up dead center in a hurricane. his tactic was to keep the boat sailing as closehauled as he could get in spite of hurricane force winds and seas and then pointing straight into the wind for the moments he was overwhelmed and stall the boat, then fall back off again just the minimum to continue. he gave huge credit to his crew, who were top caliber racers and his storm sails which he said were so well constructed. he was worried the sails might back and put him in irons, but the helmsmen were very talented and that never happened.

[eskfreedom]

I don't have any experience of my own but I've done a lot of reading and research on this subject. people have many opinions on what to do when things get uncomfortable heave-to, lie-ahull, or run-down. But what to do when it becomes life threatening? In my opinion of weighing the pros and cons of all the techniques for multi-hulls I'm going to go with a Jordan series drogue from the stern. The JSD seems to produce a slick behind the boat so instances of pooping are limited or non existent. Everything I've read on the JSD has been positive. On the other hand parachute anchors have many negatives and are difficult to deploy, retrieve , and set properly. Here is the JSD web sight the vids are poor quality but are worth watching anyway http://www.jordanseriesdrogue.com/D_2.htm

[Steve Rust]

Kai
The Trimaran in question was named Tortuga Too owned by John and Joan Casanova. I believe it is written up in an early issue of Multihulls and Cruising World. I had all the Multihulls issues from 1989 and onward but it was earlier than that. I am sure they could sell you the proper back issue. My recollection is reading it in Cruising World which I have from 1979 onward. I believe this incident happened in the late 1970's. I think they may have written a book about their adventures. With the wonders of the internet the story may even be on the web somewhere.

[blkrk]

Hello
They did write a book that I got a copy of when Joan visited a new england multi hull association as guest speaker. I believe this was in the early 80's We carried a cargo chute as an anchor on the last two Bermuda we did. On the return trip of one of them it was blowing over 60 in the gulf stream with the wind going with the current, thank god. It was getting dark and no one was looking forward to steering that night so we set the parachute off the bows as per cassanova instructions It was amazing it was as if you were on a mooring. I think if they used them in the prefect storm they might have survived. I purchased an 8' florentino from ebay but am thinking that a 12' would have been a better choice. Oh well the price was right.
Mike s/v wampum

[Kettlewell]

Thanks for the link. I hate to second guess anyone. It is very easy for us to sit here comfortably discussing this, and it is very hard to actually do something when out there in the thick of things. Having said that, and having gone through my own storm experience with a parachute sea anchor, I come up with the following questions: 1. How much rode did they have out and what was it made of? 2. According to most experts a 10-foot chute is too small for that size of boat. A 12- or 15-foot would have performed better. 3. 12mm bridle lines are rather small, but should not have chafed if properly run through flexible PVC tubing (do not split the tubing). You can tape additional layers of PVC over the outside , but I have found one continous length (about 6 feet) of tube works well. I have used this system in countless gales at anchor, several hurricanes, and numerous years at anchor and on moorings--no chafe, ever. The easiest way to rig a bridle is to let out the correct scope (with the line running through the PVC tubing), then tie off a dockline to the anchor rode with a rolling hitch and attach the dockline to the other bow. Let out a bit more scope until a perfect V is formed in front of the boat. Each leg of the V should be about equal to your boat's beam. If you need to let out more scope, let go of the dockline and use another one when you get your scope correct.

In a Force 9-10 gale offshore I felt the loads were no greater than when anchored in similar conditions, which my lines, cleats, etc. have withstood many times.

In any case, I'm glad I wasn't out there to try these things out!

[Kettlewell]

I'm in the DDDB with a report. Great book--everyone interested in drogues and parachute sea anchors should have it.

Steve, Good starting point. Thanks.
Drogues and para's have been well discussed here, but what about storm sails? Should multihull storm sails be sized any differently than those for a mono? Is the drive too much with a tri-sail, and should just a storm jib be used? What are people running?

[Kettlewell]

On our 32-foot cat we had three deep reefs in the main and nothing but a roller-furling jib. We found that running off we would gradually reduce the main until nothing remained, then gradually reduce the jib until nothing remained. Going to windward in much over 30 knots just wasn't in the cards. We first deployed a parachute sea anchor because we were running off too fast with no sail up and were starting to punch our bows into the seas we were overtaking. I think the problem on a cat is slowing up enough when the wind starts to scream. Ideally, I would have liked to have had a hanked on storm jib in the inner forestay for use when running off in bad conditions or when trying to make progress to windward. Forget the trisail--too diificult to set when it gets time to use it. I have only ever used a trisail (on a monohull) when I split the main and I wanted something up to steady the boat.

[cat man do]

I can highly recomend using parachute anchor of the bow as we did sailing from Brisbane to New Caledonia on my last cat, a 10m simpson ground effect. After putting this out it was like being tied to a marina berth for the night. These are available from Para Anchors Australia. Also check out a book called "multihull seamanship illustrated" by Gavin Lesuer , he's done plenty of miles and knows what he's taking about

Dave

[Jimske]

Originally Posted by cat man do

I can highly recomend using parachute anchor of the bow as we did sailing from Brisbane to New Caledonia on my last cat, a 10m simpson ground effect. After putting this out it was like being tied to a marina berth for the night. These are available from Para Anchors Australia. Also check out a book called "multihull seamanship illustrated" by Gavin Lesuer , he's done plenty of miles and knows what he's taking about

Dave

I searched Amazon and din't come up with the book??

Jim

[Talbot]

I think we sometimes lose sight of the fact that in the days before steam, people were sailing all over the world in ships that had little ability to make a lot of progress to windward.

[smm]

Gavin Lesueur's web site:

http://www.multihullbooks.com/

Gavin and Catherine are based in Cairns and sail the catamaran "Chaotic Harmony."

[cat man do]

Jim I just put in multihull seamanship illustrated into google and it was about number 3 on list

Have fun

Dave

I came across a very informative article on parachute anchors used on trimarans. http://www.sea-anchors.com/multihulls.htm
Clearly the author has more foul weather experience on trimarans than most of us. He makes some very good points, and provides a very detailed descroption on how to rig and deploy them. I have to say, after reading this article, I am rethinking the idea of a parachute on my tri.

[Tropic Cat]

I was at the Seven Seas Cruising Association gathering this weekend. One of the better presentations was given by a lady who's written a few books. Beth Leonard. Her presentation on "Heavy Weather Sailing" was both professional and convincing. She advocates parachute anchors for monos and series drogue for catamarans.

During questions and answers, a fella who sails a Privilege 39 stood and explained a home made drogue which was both simple, variable/adjustable, and effective.

All in all, it was a good meeting

Rick in Florida