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Lloyd Price · 24-10-2006, 09:02

I have a 10 metre Seawind Catamaran and have been sailing fulltime on the East coast of Australia for the last two years (8,000 nm from Sydney - Lizard Island - Tasmania - Lord Howe and now heading back to Lizard Island) and all this time have carried a 15' diameter Para-anchor and Drogue.

Luckily, I have never had the need to employ either, although I know I should have done a `test' anchoring in 20-30 knots to see how the anchor goes together ... and I make the promise here that I will do this in the near future.

I am interested in hearing from Criuser Skippers who have had to employ one in STRONG conditions ... and to get first hand advice from them on their experiences.

Am I carrying a heavy load for no good reason?

Crappy Cappy · 24-10-2006, 15:16

Hi Lloyd,We have set the parachute anchor on our 11 metre cat,off the coast of New Ireland PNG last year.Not so much for the conditions which were 20-25 kts on the nose ,but just to have a sleep then start again in morning.Anchor set easily,it was our first time,and it made the conditions quite comfortable.I carried mine for a further 7000 miles but was happy to after that experience.

Lodesman · 24-10-2006, 16:44

Lloyd,

Have you read about Richard Wood's experience when he abandoned Eclipse? There was a really good first hand account on the YBW forum some time ago. I believe his experience with para anchors was not positive.

Kevin

cat man do · 24-10-2006, 18:28

Hi LLoyd , we rented one for a delivery of my 30ft cat to New Cal. for the new owner. Had the pleasure of using it in about 40kn. Easy out ,Easy in,very restful night onboard,even sat outside and had a few rumbo's that night. I'll definetly be getting one for the new boat.

Dave

marc · 24-10-2006, 21:31

Hi Lloyd. A great book with first hand accounts from people who have actually used para-anchors in all conditions, Drag Device Data Base, by Victor Shane. Also a very good website by a fellow Seawind owner, who has writen extensivly on his experiences with his sea-anchor
http://www.instantweb.com/s/siudzinski/Welcome.html

Talbot · 25-10-2006, 01:32

If you read Richard Woods account carefully, it reveals that he was using a cargo parachute which had obviously rotted following a trial in reasonable conditions some years previously. I suspect that it was never washed out after the trial, and a cargo parachute is not designed to be used in salt water!

Personally I favour the series drogue as a survival system, but the parachute does have other merits.

Lloyd Price · 27-10-2006, 22:32

Kevin

Many thanks for your reply to my query. And pardon my ignorance ... can you please tell me what YBW stands for?

Regards

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Lloyd,

Have you read about Richard Wood's experience when he abandoned Eclipse? There was a really good first hand account on the YBW forum some time ago. I believe his experience with para anchors was not positive.

Kevin

Lloyd Price · 27-10-2006, 22:42

Many thanks for your notice and advice. I will certainly be holding on to my unit as the time will come!!

Talbot · 28-10-2006, 02:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd Price

Many thanks for your reply to my query. And pardon my ignorance ... can you please tell me what YBW stands for?

Yachting and Boating World Forums at www.ybw.com an international set of forums with a large number of contributors (including a number of people who also post on here. The forums are sponsored by IPC Ltd who are responsible for the majority of UKs sailing magazines.

There is a good article on the Eclipse incident http://www.multihullpages.com/eclipse.html and there is also some data (that I posted) on this forum somewhere!

Lodesman · 28-10-2006, 06:56

Thanks Talbot - as usual you have a better grasp on the situation than I.

Kevin

Talbot · 28-10-2006, 07:18

The important point to note about Richard Wood's experience is that he used an old cargo parachute, now there have been problems with these in the past with the stitching rotting is not washed out thoroughly after use. Richard states that he had trialed it, and was happy at that time, but the thing failed when pushed to the limit in the bad conditions. - IMHO this is not a good area to skimp costs!