Jordan Series Drogue experience

[Chris66]

Thank you Anne. Helpful as always. I will search for Evan's comments.

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by Chris66

Thank you Anne. Helpful as always. I will search for Evan's comments.

Please post a link here if you find them.

Chris - SailMentor.com

[JPA Cate]

Why not send him a PM? <evanstarzinger> I'm sure he'd post you a link. He's very helpful.

Ann

[rgleason]

Evansandbeth.com I believe

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Evansandbeth.com I believe

Bethandevans.com

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

So, in the example quoted above (and a very useful report it is!) I suspect that adding additional cones and reinforcing the leading edges of the cones (ours, btw, were hemmed... didn't seem to keep them from destruction in our case of severe overspeed) would help keep them intact for reuse. The combination of slowing the boat meor and reinforcing the wear areas should be a big improvement. Not an easy task, though, removing all of them, hemming and replacing!

Cheers,

Jim

We just finished 'rebuilding' our drogue using 4oz dacron with a hem on the leading edge. Likely we will never have to test it, but this should stand up much better than the original. Interestingly, we made 150 cones as recommended by Mr. Jordan for our size boat. We re-used the original rodes and found that we had 10 cones left over when we ran out of line. I think it is possible that the original kit that we got was the 140 cone kit rather than the 150 cones recommended for our boat. This may have contributed to our higher than expected speeds with the drogue deployed and we will add the additional 10 cones to another rode at the end of the drogue.

A comment regarding drogue kits. Putting a series drogue together is very labor intensive, with most of the time going towards hemming and sewing the cones, attaching the straps to the cones and attaching the cones to the rode. A kit will provide you with pre-cut cones, but the time savings is not that significant as a percentage of total time required to build the drogue. By cutting your own cones you can make them out of as heavy a material as you like and leave enough material for a hem.

This is the template I made for 5" cones with a 1/4" hem. I made a template out of doorskin and my wife cut the cones with a hot knife from Sailrite () We scalloped the hems in an effort to to reduce flapping at the leading edge. No idea whether this will be beneficial. We did add an additional cone to make up for the 1% loss in surface area.

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by Chris66

Would it ease recovery if a floating trip line (even with floats attached to ensure it floats clear of the drogue) were attached to the far end of the drogue, and the drogue then hauled from the trip line pulling the cones in backwards and therefore reducing the water weight against the cones?

Even with a weight at the end the JSD spends a lot of time at the surface. I would expect that even a floating trip line would eventually foul the drogue due to wave action.

In any event, I really don't think a trip line is necessary. As I mentioned previously, we were able to easily recover our drogue by hand by simply leading it to the bow and pulling it over the anchor roller. If you are able to motor at all into the wind and seas, recovery over the bow is easy.

[double u]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

I have to tell you that an open transom would not be that cool with a big breaking wave hitting the stern as most companion way doors/boards are not all that strong but I do agree that it would be great for getting rid of the water after taking the hit. Fortunately cruisers with these types of boats tend to not sail in areas that are known for storms,

I agrees, r.s.
Would have a second bulletproof washboard ready to go outside of the original one though...

[Talbot]

A lot of modern catamarans seem to be design to specifically funnel breaking waves from astern directly at the patio doors. I am grateful that my Privilege 37 is not one of those.
Davits on many boats are also installed such that the dinghy is clear of water streaming under the bridge deck, but again not taking into account running before bad weather, let alone use of serial drogues. I have heavily modified my gantry and davits to raise the dinghy nearly 2 feet above the original location. I suspect that it would still be in danger in survival conditions, but it has a much better chance than before.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by pacifica

. . . . A moment of levity came when a Japanese cargo ship came within 2 miles of us at the height of the blow, identified us on his AIS as a 'pleasure vessel' and hailed us on VHF. The ship's master asked us "are you having pleasure?!"

While few people would deliberately set out to get into such a gale at sea, having prepared for it and encountered it, the experience becomes a treasured memory to be replayed repeatedly in quiet moments.

Re-reading this excellent thread, I particularly enjoyed this post. Priceless!!

[kmacdonald]

Good reading here: Victor Shane's Drag Device Data Base | Using Parachutes, Sea Anchors and Drogues to Cope with Heavy Weather – Over 130 Documented Case Histories

[Seaworthy Lass]

I am resurrecting this thread rather than starting a new one, as there is valuable information here. Many thanks to Mike (the OP) and all the contributors.

I am planning to make a series drogue (or buy the cones and attach these myself to HMWPE rope) and as a first step I have stared to make a list of links that may provide useful background reading.

In no particular order here they are. This may help others. If anyone had any to add, please add to the list:

Series Drogue, ocean survival

https://www.morganscloud.com/2017/03...lity-problems/

A Jordan Series Drogue can be a lifesaver – Yachting World

http://www.sailrite.com/PDF/Drogue-Instructions.pdf

http://www.sailrite.com/PDF/DrogueReport.pdf

http://www.sailrite.com/PDF/Series%2...tion%20PDF.pdf

Jordan Series Drogue - Monohull Prcing

http://www.allatsea.net/slowing-devi...heapo-sailors/

KMacdonald and Uncivilised provided this link:
Victor Shane's Drag Device Data Base | Using Parachutes, Sea Anchors and Drogues to Cope with Heavy Weather – Over 130 Documented Case Histories

and Uncivilised reminded me that there is a free download on Dashew's website for a pdf of the data base of personal experiences:
http://www.setsail.com/sts.pdf


A few CF threads found:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ce-119799.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...nt-183698.html (this thread)

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...pe-181780.html

And there is this thread I opened recently to discuss the possibility of using Acera instead of dyneema:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...es-190315.html

SWL

Edited to add:
Additional threads:

https://svnereida.com/blog/3744-31st...-series-drogue

[Paul Elliott]

Jeanne Socrates has put some miles (and wear & tear) on her Jordan Series Drogue. Here's a link to some photos of her damaged drogue: https://svnereida.com/blog/3744-31st...-series-drogue. She discusses it elsewhere -- I'm sure a search would find the details.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Jeanne Socrates has put some miles (and wear & tear) on her Jordan Series Drogue. Here's a link to some photos of her damaged drogue: https://svnereida.com/blog/3744-31st...-series-drogue. She discusses it elsewhere -- I'm sure a search would find the details.

These problems seem commonly reported. The original ones (and the kits still sold online by Sailrite) were made of unhemmed nylon.

Morgan's Cloud gave a good synopsis of the problems with durability and advise heavier weight dacron and hemming. They postulate the nylon ones survived better in initial tests as the edges were cut with heat, therefore sealing the edges.

I have found two commercial operators selling the cones: Ace Sailmakers in the US and OceanBrake in the UK. The UK ones are made of 7oz dacron and hemmed. They are £2.76 each, almost half the price of the ones from Ace (no details of construction) that have been "discounted for a few days" only @ US$6.30 each (normally $7 and $6 if supplied unattached).

Ace have not responded to any of my questions regarding the line, so I am not overly impressed by them. The ones from OceanBrake seem sturdily constructed and at the price they offer I don't think it is worth making them, so I will probably purchase the cones from them and the line myself.

SWL

[rgleason]

It seems to me that the only problem with the series drogue is the effort required to retrieve the drogue because it is always scooping water.

I think it might be possible to make a two line drogue with cones attached to one line at the forward edge and the aft edge to the other line.

Then when the aft edge is loosened the last 5 cones (or whatever works best) which are attached only to the aft line, pulls all the cones shut do the drogue can be retrieved more easily.

Rick Gleason