Flopper stopper

[bajatrawler]

Bobs,
Extending the poles to 12' (actually about 10' from the boat) hasn't been an issue for us. It could be on a Catalina mooring. But if another boat is that close, there are other things to worry about.

We originally tried using one flopper and it was marginally effective. Going with two made a big improvement. I have seen boats with one flopper suspended from the boom, and a spinnaker pole used on the opposite side. I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend rigging it.

We use a snap shackle on the end of the 3/8" double braid to connect to the flopper. There is no noise that we can hear when it is underwater.

You can rig a retrieval line to the floppers to collapse them and get them back aboard, but we have found this not to be necessary. I just grab the flopper line which is attached to the bridge, pull on the line until the flopper breaks the surface, at which point there is no resistance, and haul it to the end of the pole, continue until the pole is vertical, then slowly release the line allowing the flopper to be removed and secured on deck. The poles are secured in a vertical position.

[Kestle]

I use Home Depot orange buckets with a long four way bridle, and one inch holes in the bottom. When not in use, the long bridle sits in the bottom and stuff goes into the buckets (usually cleaning stuff). I use the dingy anchor weight, attached two feet below it. The deeper they go the better. One off the boom and one off the spin pole, with the pole tied to a stay with chafe protection, and held with the topping lift.

The trick to make it easy and hassle free, is to have pre-cut lines with loops already made, which attach in seconds. Most of the time is taking the stuff out of the buckets. Total install is five minutes, tops.

I normally anchor in rolly places, with powerboat jerks that like to fly close by at full throttle. There's no chine on our boat at all.

Fatigue must be an issue here. I'm befuddled how 5-10 min of setup isn't worth 8 hours of 50% better eight hours sleep. I also cannot understand preferring to heave to when anchoring as an option...again, a rested captain is safer. Sleeping while heaved-to just isn't as deep (or shouldn't be).

Of course, then there's the cooking/admiral issues of not using them...

[exMaggieDrum]

An old thread but here goes with 2 cents more: We had the Magma RocknRoll system on our Whitby. It worked great - one on each side - one on winged out boom and other on pole. We used it extensively when we stayed a couple of months at a time in Zihuatanejo, MX. They are bulky, but not so much as the FlopStop. Took a lot of room (flat to dimensions), had sharp edges, but the biggest problem was cleaning off growth from algae after down more than a couple of days. Think anchor chain the first 10-15' under the surface. Nasty. But they were essential equipment, especially with the nasty wakes of cruise ship life boats ferrying tourists back and forth for hours at a time. (Did I mention I absolutely hate cruise ships?)

[Lepke]

The anti roll system looks like is would work for a yacht.
Commercial fishing, we used flopper stoppers for trolling and sometimes for running with proper support. They are made in several sizes, but too heavy for most sailboats and yachts.
They are attached about 12' out on our trolling poles and the attachment point is supported by rigging from the mast and usually wire rope to some point near the bow. The further out the bigger the dampening and strain. When used for running above trolling speed, they need a line from the flopper to the bow and create a heavy force on the hull and rigging. But in a rolling sea make walking and handling gear easy. The also flatten out an open anchorage.
Outrigger poles were either engineered aluminum or tapered wood about 5-6" at the base tapering to about 4" at the attachment point. They are set at about 45°. My floppers were galvanized, weighed about 75 lbs., and had a span of about 24" on a 55' wood salmon/tuna boat. They were rigged to run about 10' under water but it depends on the boat and sea conditions. You don't want them to pop out of the water suddenly. I doubt most yacht stanchions would hold up long to some of the roll products.

[Hoghead]

Originally Posted by Lepke

The anti roll system looks like is would work for a yacht.
Commercial fishing, we used flopper stoppers for trolling and sometimes for running with proper support. They are made in several sizes, but too heavy for most sailboats and yachts.
They are attached about 12' out on our trolling poles and the attachment point is supported by rigging from the mast and usually wire rope to some point near the bow. The further out the bigger the dampening and strain. When used for running above trolling speed, they need a line from the flopper to the bow and create a heavy force on the hull and rigging. But in a rolling sea make walking and handling gear easy. The also flatten out an open anchorage.
Outrigger poles were either engineered aluminum or tapered wood about 5-6" at the base tapering to about 4" at the attachment point. They are set at about 45°. My floppers were galvanized, weighed about 75 lbs., and had a span of about 24" on a 55' wood salmon/tuna boat. They were rigged to run about 10' under water but it depends on the boat and sea conditions. You don't want them to pop out of the water suddenly. I doubt most yacht stanchions would hold up long to some of the roll products.

This is what I have had on 2 boats - great stuff