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Originally Posted by jean1146
Interesting stuff Dave.Just one question!you are talking about using Parachute or Drogue from the bow ,I thought it is not a good idea on a cat,and that you should always do it from the stern and run away from heavy seas....JC.
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I use the 18 foot diamater parachute from the bow, and the drogues from the stern.
On the bows I have 25 inch chainplates installed in the decks that I attach the parachute to. That gives the
bridle a secure attachment to the port and starboard hulls. It's bullet proof and chafe proof, and represents my ultimate survival tool if the worst should happen.
The drogues are trailed from the stern. They do an awesome job of controlling boat speed when running downwind in a gale. I have two drogues on board. I have a 120 cone Jordan series drogue, and I have never used this particular drogue. The only time I have used a drogue was running downwind for three days on the way to the Canary Islands from
Gibraltar. In this particular instance, I used an "Abbott" drogue that I have named after myself. This drogue consists of loops of one inch three strand nylon that I loop behind the catamaran. But the loops are more than simply loops of
rope. On these loops of
rope I install carriers that I slide down the ropes to increase the effect of the drogue. What are these carriers? I simply use four foot sections of plastic water hose as the carriers and on these carriers I wrap
anchor chain, dingy chain, dingy anchors, or whatever, and I tie these heavy weights securely to the hose carriers. I slip the plastic water hose carriers over the loops of rope, and then slide those carriers down the rope and into the water. The carriers with attached weights immediately slide back to the middle of the rope loop that I am trailing in the water. If I want more drogue effect, I put more carriers and more weight on my warps and then let them slide down the rope loop and slow the boat down even more. The "Abbott" drogue is an infinitely adjust loop of rope in which you can send as many carriers and weight down the loop as you need to use in order to control your speed when running downwind.
I like the "Abbott" drogue because it does a couple of things.
1. You can adjust the power of the drogue. If you need more drogue power, you simply send another carrier with attached weights down the rope loop to increase the drag in the water.
2. You can adjust the distance of the drogue from the boat by simply letting out more warp or taking in more of the warp loop using winches. The drogue should be consistently on the back side of any
charging seas so that you are pulling the drogue through the wave rather than out of the front of the wave and losing drogue effect.
3. You can easily retrieve the drogue when you don't need it any more by winching it in with your
cockpit winches. And when you
winch it in, the carriers and the attached weight stay centered in the warp loop as you haul it in. That means you don't lose drogue effect and at the same time it's easy to retrieve once it's right behind the yacht.
4. You can construct an "Abbott" drogue using materials that are already on the yacht, and it's not expensive. You need at least 200 feet of line, and three or four pieces of flexible plastic water hose to use as carriers, and
anchor chain and dingy anchors to attach to the carriers with shackles and ties.
If you want to see how it really works, go to my web site and view captainslogarchive27 - Survive The Savage Seas. There you will see a picture of two warps behind the catamaran in 40 knots of
wind and eighteen foot seas out in the Atlantic.
SURVIVING THE SAVAGE SEAS
There is also a complete account of what it was like to use the "Abbott" drogue.
It worked for me, and it might
work well for you.
Dave
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