Sailchute

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by rgesner

Can anyone with actual experience (as opposed to conjecture and supposition) speak to specific pros and cons of a chicken chute versus the Sailchute?

Whats a chicken Chute,

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Mines 31 foot in Diameter, Works a treat,
Shame I didnt get to use it more,
I put a rope from the centre that I pull to invert it to get it down,

$2200-00 AUD delivered,

As an "actual" owner, do you see anyway this can be launched without a mast?

Reason I ask is because of this post
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post851225
where the website shows a powercat being "sailed" with a traction kite sans mast.

[Mr B]

It would have to be launched the same way as a ski chute, But keeping it up with just a boat, I assume it would be bloody hard,

You would need a very small chute to actually capture the wind and lift the main chute up and to hold the main up,

With out a mast, That chute will drop into the water and the boat will sail straight over it, Your prop now has a chute wrapped around it and your chute is stuffed,

Mine cant drop into the water while it is up on the mast,

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by Orrjames

Speaking of which, any real sea anchor fans around ?

Don't consider myself a "fan" yet. I bought a surplus chute several years ago but, have not set it up and experimented with it yet. But, plan to at some point. Though if it can be rigged as a sail chute too that would be a bonus.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by rgesner

chicken chute

Originally Posted by Mr B

ski chute

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Ski chute is the one that the skiers use, Snow or water, It has a small chute along the top,that lifts it off the water or snow,

[As Time Goes By]

Mr B.

Can you recommend a sail chute? Any problems? Are you happy with yours?

Bob
Casablanca420@mail.com

[Cpt Pat]

Originally Posted by southace

I seen one about 8 mile out it was heading up the coast made me think would this be a easy option for down wind passages...now I see the video it looks kinda dangerous dont you think??

SAILCHUTES HOME

How would one go retriving in 30kn plus winds?? stress to rig?? death rolls on a mono?? Im not so convinced yet.

Watching the video, that deployment made me cringe. They hauled the canopy from the masthead, and then hand deployed the bottom half of the chute. If those bottom suspension lines had wrapped around the crewman's wrist or ankle (or neck), he'd have gone over and up with the chute! You can see him jump away in surprise when the canopy finally caught air. I'm glad he had good reflexes.

In skydiving, we stuff the chute in a deployment bag ("D-bag"), and the bag is held closed with the canopy tucked inside until the suspension lines are fully extended. Then the bag is opened, releasing the canopy into the wind. Something like that might work well with this product. But I would never send a crewman forward to just shake the canopy into the wind - like in the video - with half the suspension lines flopping around on the deck. Skydivers have been killed when they found themselves in the water amidst a tangled confusion of parachute suspension lines... and they weren't being drug along by a sailboat.

Good idea, scary implementation. They spent a lot of time showing how to daisy-chain the suspension lines (something skydivers do only to carry their chute back on the jumpzone truck). If they had a D-bag instead, you could flake the canopy into the bag, and then "Z bend" the suspension lines on the outside of the bag and seal the bag with final closing loops, just like a skydiving rig. Done up that way, the rig is ready for redeployment without further effort.

For recovery, attach a trip line lanyard to the canopy apex, and haul that in instead from the cockpit. If you have a D-bag, run that lanyard through a grommet in the D-bag (visit a jumpzone and see how a typical D-bag deployment system is set up with sport chutes). You don't want to get anywhere near a luffing parachute while it's coming back aboard. Get between two suspension lines, and you're in real trouble.

[cwyckham]

A d-bag is deployed using a pilot chute. How are you going to deploy it on the sail-boat, a cannon? The relative wind velocity is a lot less than in freefall, so the design needs to be different.

I totally agree with your concerns about getting snagged in lines, but I can't quite figure out how to get it out and away while keeping the lines tense...

[Cpt Pat]

Unless it's blowing up a gale, you're right, a pilot chute would not deploy the system or extract the canopy from the type of bag used by skydivers. The type of d-bag used in skydiving must be small to fit inside the parachute harness container on the skydiver's back. It's a very tight fit for the canopy inside the d-bag. A much looser fit, like a spinnaker sock, would be needed instead.

A d-bag serves the purpose of keeping the canopy out of the airflow until the suspension lines are fully extended. When used in sailing, it would also serve the purpose of keeping the canopy contained until the suspension lines connected to the masthead halyard are somewhat taut to provide stabilization - so the canopy doesn't foul on rigging (or crew). I would envision attaching a bag to the bow pulpit railing, flaking the canopy inside with the "bottom" lines that are attached to boat stem stowed inside the bag, and bending the "top" lines going to the masthead halyard on the outside of the bag with the last two bends nearest the canopy skirt passing through bag closing loops.

Referring to the video, if they'd hauled the canopy just a little higher, it would have caught wind and inflated on its own. The problem they had with allowing a self inflation was -- the "bottom" lines down on the deck could have fouled because they were just flopping around on deck. So the process of inflating the canopy needed a manual assist by a crew member. If those lines had remained contained inside a d-bag prior to inflation, and extracted by the inflating canopy, like I describe above, there'd be little risk of fouling.

[Ian R]

A problem with the surplus chutes is the lines are thin and tangle easily. The chutes in the video appear to have thicker lines.

[HNickN]

Amazed at the number of ill-informed and hence silly comments from "cruisers". We bought our 30ft Sail Chute in 2010 and after a couple of hilarious experiences that resulted from our own stupidity, we learned how to use it effectively. We use the chute on our (boomless) Lancer 44 motorsailer and have flown it up and down the Queensland and New South Wales coasts, across the Gulf en-route to Darwin and, off and on over the past three years, in the waters of SE Asia. We've launched in winds as low as 8Kn and retrieved in 25Kn plus.

The simple reality is, the Sailchute is fully effective in winds up to 30deg' either side of the centre line but by 40deg' off is starting to pull us off course. By adjusting the lengths of halyard and tack lines we can vary the degree of lift in the bow and ensure that there is minimal strain on the mast. Yawing is virtually eliminated and the auto pilot has a holiday because when the wind shifts, the Sailchute shifts with it. The boat just stays on course. Once it's up, which is a very easy operation, it requires no attention whatsoever. Using the capstan and clutch on our Maxwell anchor winch, retrieving the sail is a breeze. Haul the jib out about a third, turn a little upwind and wind the sail down to the pulpit behind the jib. We've separated the bottom eight lines into two sets of four with a snap shackle on one set. With the sail at the pulpit, snap the shackle and enough wind is spilled to make gathering in the bottom of the chute a simple exercise. Then it's just a matter of lowering the halyard. We don't wet the sail or either of the lines!

From our now considerable experience (and having started ocean racing in 1962 when poled spinnakers were the only option), I can assert that there is nothing can compare with the parachute for downwind (cruising) sailing

[tuffr2]

Where do you keep all the junk on your boat. I think this is just one more thing to store.

[HNickN]

Our 30ft sailchute came in a bag. The whole kit, chute, tack line and halyard line measures 40 cm x 40cm x 40cm and weighs 12.5Kg. We store it under a bunk. Frankly, what you call junk is the one thing that makes downwind sailing a sheer joy and there is a lot of other stuff I'd toss to make room for it if necessary.

[SailingFan]

I really don't like the idea, and think that all the effort to make it useful seems better expended on using a spinnaker instead, a tech that is relatively understood, that parts are readily available for, and that sail lofts all generally understand already. That said, I am a monohull boater, and a sailboat is another critter from a motorsailer without the keel to keep her on track against lee drift. I also believe that the monohull will be far less defended from rolling if a wind shift hits while she is travelling at hull speed with this thing aloft. Add to that the risk of bird issues, parted lines or torn fabric sending this thing into the drink (and around the rudder and prop), and who knows what sort of dangers that could drag a sailor into the water or cause a fall on deck, and this thing will not be going onto my little piece of heaven on the water.

Now, it may be just fine for someone else, and more power to them if so, but it will not be for me. I will be ticked if they run into me though while they are fighting with it and I am confined to a narrow channel because of keel depth and they cannot get tacked onto a proper course...