yacht roll at anchor

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by farmall.dude

Forgive a novice's question, but aren't these devices a little hard on the rigging? I've watched a couple youtube videos of both home-made and manufactured. It seems like it would put a tremendous amount of strain on the shrouds and masthead. One manufactured one was snapping the line it was attached to pretty hard. It looked like there wasn't enough weight to pull it back down far enough before the next roll tried to pull it back up again.

I personally think they put enormous strain on a sailing boat. The one time I came across them I was very uncomfortable with the dynamic strain they were exerting.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

I personally think they put enormous strain on a sailing boat. The one time I came across them I was very uncomfortable with the dynamic strain they were exerting.

I personally made my own pole and lines for it, I don't use the boom and the main halyard as some might. I do have the line for the outrigger pole tied with a bowline around the mast and then the halyard pulls that loop up to the spreaders. That way the force is straight down on the halyard. I don't think there is much force on the shrouds, but there is strain where the outrigger attaches to the mast or hull or whatever. I think it may be a mistake to use the boom and force the gooseneck to take that kind of sideways force.

You don't want any shock absorption in the system, like nylon lines, because you want the boat to stop rolling. The flopper stopper, if it is doing its job well, keeps things under control and not letting the boat roll excessively. For me, just deadening that kind of harmonic oscillation thing can help a lot.

[s/v Jedi]

I decided to post a picture of how we think is the best way to deploy the Magma device.

For who doesn’t know this gadget: it is a large stainless steel surface (let’s say 3’ x 2’) that hinges in the center. When it goes down, it folds for no resistance and when it comes up it folds open, creating a gradually increasing force that ends up pretty big when fully opened.

We bring the spinnaker pole up to maximum height, completely stabilized with pole lift, fore and aft guys. Then we use a spinnaker halyard (which can come down that angle without chafing) to attach the Magma. Looking at the picture, I think I replaced the halyard with a different line because I see no knot and it isn’t that long I think.

The Magma action attracts an enormous amount of fish. This was at Big Sand Cay in the Turks and Caicos in 2003 so a long time ago.

[flightlead404]

My Hunter 38 doesn't do well in this situation.

Depending on the exact situation though, I can partially or completely cure the problem by putting a rolling hitch on the anchor rode with a long dock line, running it outside my stanchions, to a jib sheet winch. Then, by veering out more rode, I can change the angle the boat sits to the waves, translating roll into pitch. Can be quite effective.

[Na Mara]

I haven’t read through the whole thread and maybe someone mentioned this already but what about a bridle on the anchor to alter how the boat orientates relative to the waves? I always use a bridle as part of my set to eliminate yawing back and forth on the anchor, to spread the loads and to add some spring to the system.

It’s a bit like flightlead404’s suggestion.