anchoring by the stern.

[rtbates]

Does your sloop sail on her anchor? If so, you might want to consider anchoring by the stern. I have and it works rather nicely. Much easier than rigging our riding sail.

Mr. Jordan explains why this works. And why ships of old weren't bothered by this tendency to sail on the anchor.

http://www.jordanseriesdrogue.com/D_14.htm

[Jentine]

Very interesting article. I will have to try it during one of our summer blows.

[Lynx]

Most peoples stern are not designed to handle the waves. If you get to much wave action then you get water on board etc.....

Sailing at anchor - you just have to get used to it. I have anchored from the stern but always ran the primary rode from the bow and outside, back to the cockpit. When the wind freshened, I would release the line from the stern cleat. For lunch, I cannot see a problem.

[Alan Wheeler]

Any chop hitting the stern of my boat "slams" under the hull. It would drive me nuts if I anchored from the stern.

[delmarrey]

I'd be thinking of the stress on my rudder and folding prop. And what about those cockpit drains at the waterline............._/)

[craigsmith]

Some of the comments in this article strike me as a little naive.

In general you moor a boat into the wind if possible for the simple practical reason that the boat is designed to deal with waves coming toward it, not from behind. This is true of old ships as well as modern boats.
(In fact there are many traditional hull and rig combinations that suffer badly from sailing on the anchor.)

In very bad conditions, i.e. those where the sailing problem is supposed to become "destructive", I imagine that the aerodynamics of most boats would be worse from the stern, although clearly it depends on the boat in question, and forces could be considerably less if moored bow-on.

In any case, as evidenced by other replies already, there are significant drawbacks to anchoring from the stern.

Naturally deck gear is a problem, not to mention storage of chain and rope, plus dealing with rode (especially chain) on a sloping transom.

"Sailing" can be dealt with, or minimized, with various solutions.

[GMac]

Never been on a boat I'd anchor by the stern. Older clunkers with pointy bits at both ends maybe but newer designs, no way. Maybe for lunch on a very nice day only.

I like sailing at anchor (not as much as my boat though, all over the place like a mad women) it helps set my anchor and the view changes often... very often.

[Alan Wheeler]

If conditions are such that I need to reduce my boat wandering around at anchor, I do one of three things.
If I am in a small cove and have restricted room, I use a stern line. Rather obviouse.
If I am in a bay and have a strong wind, I use a bridal. this is two lines of 16mm nylon for stretch. Each one is 4m (12ft) long'ish. One end has a SST chain hook and thus attatches to the chain. The other end comes along the side and attaches to a cleat ont he deck part way down the deck from the bow. The chain is then lowered to the waterline. This does several things. The weight if off the anchor winch. The "pull" is taken on the water at a lower angle. This equates to being like letting a lot more rode out.
The lines take a lot of stretch and thus shock absorb.
And finaly, the bridal shape helps to reduce the "sailing" affect on the hook. As the hull moves off one way, the chain pulls on the line going to the opposing side of the boat and pulls it back around. It doesn't compleatly stop the zigzagging affect, but it sure reduces it.

[Brent Swain]

Loads on your anchoring gear when anchored by the stern are a tiny fraction of that while anchored bow to the wind. The reason is because when a sloop anchored by the bow, she sheers from side to side ( tacks). Everytime she tacks, the full momentum of the boat is stopped by the anchor. When sheering broadside to the wind the winds load is the total windage of the hull, stopped suddenly by the anchoring gear. Anyone who doesn't realise this is has never tried it. With the boat tacking around her anchor the chafe on the gear is exponentially greater. Slapping under the stern takes getting used to, about 20 minutes. Sterns that can't take a wave have no business f leaving the harbour.
Stern anchoring is only good in protected harbours with no current . While was windjamming singlehanded the slapping under the stern let me know the wind was back.
I've anchored this way often over the last 35 years. Whenever I have to leave a boat foir any length of time I prefer a stern anchor . It gives me peace of mind , knowing the only load on my anchor is the tiny amount of windage a boat presents from the transom. She lies there like a dead duck.
Brent

Originally Posted by craigsmith

Some of the comments in this article strike me as a little naive.

In general you moor a boat into the wind if possible for the simple practical reason that the boat is designed to deal with waves coming toward it, not from behind. This is true of old ships as well as modern boats.
(In fact there are many traditional hull and rig combinations that suffer badly from sailing on the anchor.)

In very bad conditions, i.e. those where the sailing problem is supposed to become "destructive", I imagine that the aerodynamics of most boats would be worse from the stern, although clearly it depends on the boat in question, and forces could be considerably less if moored bow-on.

In any case, as evidenced by other replies already, there are significant drawbacks to anchoring from the stern.

Naturally deck gear is a problem, not to mention storage of chain and rope, plus dealing with rode (especially chain) on a sloping transom.

"Sailing" can be dealt with, or minimized, with various solutions.

[rtbates]

Originally Posted by Louis Riel

Loads on your anchoring gear when anchored by the stern are a tiny fraction of that while anchored bow to the wind. The reason is because when a sloop anchored by the bow, she sheers from side to side ( tacks). Everytime she tacks, the full momentum of the boat is stopped by the anchor. When sheering broadside to the wind the winds load is the total windage of the hull, stopped suddenly by the anchoring gear. Anyone who doesn't realise this is has never tried it. With the boat tacking around her anchor the chafe on the gear is exponentially greater. Slapping under the stern takes getting used to, about 20 minutes. Sterns that can't take a wave have no business f leaving the harbour.
Stern anchoring is only good in protected harbours with no current . While was windjamming singlehanded the slapping under the stern let me know the wind was back.
I've anchored this way often over the last 35 years. Whenever I have to leave a boat foir any length of time I prefer a stern anchor . It gives me peace of mind , knowing the only load on my anchor is the tiny amount of windage a boat presents from the transom. She lies there like a dead duck.
Brent

Louis:
I was wondering if there was anyone else out there giving this a try besides myself. I tried it out of pure curiousity and was totally amassed. Some of the comments remind me of the stories my grandfather used to tell me concerning the difficulty in getting folks to give up cable brakes in favor of hydraulic systems.

Another concerns teaching a pig to sing. Seems it's just not worth it, as it wastes your time and frustrates the hell out of the pig.

[GMac]

Louis, I see you have not got your anchor rode system in a happy place yet.

Everytime she tacks, the full momentum of the boat is stopped by the anchor. When sheering broadside to the wind the winds load is the total windage of the hull, stopped suddenly by the anchoring gear. Anyone who doesn't realise this is has never tried it.

Tried it?? Every single time I anchor I just do it without trying. My boat sails around like no-other I've seen and I've seen a fair few. I do not snatch at my anchor in normal conditions (upto 30 knts odd with low level wave action) after that is does pull a bit sometimes but a long way from anything one would call 'suddenly stops'. Just last Sunday I stopped in the Motohie Channel for a fish (pointless exercise by the way) in 25kts with gusts, big sea state (bloody easterly) and under constant attack by big tupperware fizz nasties driven by blokes with very small pendages. Never once snatched on the anchor.

Why, I have tuned my rode to my boat. Very simple to do and as yet I have not experianced any snatching at all. By 'tuning' I mean going that extra smidgen to really match my rode to my boat. Most have good rodes but don't do the fine tuning bit. For certian boats and/or occasions this little extra attention can make the differance between good and great.

I don't mind sailing around as the boat is quite safe (see above), the view changes often and it helps set my anchor as I don't have the Hp to do it otherwise.

With the boat tacking around her anchor the chafe on the gear is exponentially greater.

You're right there but ever wondered why people use chain? And I'm not talking the token 10-20ft used by many in parts of the world, I'm talking the basic minimum of a 1.5 times boat length or more, your choice.

Whenever I have to leave a boat foir any length of time I prefer a stern anchor . It gives me peace of mind , knowing the only load on my anchor is the tiny amount of windage a boat presents from the transom. She lies there like a dead duck.

Stern anchoring is only good in protected harbours with no current

You won't like anchoring down here then

As for the waves on the transom bit. My boat would not like taking a real biggy up the botty but then it doesn't have too, just like most designs younger than 30 years old. My boat would be stronger than many I've been offshore on and never had any issues.

Sure stern anchor if you like, as some do, but many if not most newer boats would have issues doing so on many levels. Personally I just can't see any advantage in it, especially if it's only to stop sailing at anchor. I have done it but purely for lazy reasons and never in any weather above 'sweet bugger all'.

As Wheels wrote there is other, I think safer, ways of stopping sailing at anchor.

[Alan Wheeler]

Stern anchoring is only good in protected harbours with no current

Are you saying such exist???? :-)

[s/v 'Faith']

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Are you saying such exist???? :-)

Yes, I believe that they are called 'lakes'

I have only ever stern anchored on the lunch hook, for short periods. I will give this a try some time.... if only for the looks on the faces of the other folks in the anchorage...

[Brent Swain]

On the BC coast we have thousands of anchorages which are both current free and swelll free as does Tonga , the Society Islands , New Caledonia, Fiji,etc etc. Hakai area off the northern BC mainland has 811 Islands in 35 miles and almost as many anchorages, all current and swell free.
It sounds like you don't get out much.
There is a huge difference in the load on an anchor when a boat is bow anchored as opposed to stern anchored . It becomes instantly obvious when you try it in a strong wind, so obvious that anyone who believes the stern anchor puts greater load on your gear than a bow anchor ,clearly hasn't tried it in any wind.
The load on the rudder when stern anchored is about the same as when tied in a marina, nearly zero.This to becomes obvious when you try it.
Sorry if I have pissed off any pigs, but others also check this site for info.
Brent

[GMac]

Oh calm down Louis. It's only a discussion.

Yes Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, New Cal (all commonly visited places for us offshore types here) do have some nice anchorages as many many places do including BC I gather, wherever that may be. They also have many not nice ones as well.

I don't understand how a boat can put less load on an anchoring system when set off the stern. Surely it has to put at least the same as it is the same boat. Surely when the wind comes up it creates drag and surely a boat stern on presents a lot larger profile than one bow on. Pretty much the same with waves if they get up. Logic says this is so.

Sorry but when looking at my boat and many I deal with and sail on the rudder will take a far larger load when stern anchored. Yes mine takes zero when on the marina but will take something when stern anchored. It just has no choice unless all wind/wave action is 100% down the boats centreline which is very rarely the case especially in a blow. That is very obvious.

I see you are very pasionate about this which is great but I just don't understand how your comments relate to reality. I'm more than happy to say I might be missing something but having done 30K sea miles your arguement just does not stack up, sorry. You obviously have good reasons to say what you do but can you please expand on why you think this.

Now you can present a reasoned argument as to why you think I and many are so wrong which I and many will try to understand in a fair manner or keep throwing pig comments about and be written off as a loonie.

Whoo.. 811 islands in 35mls. Must be fun navigating at night