Alderney ring for sailboat use?

[SAWDOC]

The examples I have seen of alderney ring anchor retrieval system all seem to feature angling boats presumably with large engines . Does anyone deploy this anchor retrieval method successfully in a sailboat?

Also could anyone provide a link to Alderney ring supplier who currently have rings in stock?

Thanks

 

[l'escargot]

I've only ever seen it used by fast fishing boats. I don't think a sailing boat would have sufficient speed - you need to go fast enough to create drag on the buoy so that the rope and chain, with the weight of the anchor, pull through the ring.

 

[Slowtack]

? anchor buoy and tripping line

 

[SAWDOC]

? anchor buoy and tripping line

Tripping line will assist with breaking out the anchor but unless i am mistaken will not assist anchor retrieval

 

[grumpy_o_g]

I'm surprised speed was involved. I've never seen an Alderney Ring being used, in fact I've never seen an Alderney Ring at all to my knowledge but I have used (and seen used a few times by others) a loop of chain dropped over the anchor rode. The chain drops down to the bottom of the whole shebang and is then slowly pulled in the opposite direction to the lie of the anchor rode. One of the tricks seems to be plenty of chain out so that the angle of dangle is as low as possible. Speeds involved tend to be very low - just a few knots. If you get it right you start to pull the fouled boat by the anchor for a short distance at which point you should be able to pull the anchor up. Out of the 5 or 6 times I've seen it done it's worked 3 or 4 times.

 

[l'escargot]

I'm surprised speed was involved. I've never seen an Alderney Ring being used, in fact I've never seen an Alderney Ring at all to my knowledge but I have used (and seen used a few times by others) a loop of chain dropped over the anchor rode. The chain drops down to the bottom of the whole shebang and is then slowly pulled in the opposite direction to the lie of the anchor rode. One of the tricks seems to be plenty of chain out so that the angle of dangle is as low as possible. Speeds involved tend to be very low - just a few knots. If you get it right you start to pull the fouled boat by the anchor for a short distance at which point you should be able to pull the anchor up. Out of the 5 or 6 times I've seen it done it's worked 3 or 4 times.

It sounds as if the technique you are describing is to assist getting the anchor up of another boat. The Alderney Ring is to raise your own anchor without assistance.

http://www.totallyawesomefishing.com/sea/boats/articles/alderney-ring/

Without speed (or excessive tide to help) to cause drag on the buoy the rode will not pass through the ring and bring it to the surface.

 

[prv]

I've never seen an Alderney Ring being used, in fact I've never seen an Alderney Ring at all to my knowledge

That'll be why you're describing something completely different, then

The Alderney Ring technique is not about freeing fouled anchors, it's a way of routinely retrieving the anchor in deep water when your small angling boat isn't equipped with a windlass and you don't fancy hauling in 100m or more of cable by hand.

The ring is attached directly under a large buoy, and essentially acts as a block. To retrieve the anchor you motor quickly away from the buoy, pulling the line through it so that your horizontal motion is translated to a vertical pull on the cable. Obviously the buoy will try to follow you, but because you have a big engine and it has lots of drag, you can outrun it and still generate the vertical pull. I assume you motor forward over the anchor, rather than away from it, so the anchor's broken out with the cable about vertical.

The reason for using a ring rather than a block is that when the anchor reaches the surface (and if you're motoring fast enough it will, despite the weight) its shank goes through the ring and the fluke hooks onto it. I assume an angling skipper can tell from the motion of the buoy when this has happened, at which point he slows down, retrieves the buoy, and finds his anchor hanging neatly from the bottom of it.

It's not a technique I'd be very comfortable trying, but the fish-fondlers do it all the time. Not appropriate for a sailing boat, though - we don't go fast enough, and in any case we tend not to anchor in very deep water and need to shift around several times a day.

Pete

 

[Slowtack]

Anchor buoy + tripping line + windlass

 

[l'escargot]

Anchor buoy + tripping line + windlass

I would guess that the reason he is interested in the Alderney Ring is because he doesn't have a windlass...

 

[grumpy_o_g]

It sounds as if the technique you are describing is to assist getting the anchor up of another boat.

That'll be why you're describing something completely different, then

Ah, thank you both, I am enlightened. It does sound like an excellent spectator sport if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[Neil]

When I had fishing mobos, I used an Alderney ring all the time to pull the anchor up. When I moved to my first sailing boat I tried it, thinking I'd not have enough speed. I was in a 17 footer with a 6HP motor, which got me to 5 kts. It pulled the anchor up fine. But. You need a big buoy to get enough drag. I had a short length of chain connected to a rope rode. I'm guessing that the massive weight of a full length of chain would require an unfeasibly large buoy to keep the lot afloat?

As for a trip line, a common method was to attach the chain to the 'wrong' end of the stock, lead the chain along the length of the stock and attach to the normal hole by one or two cable ties. In anger, with the anchor stuck, the cable ties would eventually break and with the chain now pulling the 'wrong' end, it would lift the anchor out backwards.