Drogues, Following Seas & Hulls

[hlb]

Course the other advantage with this move, especially with a 60 ft 'er, is There cant be that far to go. If in English waters or up the Bristol cut. With thadded advantage that as long as going into the sea, it is bound to get better, the further you go, unlike going down wind, where it has to get worser! Sneeking round Lundey might be an option?

I once ran from near Padsow to Swansea when the coast guards got it wrong and changed the f4 to f7 SW straight up the arse, Auto pilot cruise all the way. No problem at all, would not of course have liked it worse. But dont doubt the boat would have been happy with much worse.

 

[Gludy]

Re: Drogues, Following Seas & Hulls

A trip line is rigged.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

FWIW, I've been caught out in gale conditions with a big following sea in a Fairline Turbo 36 planing boat off Britany. We had been moored well inland at Morlaix and completely misjudged the weather. By the time we realised how bad the sea conditions were, it was too late to go back to Morlaix because of the tide.
When we got clear of the estuary, the crests of the waves were considerably higher than the flybridge on which I was sitting (my personal definition of a big sea is when the waves are higher than the flybridge). Initially I set the boat at about hump speed but because the boat felt comfortable, I edged the speed upto our normal 20knot cruising speed although the log varied between about 8 and 30knots as we got stuck on the back of a wave or surfed on top. It was scary to look behind and see huge waves rearing up but the boat felt really comfortable although I didnt feel confident enough to stick it on autopilot. In fact when we realised how well the boat was taking the sea we decided to carry on past our original destination and completed a 40mile run without mishap.
These conditions were not hurricane force and I later confirmed that they were F8/9 but it gave me immense confidence that a well designed planing hulled boat can be perfectly safe in a big following sea
Some years later I had a similar experience in a Broom 37 which is nominally a planing hulled boat but with a keel like many semi displacement boats. The seas were not as high as the previous experience but the boat felt twitchy although I never felt it would actually broach. Both the Turbo 36 and the Broom 37 are aft cabin boats with broad transoms but I put the difference in their behaviour down to the fact that the Broom has a keel which can be pushed around by a following sea
In a really big sea, I dont think towing a drogue would make much difference and I believe the only survival tactic would be to motor at minimum speed into the waves, a tactic used by fishing trawlers. Personally, I would feel safest in a heavy displacement hulled boat designed for ocean cruising like the Nordhavn which I'm sure would have greater stability than any planing or s-d hulled boat
I've got Dag Pike's book and its good as far as it goes but for descriptions of real rough seas experiences you should read Heavy Weather Sailing by K Adlard Coles published by Adlard Coles Nautical. Its mainly about sailing yachts but there is stuff on motor boats and most of the advice is applicable to all boats

 

[Gludy]

Re: Drogues, Following Seas & Hulls

I am finding the replies and stories on these threads fascinating .... I will get that book as well. Thank you.

 

[lookout]

another book

"boat handling under power" by john mellor also has useful info. on this in the "handling at sea" chapter

admittedly only a 10 page chapter, but useful imo.

contents here