Para anchors not the whole truth

[charles_reed]

I got one of them

round the prop, just N of Cap Bear, when I was making, mastless, for Port Nouvelle to enter the Canal du Midi.
It didn't help that the Tramontane was blowing F7-8 and that it took Cap Gard MRSCC 53 minutes to reply to my "Pan-Pan".

I berthed in Argelés still by myself, with brown trousers and a great sense of relief.

I therefore have an obsessional and psychotic aversion to polysacks and anyone bringing one to sea is likely to suffer extreme sanction.

You have been warned.



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[pmyatt]

Surely, as the USCG Report makes no mention of trialling the use of the Series Drogue from the bow, its report is of no significance whatsoever when making comparisons with a parachute anchor which is always used over the bow (unless somone corrects me).

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[webcraft]

Re: High hull windage.

this discussion is about the merits of parachute anchors which would be a liability in coastal waters

I'm not sure aout this . . . surely one of the great benefits of a para-anchor is that it reduces drift to a minimum. It is therefore of maximum benefit when drifting onto a lee shore . . .

A series drogue on the other hand is designed to slow a yacht down but it will still go downwind at a significant speed.

I don't see why carrying either of these devices would be a liability at any time - deploying the wrong one at the wrong time might be.

- Nick



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[Birdseye]

Re: High hull windage.

If you carry that design approach to the limit Fatipa, then the next time you fly it will be in a re-inforced concrete plane with wings supported by flying buttresses!

Weight and strength are not equivalents - indeed, there is good technical reason for weightier boats needing to be stronger because the impact loads are correspondingly higher. Certainly the boat loaded up with extra anchors of extra strength and carrying this philosophy into extra strong and weighty cookers (!) plus other equipment will suffer higher loads in rough weather than a properly designed ULDB.

One should also take into account the higher quality of factory mass produced boats compared to short runs / one offs from unmechanised builders. By any measure, the quality of hand made Rolls Royce cars did not measure up to mass produced Mercs, simply because short runs and manual skills were involved. My experience in manufacturing industry was similar - anything that could be mechanised was inevitably better quality.

The design element is where different performances can occurr. AWB's are not designed for ocean crossings/ southern ocean sailing because most people dont sail those areas. But if benbavjan were to build a boat for that use, I have no doubt in my mind that it would be a better quality offering than something from a small boatbuilder. And no - I dont own one

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.

 

[PaulJ]

Re: I got one of them

Charles, that sounds like a pretty unpleasant experience and I'm glad the outcome was OK.... Well at least you lived to tell the tale. Is there any more you can tell us about the French rescue services? However I don't think such a problem would only happen with "poly bags". It could also occur with any other kind of drogue or para anchor which was cut loose and is why I suggested attaching a weight to it......

<hr width=100% size=1>I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.....

 

[AndrewB]

Re: High hull windage.

>>surely one of the great benefits of a para-anchor is that it reduces drift to a minimum. It is therefore of maximum benefit when drifting onto a lee shore . . .

A series drogue on the other hand is designed to slow a yacht down but it will still go downwind at a significant speed. <<

I don't know of any experimental evidence of which is the steadier, but have heard it argued by a senior RYA examiner that because the para-anchor tends to be capsized by each passing wave, the drift is actually greater than with a series drogue.

This comment relates to streaming the para-anchor from the bow. Possibly the Pardys' technique of laying the para-anchor off to one side has a different effect on drift.

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[seahorse]

Re:Has anybody tried a \"one ton bag\" too much drag

Could u xpand on ur comments pls?

Alard cole's "Heavy Weather Sailing" has a report n a Halsberg Rassy 29 "successsfully lay bows to an atlantic storm in 1998" using a builders bag. which is why I made a couple up but thankfully haven't had chance to try one out yet.

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