Series Drogue buy or DIY

[Das_Boot]

I have looked at the USCG recomendations and want to either buy one or make one. I have been unable to find a supplier.
1. Has anyone any experience with making one themselves.
2. Has anyone considered tinkering with or altering the design.
I would be gratefull for any comments from anyone who has given this subject any thought.

 

[dulcibella]

The only design I have seen is that by Noel Dilly, described and illustrated in Heavy Weather Sailing. Noel made his for a fairly small boat (a Twister - 28ft?), and told me that it was an enormous job that took his evenings for weeks. It looks like a bomb-proof bit of kit. For a bigger boat, I guess you'd need a heavier warp and more drogues. I could ask him if he still has the design if that would be helpful.

 

[Roberto]

you may ask AndrewB, if I am not wrong I think he made one

 

[Das_Boot]

I know if you look at the USCG one for a 12 ton boat it requires about a mile of drogues it would take up all of my locker space to stowe it.
I have seen some on the net but no prices. I am afraid to ask.

 

[srm]

"About a mile" - You must be reading a different report to me.

The USCG graph goes up to 60,000lb displacement which I recon is about 27 tonnes. At this weight they recommend 200 x 5 inch drogues.

I calculated 100 drogues for my boat (a 4 tonne cruising cat), which would need a total of 120 metre of rope, this includes lead in and bridle. At a guess 12 tonne boat would probably need about 140 drogues so you would need about 150 metre of 16 or 18 mm rope. Surely not too much to stow on a 12 tonne boat.

As you may realise I too am looking seriously at series drogues.

I am considering using a fish basket secured on aft deck to stow drogue in with canvas cover to protect from UV. The bridle can then be attached at the start of offshore passages and the whole lot deployed by dropping the chain weight over the stern and allowing to run out from basket should it be needed.

Incidentally Gaelforce.net website list 220 metre coils of double braided nylon (which is the recommended rope type for series drogue) at considerably less per metre than even e-bay multiplait. Only problem is its in their commercial rope section and sold by the full coil.

Have not got around to making mine yet, it looks like a project for next winter.

Sean.

 

[roger]

Cruising Home catalogue

has various drag devices including series drogues.
e-mail mike@cruisinghome.com phone 01202 25862
I've had the catalogue some years - no idea if the firm still exists.

 

[bryan]

Das
see www.seriesdrogue.com you can buy complete drogue, or you can buy cones only and you complete. There is plenty of information regarding drogues, and anti para-anchor facts. A google search will find both manufacturers, ace sails and series drogue australia. ace is more expensive. even though they use smaller diameter rope, and dont hem their cones top and bottom. series drogue also have prices listed. web page

 

[Talbot]

The australian site http://www.seriesdrogue.com/ has a wealth of detail on this subject, and they are very good at anwsering questions. They will also supply part kits for completion in uk.

 

[ChrisE]

We made one ten years ago and we still have not used it, thank god.

It was a very labout intensive activity but if you have the time you can make one about £200-300 and most of that cost is the mulitplait. The cones take along time to make, my mother-in-law and friend of hers made them for us. We then attached the cones to the mulitplait which also takes along time. The last prices I saw, about 5 or so years ago the company were quoting about £10 per cone and fitting them onto the line on top of that.

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

I don't remember anyone on ybw.com forums saying that they had ever personally used a series drogue (deployed from the stern) or parachute (deployed from the bow). If they have, it would be interesting to hear their experience and be able to ask questions. Quite a few people have said that they carry one or other, but has nobody used them in anger?

 

[webcraft]

[ QUOTE ]
about 5 or so years ago the company were quoting about £10 per cone and fitting them onto the line on top of that

[/ QUOTE ] Current price is £150 for 100 cones, or £270 for the kit or £380 for a complete 100-cone drogue suitable for a vessel up to 4,500Kg displacement

See HERE

Seems very reasonable to me; I will buy one of these before I buy a 406 EPIRB

- Nick

 

[Talbot]

[ QUOTE ]
Seems very reasonable to me; I will buy one of these before I buy a 406 EPIRB
- Nick

[/ QUOTE ]
Agree with your sense of priorities. No good the rescue services being kickstarted into action, if there is nothing left to rescue, and if you have deployed the series drogue, chances are very good from all reports, that you would not need a rescue anyway!

Notwithstanding the above, the most important part of the series drogue kit is the fitting you put onto your boat to take the strain of the drogues. If that gives way you will not only not be under control, but you will also have a big hole in your boat! - make it strong enough to lift the boat on!

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
Seems very reasonable to me; I will buy one of these before I buy a 406 EPIRB

[/ QUOTE ]Are you saying that you think it is more probable you will encounter weather conditions so severe that your vessel would not survive without a drogue than all other risks added together? Fire, accident, illness, holed below the waterline, dismasted and disabled, boat upside down, and probably several other significant risks. You surprise me but I suppose it depends on the sort of sailing you do and the sort of boat and crew you have.

 

[ChrisE]

I wish that this company had been about 10 years ago! The prices even for 9000 or 11000 kg boat like ours seem very reasonable.

 

[webcraft]

Re: Priorities

Stress of weather is the most likely cause of loss of a small vessel on an offshore / ocean passage, IMHO - although good statistics are hard to find.

Fire - carry extinguishers
Accident/Illness - adequate medical supplies
Dismasting - continue under jury rig
Boat upside down - won't happen with a drogue
Holed - most accounts of mid-ocean holings / collisions / sinkings suggest these happen very quickly - there may be a case for an EPIRB in these circumstances

All I am saying is that if/when the time comes, if shortage of funds precludes the presence of both on board, a drogue would come before an EPIRB. I prefer the idea of getting out of one's own mess whenever possible, and have great admiration for Blondie Haslar, who when asked prior to the first OSTAR about carrying a radio transmitter in case of emergencies, replied " It would be more seemly to drown like a gentleman ."

-Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Priorities

I must beg to differ with you on the probabilites and the ability to handle emergencies, such as acute appendicitis or other condition requiring medical rather than first aid treatment.

Nevertheless, don't forget that GPS EPIRBs are getting much cheaper these days and it might be worth buying one just before you leave - when the price might have fallen and giving you a longer battery date. Today, they cost not much more than a decent restaurant meal for four people which puts it into perspective, perhaps.

David

 

[Swagman]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't remember anyone on ybw.com forums saying that they had ever personally used a series drogue (deployed from the stern) or parachute (deployed from the bow). If they have, it would be interesting to hear their experience and be able to ask questions. Quite a few people have said that they carry one or other, but has nobody used them in anger?

[/ QUOTE ]

Funny but was about to ask the same question.......
I've been sailing 25 years off Australia and now EU - and whilst I've seen other make up / buy such devices - and indeed carry a double Plastimo drogue set up - never heard of one being used in anger outside of 'storm warning' type books..........

And if I had to choose twix a drogue and an EPIRB, surely the multiple recorded use and value in an EPRIB would make anyone place that higher on a safety priority list.............

 

[ChrisE]

Regarding EPIRB v series drogue I carry both for different reasons.

Regarding use of series drogues I can recall of two recent accounts in the UK yachting press. One from Noel Dilley, caught in a hoolie in Gulf Stream and recalling how it calmed his boat down, until the lines broke and it went back to being awful again. The other was an account of a couple who were going up to Greenland or Iceland and used theirs to gain respite from a non life-threatening but very tiring F8. I can imagine using ours for this latter reason.

 

[Das_Boot]

I was thinking that I need a ladder to climb the mast when single handed and dont want to install mast steps. Now if I make a ladder say 50 meters long attach an anchor to one end and throw it off the back when required I could kill two birds. I have a steal boat with very hefty bollards on the stern so I have no concern there.
In my reading on this matter the reason for the large drogues failure was that they colapsed once momentum was overcome and did not fill in time for the next wave. With a wooden or alluminium ladder this would be overcome and surely a 50meter, or whatever the calculation shows, ladder would offer enough drag.

 

[Aeolus_IV]

Re: Priorities

[ QUOTE ]
Boat upside down - won't happen with a drogue

[/ QUOTE ]

I find this a worrying statement, but can't put my finger on exacly why, other than saying "never say never".

Regards, Jeff.