Who carries 150m warps for trailing in heavy weather

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Or maybe a sea anchor?

Is this kit common place for those who cruise in N european waters? (ie not rtw sailors who I expect do carry it)

rob
 
Given the drift you inevitably get, I'd worry about hitting a piece of land if sailing in Channel, North Sea etc. With reasonable weather forecasting I'm not sure how often people get caught out in conditions so severe that they have to use warps.

Sea anchors are nice bits of kit, often in attractive colours so make a perfect boat show purchase when you've bought everything you need for your boat but have to buy something that feels expensive and adventurous.
 
HWMBO has a parachute anchor which weighs a ton which we took for a sail across Biscay, and we can't EVER pass the huge boxes of £10 hanks of rope in Marine Superstore, so we have almost certainly enough rope to make 150m warps! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I do. But I very much doubt if I would trail it, anywhere where we regularly sail (southern North Sea) as one would be aground on a sandbank in a few hours of drifting.

I think of it more as an emergency kedge warp or tow rope.

In extremis, I would anchor - "never go ashore with an anchor in the hawse" is good advice.

The best item of heavy weather sailing safety kit for the likes of us is the GPS - we no longer get lost in bad weather. I've spent some of the unhappiest hours of my life wondering "just how far to windward of the Dutch coast are we?"
 
Yes, I carry a sea anchor but have never deployed it. one day when I have time to spare, sea room and a good blow I'll give it a try /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Been wondering about those, although current decision is not to bother, since the plan is to stay coastal round Biscay en route to the Med. Any views on that?

Pops
 
I'm sure I could easily russel up 150m of warp (of varying diameters and lengths).
I have also recently replaced my boat bucket with a heavy duty one and put a strong rope handle on it, with the intention of trying it as a drogue - it might work!
 
I got mine solely for ocean sailing. The theory is that it will reduce drift to under 1 knot so for a 24 hour storm you'll still need 30 miles minimum under your lee. There was a report of a boat riding to one off Australia for about 3 days. Eventually they ran out of sea room and had to abandon.
 
I heard, somewhere that a plastic beer or bottle crate on the end of a long line works.
At least it can hold your beer and be of use while waiting to be used! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Ta. I don't plan any real ocean stuff so I doubt I will ever have the lee room to use it. Warps and beer crates, I like the sound of that! I could muster up 150m of warp with little effort. Must get the beer crate!

Pops
 
My drogue is self-deploying! Well that's what happened while running on a passage from Gib to the Canaries! I was below, there was an almighty bang and a 'screaming' sound. Shooting up on deck I found that the port side dodger, lifebuoy and light and the holder had all disappeared thanks to a rogue wave.

But the boat was beautifully stable. Something was missing - ah yes, the Bruce kedge anchor - normally residing happily on the lower rail of the port pushpit, had also gone! It had been washed off with the other stuff, the chain had screamed out followed by its 50 metres of Anchorplait and was brought up short by the bitter end.

We hauled it in as fast as we could winch (hell of a pressure) then realised that it was this that was holding the boat so stable. We 'played' with the length for a while then made it off to a cleat. Brilliant result!! The Bruce didn't spin at all, but behaved just like a large 'hand', keeping the stern more steady and reducing the autopilot work to almost zero. We had tried long warps in a loop a few hours previously, but it wasn't anywhere near as effective as the Bruce.

We've deliberately deployed it this way at least three times since with the same result. Not a sea anchor I know, but damned effective when you're running away - as we tend to do in lumpy weather!!

Worth playing with when you next get an opportunty, to see if you get a similar result.
 
Hi Rob,

Not a 'Quick Reply' I'm afraid, but I responded to a PM from another poster re this thread and reproduce my reply here to save my typing finger!!. Hope it helps.

First I should say that I built a 'proper' chain locker in the stern of our Fulmar, together with a chain pipe on the aft deck. The Bruce is permanently connected and 'hooks' onto the lower port pushpit rail with it's shank tied to a teak block on the rubbing strake. It is thus immediately ready for use, but it's also (it seems!!) subject to displacement by lumpy ones!! That's only happened once thank goodness!

Right, in order of question:

The kedge is a 7.5kg (circa 16lbs) Bruce attached to 45 feet of chain that is, in turn, spliced to 50 metres of Anchorplait. The bitter end is 12mm braid taken to a s/s eyebolt through bolted to a bulkhead. We moved extremely quickly after incident happened in case the bitter end broke and we lost the lot!

My boat is a 32 foot Westerly Fulmar displacing a nominal 4.42 tons unladen. We were definitely laden! We were carrying an additional 2200 lbs of 'cruising gear', so over 20% of her deadweight! The boat was 60mm down on her unladen waterline.

We have full wind instrumentation so were completely aware of the true wind speed, which was in the early F7's gusting to 8. The wind wasn't the problem but the sea state was horrible, due mainly to a 'cross sea' caused by (we believe) a rapid change of wind direction as a vigorous front went through a bit earlier. We were running pretty well directly down the main wave/swell pattern, but at an angle to the 'new' wave train. Very rolly and, as I described, with the risk of being clouted by a lumpy one. We were using a well rolled genoa only.

Our recorded speed (checking the logbook again) shows us averaging 7-7.5 knots, with an occasional 'surf' up to 8 and 9 with the ST2000 working busily to hold us to a reasonable course. After the bumpy one, and the involuntary deployment of the Bruce, speed dropped to about 6 and a bit knots and was steady. But the most dramatic change was in the motion. Instead of the boat twisting and swerving (corkscewing) down the waves, she suddenly 'held steady' to the extent that we could stand up in the cockpit without needing to hold on!
It was a truely fantastic change, especially for the autopilot, which only had to make relatively small movements to keep us on course.

Chafe, at least on warps attached to the stern cleats on the Fulmar, is non-existent, as the cleats are positioned 'diagonally' across the extreme corner of the deck and there is no need for fairleads. We hauled in the Anchorplait until we had about 40-50 feet of it left out. So in total (with chain/Anchorplait) we had approx. 100 feet deployed to the anchor.

There is no doubt in our view, that the chain is the most critical factor providing the stabilising effect. Unlike the 16mm warps we'd tried earlier, it stays below the surface maximising the drag, and of course in so doing, it keeps the anchor down in slightly denser water making it more effective. As I mentioned, our Bruce did not spin/twist at all, so recovery in the morning after the wind/seas had dropped down a bit, was really easy.

Sorry this reply is so long, but I hope our experience may encourage others to try this 'system', which may or may not work on their boat of course.

Cheers Jerry
 
Interesting. We towed a water turbine on a 100m warp to generate electricity on passage. We noticed that whilst towing it slowed us by about 3/4 knot it keep the stern into a big following sea and enabled our woefully inadequate autohelm 4000 to steer a course in all but the biggest of seas.

We've now upgraded to an autohelm 5000 and a Monitor wind vane and find that in big following seas we corkscrew a fair bit. Noel Dilley, of YM article fame, reckons that fenders on a longish warp perform a calming function for autopilots and windvanes.
 
Jerry
Do you think that it was the type of anchor you were using or do you think that the same could be true of a CQR say, the thought of an Anchor 'spinning' in heavy weather would probably freak me out, as if you havent got enough to do.
 
The people who developed the series drogue recommend attaching the kedge anchor to the end of the drogue to keep it submerged. They do not differentiate between different types of anchors.
 
Jerry,

Very helpful, thank you.

I fear my bower Bruce might be too heavy (?) at 20kg but I have a Brittany 8kg kedge that I'll give it a try with. But I'm about 11000kgs at cruising weight so maybe the 20kg would be okay, hmmmmmmmm..............I'll have to try it; the trouble is when one's in those kind of conditions it's not the time to start experimenting!

rob
 
Jerry, the other thing I meant to ask refers to the following para from your post -

"Chafe, at least on warps attached to the stern cleats on the Fulmar, is non-existent, as the cleats are positioned 'diagonally' across the extreme corner of the deck and there is no need for fairleads. We hauled in the Anchorplait until we had about 40-50 feet of it left out. So in total (with chain/Anchorplait) we had approx. 100 feet deployed to the anchor. "

My question is - did you ever fear that the cleats would be pulled straight off the deck? The loading must be enormous and I'm always astonished that any one fixing point could take the loads imposed by a drogue deployed as you suggest. Was all okay after the event? No sign of damage to the cleats?

rob
 
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