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Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
What is it good for? Retrieval?
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Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
It helps to stabilize the sea anchor.....keeps it from swinging side to
side. DAVe wrote in message oups.com... What is it good for? Retrieval? |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
In my yoot, this hole was for the "storm oil" container..... a conical shaped container containing some fish oil, etc, with a petcock that would be opened to drain a small quantity of oil to calm the seas. "Dave W" wrote in : It helps to stabilize the sea anchor.....keeps it from swinging side to side. DAVe wrote in message oups.com... What is it good for? Retrieval? |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
Like a traditional parachute it spills water to keep the maximum drag. To
over simplify it, if the water builds up inside a dome of higher pressure builds up across the leading edges and the flow becomes more like dragging a ball than a cone. It will start wobbling and loose drag. -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com wrote in message oups.com... What is it good for? Retrieval? |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
Thanks, that makes sense. Do you know any rule of thumb how large the hole should be, and how long the cone should be in relation to the front diameter? I was thinking of using a drogue from the bow of the boat to keep it pointed into the wind for raising/lowering sails. Is this practical? Thanks again, Chris Glenn Ashmore wrote: Like a traditional parachute it spills water to keep the maximum drag. To over simplify it, if the water builds up inside a dome of higher pressure builds up across the leading edges and the flow becomes more like dragging a ball than a cone. It will start wobbling and loose drag. -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com wrote in message oups.com... What is it good for? Retrieval? |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
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I was thinking of using a drogue from the bow of the boat to keep it pointed into the wind for raising/lowering sails. Is this practical? No it isn't. I find that when I want to get underway offshore without using the engine that raising or unfurling the jib and then putting the boat as hard on the wind as she'll go and then raising the main works well. I only drop the main either in a big squall or in a calm while at sea, in either case I find I can get the main down on any point of sail. However, if you have trouble you can reverse the hoisting procedure. In any case, drogues are a pain and sea anchors are a major pain. -- Tom. |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
On 13 Nov 2006 17:55:21 -0600, Dave wrote:
You'll find that an autopilot is a lot more practical for this purpose. There are a couple of big "ifs" in that assumption. Do you still have electrical power? Not necessarily in my experience. Is your engine (or deeply reefed main) capable of holding the bow into a storm force wind or breaking wave? Not necessarily in my experience. One of the worst storms I was ever caught in lasted only an hour or so but it was very educational. The wind gusted to over 60 kts and waves built to over 10 ft, some breaking, in no time at all. The bow of the boat would absolutely refuse to come closer to the wind than about 90 to 100 degrees. Every time it would come higher, the bow would get picked up by a wave a be blown side ways again. Fortunately we had adequate sea room to run off a bit but it was very disconcerting, especially in the days before LORAN and GPS where you didn't know exactly where you were. The force and fury of a 60+ wind is almost unbelievable. |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
On 13 Nov 2006 16:39:41 -0800, "
wrote: In any case, drogues are a pain and sea anchors are a major pain. I agree to the extent that you still have control of the boat. If you don't, anything that works. |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
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Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
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I agree to the extent that you still have control of the boat. If you don't, anything that works. Indeed. I have both a sea anchor and a drogue and I've even used the drogue in anger, but they wouldn't do for every day... If you can't get your sails up and down in anything on the nice side of a gale then something is not right. -- Tom. |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
Wayne.B wrote in
: The bow of the boat would absolutely refuse to come closer to the wind than about 90 to 100 degrees. Every time it would come higher, the bow would get picked up by a wave a be blown side ways again. Did we have our engine running and couldn't bring her into the wind?? That would be kind of scary. I've been in 18-20' seas off the Georgia coast in the Amel 41 ketch. I don't think the wind hit 60, maybe 45-50. It was decided, rightly, to furl it all and run the Perkins at 2800 RPM until it passed. Once the rags were wound up, it was just a roller coaster ride to make you sick for hours on end. It lasted about 8 hours before tapering off. Everyone had had it, exhausted, by then. As it calmed, we set the watch on just the jib and let everyone sleep half a day to recover. I don't think I've ever been that tired in my life.... Larry -- My calendar must be wrong.... In all the stores, it's ALREADY Christmas! |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
I wasn't thinking of heavy weather at all, I just want the boat nicely pointed into the wind while I take my time to handle both sails, instead of running back and forth. But you are right, retrieval might be even more of a hassle. Thanks! |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
Can you set a small riding sail from your backstays?
wrote in message oups.com... I wasn't thinking of heavy weather at all, I just want the boat nicely pointed into the wind while I take my time to handle both sails, instead of running back and forth. But you are right, retrieval might be even more of a hassle. Thanks! |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
On 14 Nov 2006 09:57:02 -0600, Dave wrote:
I didn't see anything in the OP's post indicating that his purpose was primarily to be able to raise sails in storm conditions. You're right, that was apparently not his intention. Sea anchors and drogues are storm equipment in my mind. |
Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
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Why does a drogue / sea anchor have a hole in the center?
Same reason a parachute has a hole in the apex. To allow a small amount of
air/water through so that the anchor/parachute doesn't oscillate. Cap'n Ric |
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