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#31
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Sea Anchors and Drogues
On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 12:37:43 -0800 (PST), "
wrote: On Jan 3, 11:06 pm, Wayne.B wrote: On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 23:38:18 -0800 (PST), " wrote: There's no harm in catching up with the wave in front of you per se (though it gets harder to do as the waves get bigger and faster). That invariably results in a lot of green water over the decks in my experience, and can definitely pitch pole smaller boats as the bow digs in and stops. Invariably? You need a new skipper! As a former racer of a trapeze dingy I know that full stop that launches the crew around the forestay. In the conditions where that happens the winners get to the bottom mark without crashing even though they will overtake a bunch of waves on the way... Of course, the dingy racer is moving very fast over relatively slow, small waves with an unreasonable press of sail barely countered by the movable ballast of the crew perched precariously on the back corner of the boat. Racers live to be on the edge of control. I don't want to generalize too much, but the situation offshore in an ocean capable cruising yacht is likely to be very different. Even in a yacht fast enough to be overtaking large waves the prudent cruiser will reduce sail to keep the boat within its controllable speeds and will remove sails that press the bow down and sails that increase the tendency to broach. In many conditions these tactics will allow fast boats to overtake waves in comfort and control. -- Tom. A lot depends on the shape/steepness of the waves, type of boat, racing vs cruising, etc. When racing offshore we would almost never shorten sail as long as the boat was more or less under control. Cruising is another thing altogether. On a very fast, seaworthy 50 footer with high freeboard, we used to stuff the bow into the backside of waves all the time, typically bringing green water back past the mast. No big deal in normal, mildly gnarly conditions. |
#32
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Sea Anchors and Drogues
On Jan 4, 8:08 am, wrote:
Running off is much easier on the boat and the crew than riding to a sea anchor or even heaving to. ... I dunno about that, most times it has seemed to me that heaving-to provides the smoothest motion... Some boats are going to roll and slew about when running off. That should be controllable to some extent by over-trimming the storm jib and heading up onto a broad reach, but YMMV. At some point, though, heaving to will not be a viable option and running off is going to be less stressful than anchoring. On boats that don't roll so much running off will likely be more comfortable than heaving to right from the git go as long as you keep enough sail up and trimmed. ... the series drogue is mostly hanging down. As the boat picks up speed, more of them stream and drag increases. Boat speed increases, but not as sharply. Yes, but generally the series drogue is sized to be very draggy compared to other drogues and it doesn't have the swift transition from modest drag to high drag that the variable drag drogues have. ... What do you think of the task of switching from one to other if the sea state gets bad enough to warrant? ... I do not think it is practical to switch in genuinely dangerous weather. And which would you deploy first, which would be the "ultimate"?... It depends. It is no big deal to set or retrieve the drogue and if conditions were right and I was headed downwind anyway I wouldn't hesitate to set it. The sea anchor is pretty much a "hail Mary" for me for use when there is no other escape (eg. on the dangerous side of a storm or lee shore when beating becomes impossible). I think the sea anchor will keep you from capsizing in worse conditions than the drogue but that may be cold comfort if the superstructure has been swept away and you are sinking... -- Tom. |
#33
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Sea Anchors and Drogues
On Jan 4, 11:09 am, Wayne.B wrote:
... A lot depends on the shape/steepness of the waves, type of boat, racing vs cruising, etc. ... Amen. ... On a very fast, seaworthy 50 footer with high freeboard, we used to stuff the bow into the backside of waves all the time, typically bringing green water back past the mast. No big deal in normal, mildly gnarly conditions. Sure, but you were out having fun and pressing the boat a bit, weren't you? I suspect that If you'd dropped the main and gone to a chicken kite, removed some of the junk from the bows, and trimmed things so that the driver could steer around the bigger holes you would have been a lot drier but maybe still have been overtaking those waves... -- Tom. |
#34
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Sea Anchors and Drogues
dougking wrote:
I dunno about that, most times it has seemed to me that heaving-to provides the smoothest motion... " wrote: Some boats are going to roll and slew about when running off. That should be controllable to some extent by over-trimming the storm jib and heading up onto a broad reach, but YMMV. At some point, though, heaving to will not be a viable option and running off is going to be less stressful than anchoring. On boats that don't roll so much running off will likely be more comfortable than heaving to right from the git go as long as you keep enough sail up and trimmed. And as the sea condition worsens, at some point, the boat will not stand up to enough sail to make it heave-to; and then again at some point the waves are going to be violent enough to toss the boat around unless she's held in place by more than her weight & underbody. The key is to recognize that conditions are going to ge worse beyond this point and prepare accordingly... Wiht regards to storm jibs, I've been taught that you set them trimmed tight & flat amidships; not like you would a normal jib. That way, any time the boat slews away from DDW the sail acts like a wind wave to turn her nose back, and doesn't yank the rig off the deck when luffing / slatting. Never tried it.... OTOH I have tried t set a trysail in conditions where it was needed, and found it impossible to do any work on deck, and we towed ropes as drogues to run DDW instead. ... What do you think of the task of switching from one to other if the sea state gets bad enough to warrant? ... I do not think it is practical to switch in genuinely dangerous weather. Yep. The best defense against really bad stuff is to be elsewhere. IMHO most people don't start thinking about reefing soon enough; and then persversely start wanting to switch to "storm tactics" like trysails & drogues when they should be just sailing the boat. And which would you deploy first, which would be the "ultimate"?... It depends. It is no big deal to set or retrieve the drogue and if conditions were right and I was headed downwind anyway I wouldn't hesitate to set it. The sea anchor is pretty much a "hail Mary" for me for use when there is no other escape (eg. on the dangerous side of a storm or lee shore when beating becomes impossible). I think the sea anchor will keep you from capsizing in worse conditions than the drogue but that may be cold comfort if the superstructure has been swept away and you are sinking... OK thanks. Wayne.B wrote: ... A lot depends on the shape/steepness of the waves, type of boat, racing vs cruising, etc. ... " wrote: Amen. And current plays a big part in this- that's one reason why the Irish Sea and the Tasman Strait have such bad reps. ... On a very fast, seaworthy 50 footer with high freeboard, we used to stuff the bow into the backside of waves all the time, typically bringing green water back past the mast. No big deal in normal, mildly gnarly conditions. Sure, but you were out having fun and pressing the boat a bit, weren't you? I suspect that If you'd dropped the main and gone to a chicken kite, removed some of the junk from the bows, and trimmed things so that the driver could steer around the bigger holes you would have been a lot drier but maybe still have been overtaking those waves... IMHO a good driver should be able to avoid "stuffing" the bow; it may take a bit of help from additional eyes spotting the crests. A chicken chute is a lot of fun but I've gotten fond of asymmetrics. DSK |
#35
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Sea Anchors and Drogues
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#36
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Sea Anchors and Drogues
On Jan 6, 5:32 am, wrote:
dougking wrote: ... Wiht regards to storm jibs, I've been taught that you set them trimmed tight & flat amidships; not like you would a normal jib. ... I'd keep an open mind and an eye on the conditions. I've sailed my storm jib just like any other jib -- I've even set it with outboard sheets -- but we've been lucky enough to be using it in conditions where it was prudent rather than required. -- Tom. |
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