Storm tactics, small trimarans & parachute anchor.

[Franzi.v.B.]

Hi,

ok. I bought a Parachute anchor.
Great piece of kit, which gives also peace of mind to some degree.

My foul weather options are:

Level1)
Run from the storm
Level2)
Put a small drogue or warps over the stern to slow the boat to not hit the next wave
Level 3)
Deploy the parachute anchor over the bow.

Now here is the tricky part. I figure the switch from trailing warps to bow deployed parachute anchor is the most dangerous part, as the boat needs to be turned 180 degrees (Horizontally, hehe!!!).

Questions:
A)
Does anyone have a special technique to do this? Or is the only option to do this very early?
B)
How do you avoid careening down a wave backwards while paying out the extra long rode?
c)
When surfing backwards your rudder might get damaged and you are likely to end up being abeam to the waves and consequently being flipped, no?


One further thought.

If we do this 180 horizontal turn.
When do you think is the best moment?

1)
Before going down a wave?

Which would mean that the boat and the approching wave both hit at max speed when in the middle of the turn. Possibly desasterous...

2)
When in the bottom of the wave valley?

Any thoughts?


Looking forward to your thoughts & ideas,

regards,

Franzi
__________________
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[sailingdaniel]

There is a document i think is called " the drag device database" . That has plenty of stories about para anchors and drougs on both mutlihulls and monohulls.. It has lot useful info. Its not a "fun" text to read but i think it can be useful to answer some of your questions. Its to big to add here but maybee u find it on the net.. If not i can mail it to u. Its 10 MB i think.

I sail a monohull and dont have answer to most of your questions. And i havent got any reall storm experians whit para anchor. I have a Paratech sea anchor and when the time comes ill plan to use it "the Linn and Larry Pardey" stile.. U find them by searching for "stormtactic on YouTube.. They have a book called "storm tactic" , of the books i have read on storms , thats my favorit. But i deals whit mostly/only whit monohulls i think..

When to turn? I would turn when the sea is not breaking, ore look like its going to break. But I think its best to turn around (if that is what u want) before its that bad. Then u have a chanse of adjusting youre gear.. And if it doesent work U can cut and run. when u turn in to a strong blow the change in apperant wind is felt strongly and can be scary.. But thats just my thought...

My general advise is to listen to everyone and then decide for your self. Be skeptic to anyone who says that this ore that way is the ONLY way.. Few people have experienced so many Storms , and tried all possible things there is.. I fore sure have not..

And hopfully , the weather will be fine..

[Stumble]

Sailingdaniel,

Recognizing that the "drag Device data base" is a wonderful project, it is also a book that is for sale by the authors. Advertising handing out free copies is probably a bad idea.

Order from http://www.dddb.com/

Edit- apparently it is now out of print, and can no longer be ordered.

[sailingdaniel]

Good advice..

There is always the law to consider.

Then i change and say.. I advice that u by that book.

If not, search the net for some of the 120 stories it contains. Im sure some are out there in a legal way.

[aabella]

There is the book from the Casanova's called The Parachute Anchoring System, They did a circumnavegation in a Hortsman Tristar 39. You cand find it in Amazon. They explain in the book how to change form the drogue to the para anchor.

[catsketcher]

I have never been offshore in nasty stuff - hell I have never even crossed an ocean. The designer of my cat has done a lot of both. He doesn't like sea achors from the bow. His designs do have deep rudders and high bows and he feels they back down too much and swing sideways. He recommends a drogue. He and a friend were the first cat sailors to sail from Australia to Antarctica. They got hit by incredibly strong winds out of Commonwealth Bay and used the drogue.

Read Richard Wood's story about losing Eclipse on his web site. Richard is another designer I like - he actually tries his boats out himself so you can trust what he says.

cheers

Phil

[cavalier mk2]

I think Phil touched on a important point which is that all boats and configurations will react differently depending on the design and loading and have to be evaluated on a individual basis. I've been in nasty weather in small and large craft and think while you can't always avoid it with planning and a flexible schedule it is really worthwhile to do your best to try. That said all gear needs to be practiced with in increasing wind situations so you know how YOUR boat handles when you really need to use it.

[peterchech]

Yeah that Richard Woods story about his parachute anchor ripping apart is particularly informative here... amazing that after 70,000 miles that was the first real "squall" he has been in... maybe voyaging is statistically safer than I originally thought...

[redreuben]

Statistics have little to do with it ! It's about good management, voyage planning, sensible decision making, and good preparation, judgement, maintenance etc,
RR