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Drogue??

C

CRC1965

Chris
I don't see it as a requirement.....but for light"ish" displacement boats 5,000 lbs "ish" how important is this piece of equipment give good wether forecasting?

One option suggested at Safety at Sea (as the only reliable drone) was a truck tire.....not going to happen....

Another option (light/small) Jordan Series drogue (becomes expensive in time to construct or $ to have someone else build).

Thanks,
Chris
 
Hi Chris,

I believe a drogue is invaluable, both nearshore and offshore. Nearshore, if one loses a mast, rudder, sails, or engine and are drifting ashore, a drogue may give valuable time to get organized. Recently a life was lost in S.Calif. when a boat lost its rudder several miles offshore, did not have a drogue, declined help, and blew ashore on San Clemente Island. This is not an isolated incident, and a drogue would have saved the day.

Offshore, if the rudder is lost, a drogue will slow the boat, making the fitting of emergency steering a better proposition. If you get towed to safe harbor without a rudder, a drogue astern will prevent the boat from fish tailing.

Most importantly, and to which I can speak from experience, in a hard chance, when running under storm jib or bare poles, a drogue astern will keep the speed manageable so the boat doesn't broach on an overtaking wave, risking rollover.

I've carried and experimented with all manner of drogues on my WILDFLOWERs: small VW tire, milk crates, a strong bucket with a hole punched in the bottom, even an anchor (not a Danforth or Fortress type). They're all good, cheap, light, and do double duty.

The strain on a drogue is substantial and the rode should be led to a primary winch, free of chafe. I lead mine thru a snatch block on the corner of the transom.

Good Sailing
 
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Thanks for the perspective and reminder that a drougue may be a dual purpose device.....I may have one and didn't realize it.
 
I'd been wanting to purchase a drogue for awhile, both to have for a future SHTP return and to test as an emergency steering device. I read various articles/posts and ruled out the popular Jordan Series Drogue as expensive and too difficult to store, deploy and especially to recover. However I wanted a dedicated device that I could set up with proper-length bridles and if necessary, a short length of chain, swivels, etc. Finally I wanted a drogue that was light-weight and easy to store on my smallish boat. Tall order.

I found the video below and based on these tests, I finally purchased a Burke SeaBrake from a company in OZ. Because of the stronger U.S. Dollar the price was reasonable. I'm very happy with it. We tried it as a steering device during the recent E-Steering day at RYC, where I jokingly named it The Kraken. It works well as a drogue and once I install a swivel and a way to lead the bridle lines to max beam, I'll try it again as a steering device.

Here's the video (just keep pausing it to read the results).

Drogue Test Video
 
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There is what I found to be an excellent discussion of drogues in 'Handling Storms at Sea' by Hal Roth. Matter of fact I found the whole book to be outstanding. Mix of the scientific and pragmatic from a guy who has done more than enough to know. The book can be downloaded.
 
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I bought the fiorintino shark for the long pac based on same video Bob linked to. Also the shark packs into itself for a compact stow. There was another vid depicting successful drogue use for steering - easily found by searching you tube.

But to paraphrase Rick Elkins comment to me after the race, "how would you have liked to deploy that thing for steering in 25 kts and accompanying seaway?"

Deploying as a slowing drogue is one thing, having to sort it for steering is another.

I like the idea you get a twofer out of a drogue but I am going to have to do a lot of practicing.
 
[email protected] said:
There is what I found to be an excellent discussion of drogues in 'Handling Storms at Sea' by Hal Roth. Matter of fact I found the whole book to be outstanding. Mix of the scientific and pragmatic from a guy who has done more than enough to know. The book can be downloaded.
Click to expand...

Thanks!! I just downloaded it.
 
Glad you found value in it. I got a lot out of it, especially with respect to wave height vs. wind strength vs. fetch (and the accuracy of a sailors perceptions)..
Doug
 
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