Storm Tactics for the Heavenly Twins 26

Hi Juup,

Have you had an opportunity to read Pat Patterson's book “In the wake of Drake”? If you havn't it's certainly worth a read (I sourced mine at the local library….but it was several years ago).

In this book he details how he dealt with storm conditions on his Ocean Winds (a larger version of the HT). In the early stages of the storm he recommended attaching a large rope from the the bow of the windward hull to stern of the same hull (sometimes with a tyre attached to the mid way point via a rope strop to act as a bit of a brake). He then stayed with this configuration until conditions were such that he felt the boat was being moved sideways rapidly (shot like – I seam to recall was his description). Once in this position he then recommended moving the loop to both stern cleats so that he was running down wind with minimal strain on the rudders. What he didn't recommend however was leaving the helm unattended or on autohelm at this point.

From my personal perspective I don't favour this approach and as a result I have purchased a parachute anchor (Para Anchors – distributed by Aladins Cave) and will stream this from the bow (bridle to both hulls) if conditions become that severe.

As I've indicated, fortunatly I havnt experienced conditions this severe so I can't advise how effective this approach is….. but reading the accounts from Para anchors, I certainly feel more comfortable with this method.

Hope this helps?

Bruce

Could be a good idea to read about the eclipse (woods) rescue where drogue techniques kept the boat floating after the rescue – my research makes me doubt very much the sea anchor technique. with a cat a big breaking sea especially a wave thats just about to break may have the boat airborn and tear it to bits. The series drogue bridled from the stern seems to be a possible solution with subsequent lower stress and crew fatigue – it is possible now to get these made up in the USA. Like to see this thread continued very interesting subject – not to mention life saving !! My reading suggests the sea anchor may work with a deep keeled monhull where the wetted surface keeps the boat in the water !!