http://www.MultihullsQuarterly.com 31tail to be led to a winch. With the rode
properly stacked in the laundry basket and
the bitter end secured to a large winch,
we hooked up the sea anchor to the other
end of the rode, making sure it was clear to
run when we put it over the side. I’ll admit
to the fact that the sea anchor was effec-
tive at stopping the boat. Happily enough,
the winch wasn’t ripped off the deck, and
neither arms nor legs are part of this story.
The point of all of this, however, is to sug-
gest that whenever deploying anything
meant to slow the boat down, try to slow
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speed and the tether to the sea anchor is
short, you will experience an abrupt speed
reduction as the line suddenly loads up. If
people are in the way, problems can result.
Heaving-to is also a valuable tool that
everyone should practice in moderate
conditions. Monohulls can creep forward
at a few knots while hove to, and merely
by tacking without releasing the jib sheet,
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Each boat is slightly different. Some may
need the wheel tied over. Others will ben-
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the boat is stable and safe. Multihulls may
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catching the wind and spinning the boat
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librium that is stable for an extended period
of time. In all cases, practice in moderate
conditions is a worthwhile exercise.
Ideally, whether you use warps, drogue
or sea anchor, you should stow the gear
properly, ready to deploy so the load will
be introduced gradually either by having
the boat at dead slow or by deploying
something like warps which can gradu-
ally be fed into the sea. Another sug-
gestion is that you should try deploying
your gear in 10 or 15 knots of wind under
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and have a great time doing it. And the
next time you need to confront heavy
weather conditions, you will have added
more than a few procedures to that ever-
expanding bag of tricks.
Bill Biewenga is a veteran offshore racer
with several circumnavigations under his
belt. He is a professional weather guru and
router for offshore sailors and is a modera-
tor for Safety at Sea Seminars.