Drogues and Sea Anchors for a 1990 Beneteau Moorings 50 Sloop

[Open Ranger]

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for guidance on selecting the right drogue and sea anchor for heavy weather. I sail a 1990 Beneteau Yachts Moorings 50 Sloop. I’ve found a lot of conflicting information online and I’d appreciate advice from those with more experience.

• Are there specific brands or models you’ve used and found effective and additional gear to accompany them?
• Any recommendations on what works best for a boat like mine?
• I’m particularly interested in real-world experiences with durability, ease of use, and performance in heavy conditions.

Thank you!

 

[dlochner]

If you are planning offshore, blue water cruising, the single best source of information is Attainable Adventure Cruising. John Haries has decades of cruising and high latitude cruising experience which he shares. A testament to his knowledge and reliability is the number of well known and respected sailors who frequent his site. The site is a pay site with a very modest annual fee.

Attainable Adventure Cruising

Reference and technical site for offshore voyaging and cruising in sail and motorboats.

www.morganscloud.com

 

[jssailem]

If I were about to venture into stormy waters, I would provision myself with a Jordan Series Drogue.

About Jordan's Series Drogue

Information on the reseach, buying and making Jordan series drogues designed by Don Jordan and built by Dave Pelissier of Ace Sail .

www.jordanseriesdrogue.com

I would configure the stern with reinforced cleats designed to handle the tremendous forces placed on the boat while in a storm running with the drogue. I would also plan the method necessary to recover the drogue after the seas settle down.

With all of the hardware aboard, I would practice safely deploying and recovering the drogue so that no one gets hurt or caught by the drogue and sucked overboard.

 

[dLj]

The Jordan Drogue is considered one of the best drogues available. I second the suggestion to pay the very modest fee to have access to John Harries web page where there is extensive amounts of information on drogues.

I will ask however, where do you plan on sailing where you feel you will need to deploy such a device? Are you planning on a trip in the southern ocean? Are you planning long ocean passages?

Looking at your boat, if you do decide to install a drogue, I'd highly recommend getting a profesional to help design the attachment points, especially your hull attachments points.

dj

 

[Kings Gambit]

There are several books out there spanning decades of collective sailor experiences. Over those decades various preferred storm tactics have evolved with the evolution of boat designs, boat equipment, and weather forecast reliability, etc. Boats may be designed to “ride it out, hidin’ out” or “to run with it and/or actively maintain a status, or to avoid bad conditions, etc. The personal accounts coming from those sailors are fasinating, as well as enlightlening. Searching for a certain brand of drogue. from testimonials as a starting point I doubt will in itself prove productive preparation, etc. I reasonably suspect that if you inquired of an experienced sailor, the answer would be “it depends...”

 

[east coaster]

Another source of reliable info is Capt. Fatty Goodlander. He has many circumnavigations under his keel in different size vessels in all oceans of the world. He also has a sense of humor which if you were to deploy a sea anchor would to me be helpful. He reportedly remembers when the Red Sea was still pink.

 

[dLj]

Another source of reliable info is Capt. Fatty Goodlander. He has many circumnavigations under his keel in different size vessels in all oceans of the world. He also has a sense of humor which if you were to deploy a sea anchor would to me be helpful. He reportedly remembers when the Red Sea was still pink.

+1

He is really fun to read! Plus gives good information.

However, for a strictly economic point of view, it's less expensive to simply get a subscription to John Harries web page where you will get a ton of information on just about all aspects of cruising, including drogues.

dj