Anchor Riding Sail

[Piper Capri 22]

Hey guys,

I've got the prospect of doing some overnights and anchoring a bit this summer and that's got me thinking of how to keep her head to the wind and not sail around the anchorage all night. Especially if it's a bit crowded. I've got a good oversize Lewmar Delta and chain and I'm not worried about staying put, but with just one anchor out my Capri is all over the place, shifting around and uneasy. I don't want to put out a second anchor because, well, 2 anchors is more work but more important in a wind shift I don't want to be the only boat not shifting.

So, my mind is on anchor riding sails. I think Verboten maybe had one and I think I read something last year, but topics are now wiped so...

Anyone have one? Have dimensions? Have any good ideas? I've never used one, but was thinking to clip onto the backstay and pull it up with the main halyard while tying the clew to the end of the mast and the tack just around the furled main on the boom. Should work, I'd think? I was wondering if I could just get some heavy canvas I'd try and make one as proof of concept...but if others have direct experience that'd be great.

 

[Piper Capri 22]

Sailrite has a kit, or you can buy one finished. There is also a video - I presume something like this would work, but anyone have experience or better ideas?

http://www.sailrite.com/Anchor-Riding-F ... 5-Sq-Feet#

 

[sinnettc]

Yeah, I have one for Verboten. It's a corner of an old pentex genoa. It works pretty well; you still sail on the anchor/mooring but much less than without it. IIRC it's about the size of the Sailrite one for a 25 footer.

Here's a picture from our trip to the San Juans in 2010. Kind of blends into the boom tent but they're actually separate.

 

[Piper Capri 22]

Ahh there's the stuff! I thought there was a picture out there of one on Verboten. I've looked at your cruise photos and blog before but with the capri22.net site going down I wasn't able to find the link anymore. Good to hear it helps. I might try a kellet system first (additional weight off the anchor rode). Should dampen movement if not prevent horsing. I'll try that first because I can try it for free. I have a jib I could have cut up, but it's still in pretty good shape and fits my Capri, so that seems like a waste of a sail to me to cut it up. Anyway, might be a few weeks before I'm on the boat in a position to anchor again, but I can post back and let you know how that works. If it doesn't I'll probably end up trying the anchor riding sail. Incidentally, I can't tell from the photo, do you have it cleated off to one side? I think they are not supposed to be on centerline but the tack I guess it would be should be held off to port or starboard. Thanks again for reposting the pic!

 

[sinnettc]

A cheap tarp (white?) would do the job if your jib isn't ready to be cut up.

I have a line that I use to cleat the tack off to the mast. Clew is just tied off to the end of the boom, and the head is held up by the main halyard. Seems to work ok.

Let me know how the kellet works.

 

[Piper Capri 22]

I just wanted to provide a little update here. Hopefully more to come after the season is over and slows down I'll post some pictures and more info, but for now...

I didn't try an anchor riding sail, but I did try the kellet system. Which worked like a champ!

I have done a couple of trips in Apostle Islands this summer and spent a couple nights at anchor out in the islands. The kellet DEFINITELY helped keep the boat from sailing around the anchor. It still sail around a bit but the winds were light and shifty and frankly all the boats in the anchorages were shifting around a bit as well. Our Capri was sailing around a bit more but I attribute that to being a tiny fraction of the weight of the next smallest boat in there

My wife and I started nicknaming the boat 'Lazy Eye' since after a wind shift or two our Capri would be pointing a different way from all the other boats. But the point is it wasn't changing direction, or sailing nearly as much. I can deal with being the little bit 'different' one in an anchorage as long as everyone has swing room! Which we did, since I was tucking into shore closer than the big boys could get.

My 'overnighter' is a 14lb Lewmar Delta anchor with about 8' of pretty big chain and then 110' of anchor rode. From that I suspended a home made 20lb kellet (duct taped two 10lb weights together, threw a line through the middle and carabiner'ed it onto the anchor rode). That system right there will keep a Capri in place! I tried dropping the kellet to the bottom and also suspending the kellet a foot or two off the bottom and I think I prefered it suspended. Dampened the motion better and seemed to prevent sailing around a bit better too. Either way the anchor rode goes from the cleat straight down into the water, no angle at all!

I'm guessing a smaller 10lb kellet would be enough for this, but what I can confirm for now is that 20lb hanging off your anchor rode like that quiets the boat down at anchor and also insures your anchor is going to hold for the night to boot.

I also tried a 1:1 scope arrangement off the back with my danforth anchor too, thinking I could maybe keep the stern from swinging around even more that way. But, I couldn't really see that it was doing much other than making some pretty cool drag patterns in the sand 10' down. So, I pulled that out and put it away after a couple hours with seemingly no effect for the good or ill on the boat motion.

 

[sinnettc]

I maybe could have used a kellet the night we were in shallow bay, though I really think I just didn't have enough rode out. What did you use to stop the kellet from sliding down to the anchor?

 

[Piper Capri 22]

I had a line attached to the kellet and a carabiner attached to the line. Then another line from the carabiner that leads back to the boat. I clip the carabiner to the anchor rode, let it slip down however far I'd like and cleat off the line running directly from the carabiner. Hmmm sort of tough to explain I guess but I didn't take a picture.

So what I'm trying to say is even though I clip the carabiner (with weight) directly to anchor rode I had another line coming off that same carabiner that I'd cleat on the boat solely for the purpose of raising and lowering the kellet. Hope that makes sense.

And yes a kellet does allow you to get away with less scope. better though is enough scope plus a kellet of course!