Do they work? (Anchor Riding Sails, that is.)

[Jon6436]

Regarding recent post about Anchor Riding Sails, I've never used one because I've never seen one used by another sailor. Questions to those of you 'users,' "How well do they work?" And, "Does boat size matter, i.e. do they work better on large (e.g. 30 ft. +) or small (20 footers) boats?"Thanks.

 

[Ross]

They function like a weather vane on the

roof of a barn. They keep the pointy end towards the wind.

 

[Bob V]

dodgers and biminis help too

I have a small riding sail that was a gift but I find that if I have all of my canvas deployed (dodger, bimini and connector piece), it does the same thing. The weather vane is a good analogy but also kind of like feathers on an arrow. I find that my riding sail can be used to adjust the angle that she lies to the wind. Sometime you may appreciate a little cross breeze or the angle of your view needs tweaking. My sail is a triangle that is 10 x 6 x 10. The 6 ft edge attaches to the topping lift or back stay and the long edges head towards the mast. The is a grommet in each corner so it is easy to rig with three lines attached. If you put it farther back (to the stay) it keeps you straighter and steader the the topping life approach, however the topping lift method allows you to adjust the angle. A line from the end of the boom brought forward like a preventer can get the sail way over to the side and bring that breeze in when you want it.I find that the main reason that I use my riding sail is when I need a rain fly on one side of my bimini to catch that horizontal rain when I am tied to a dock with a cross breeze. It works very well for that.

 

[Rich]

Works well enough

I've used one from time to time with my boat (28') on the mooring and it does help keep the stern from wandering back and forth. If you only have a single mooring line rather than a line on each bow cleat you may still find yourself wandering to one side...

 

[RichH]

Sure do work.....

For any boat with high freeboard and that likes to swing/sail around on its anchor, a riding sail reallly does the 'trick' ... the bigger the better. I especially like it in heavy wind condition when anchored.

 

[RAD]

I have a 32 Centercockpit and...

It's got a high free board and I use it it a lot to keep me from swinging aroundI noticed that on a windy day while at anchor that my boat seems to move around more than the others nearby,I'm sure the bimini,dodger and high free board helps it alongOne day years ago I won a auction on EBay for a nice riding sail and I use it all the time.

 

[abe]

Another yes here...best thing we have done..

..to avoid dancing on the anchor.abe