I've noticed that my earlier post from 2009 on making an anchor riding sail has generated a lot of activity lately and so I though I would post an update on what I have found since that original post. Over the few years since then we have used it on a good handful of occasions, and always when the winds were strong enough to warrant it. On Aeolus, if there are winds in the anchorage at or over about 20 knots, then she will swing pretty widely.
We've just returned from another fantastic trip to Stuart Island that I will post about later and used the anchor riding sail again because we had winds of 20-25 knots in Reid Harbor.
I've taken to hoisting the sail only on the split backstays, and in my case, always on the starboard side. The tack is tied to a cleat on the side of the cockpit. I use the main halyard for the head, and the clew is led forward, over the dodger, to and through a Ubolt on the pilothouse top that secures one of the blocks for the mainsheet. From there the sheet line, if you can call it that, is led to the cleat on the mast normally used by the main halyard.
This arrangement seems to work really well, as the sail is set just above the dodger. What we find is that with the anchor riding sail we swing gently through about 90 degrees or less. Without it, she wants to swing near a full 180. We had the chance to watch other boats in the anchorage without an anchor sail and they did swing about a full 180. And the motion is much more gentle.
If the winds are higher, closer to the 40 knots we've seen before, I believe the effect would be even greater. The forces are extreme, and the jerking around at anchor is both uncomfortable and bad for holding. I've been very glad to have the anchor sail since I made it, and have found it easy and reliable to use. It stows in a bag the size of a football, and sure beats having to set a stern anchor to prevent the swings!
No comments:
Post a Comment