Arne,

Indeed, there are a variety of stories out there. To compliment what you say,  the wave conditions on that occasion were such that the surge pressure was enough to shear a 1/2 inch stainless steel shackle, anchoring the bridal to the starboard hull. Pete fortunately had a sea anchor at hand (basically a large folding bucket on a long rope), which he fixed to the starboard transom, stabilizing the boat while he repaired the starboard bridal. During THAT process, we got thumped by an excessively large wave coming from port, which lifted the hull  (and rudder) into the air, coming back down with the port bridal caught under the port rudder. Fortunately, an equally large wave followed almost immediately, once again lifting hull and rudder, but this time freeing the bridal from the rudder. By this stage, Pete would have been better wearing a diver's suit, mask and snorkel, while Linda and I observed in relative comfort and awe from the cabin. Had the the port bridal remained caught under the rudder, it would probably have sheared it clean off, but we had good luck....and Pete had a spare rudder.

I was very happy to go with Pete on my first off shore trip, because I knew he would have several back up systems in place should such an event arise. If he hadn't a spare rudder, he would have built one. I think a lot of it boils down to knowing the boat, what it is capable of, and knowing one's own abilities. All the crew had to do was remain relatively calm and do what the man said.

Although 1/2 inch 316 stainless shackles are very strong, under fluctuating levels of duress, they can become brittle. This does not bolster my confidence in stainless steel, but it does give me huge respect for the forces that we can encounter. Had the shackle not broken, the bridal would have remained amidships and the rope could not have caught under the rudder. Furthermore, Oryx's windvane system does not require servo pendulums or even trim tabs, and the vanes are well forward of and above the bridal anchor points. So once repaired, nothing could catch, even in those steep and confused seas.

To conclude, from my perspective based on that particular experience, for the drogue to be safe and effective, everything needs to be strong enough to cope with those forces AND it needs to be set up in such a way that it can't catch on anything once deployed. The main disadvantage of the JSR is the bulk and stowage. During the passage it needs to be sitting ready to be deployed in the event of a big storm, but it is a reassuring sight and makes for a darn good back rest when not in use!

Hi Arne,

Here is a clip of the series drogue in action on Oryx. We ran into a short sharp storm off the north east coast of New Zealand late last November.

As a newcomer to off shore sailing,  I found the drogue to be a very good brake and stabilizer. Apparently it was gusting 50 knots and 21' waves but I suspect the current and tide around the North of New Zealand accentuated wave height and steepness, and possibly even affected wave direction. They came mainly from the stern but we also had several hits from both port and starboard sides. Not for the faint hearted!

As mentioned in one of the posts, Pete uses the slack moments in the wave trough to haul in a meter or so at a time, and secures it round a robust staghorn cleat fixed to the transom inside the cockpit. It seems to be the sort of job that gets you on your knees!

https://youtu.be/6WQnnhDfHHE

Could someone please explain to me in plain, simple English what makes the Jordan Serial Drogue(?), JSD, so superior over other drogues that it defends its costs, its complex construction and its awkward handling?

Arne

Regarding the multiple-storm robustness of the JSD, John of Morgan's Cloud and Attainable Adventure Cruising has a pretty good backstory explained, and recommendations / developments for beefing them up.  He remains a strong advocate for Mr. Jordan's invention.

I think that hand-hauled recovery of a full-sized JSD is strictly for the smaller, lighter boats and the younger, stronger crews. Too much risk of injury, when handling heavily loaded lines. 

I'd use the one or two stoppers method, rolling hitched on the drogue warp, taken to a manual or electric winch, for medium sized drogues.

But when it comes to drogues for a big, heavy boat, I'd move onto the method generally recommended for the parachute sea anchors.That is: first, a float on a strong 10 metre line made fast at the after end of the drogue, capable of supporting the whole device so that it doesn't sink too far when the boat is stationary; second, a smaller pickup float on a short, light floating line made fast to the larger float. Motor back to pickup float, and recover the drogue backwards, so that there is less resistance as the cones are collapsed.