Gale rider - How much chain?

[Suijin]

I need to replace the chain for my Galerider and I’m curious if anyone has any real world experience deploying one in anger and resultant advice. Boat is 40’ 14 tons loaded. Galerider is 36”, acquired primarily for emergency steering. I have two 300’ lines for deployment. How much chain and what size is appropriate for use as a drogue to control speed in a following sea (vs as emergency steering)?

Also, I’ve only had experience deploying a drogue with a bridle. In terms of using it to slow the boat in a following sea I’ve read that securing it off one quarter is preferred. That would in fact be much easier on my specific boat.

I’m assuming that doing so mitigates “fish tailing” and perhaps shock loading as well, but straight off the stern strikes me as safer with respect to potential broaching in a less organized sea. Comments?

[Privilege]

The guy from Fiorentino did a great seven drogue comparison test...with and without chain. You Tube; 'Drogue Comparison'. It'll give you a good idea about the effects of chain.

I hope this helps.

[gaucho]

Im interested in this topic too, and I have more or less exactly the same question. I have a similar boat (40ft Passport, 22k lbs), and the same GaleRider. I purchased it as a possible way to steer in an emergency and also as a way to help to heave to and slow down the boat even further, as described in Morgan's Cloud article:

https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/06...ile-heaved-to/

I have 250ft of 5/8 line for this, and I still haven't purchased any chain. I was thinking of 20ft of 3/8 chain. For steering, I'm not sure if I have enough line at this time, I haven't really tried it, I believe I have enough line to try out. I need a backup anchor rode to place my Fortress if needed (I would reuse those 20ft of chain here), so that could work as another 250ft of line.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Privilege

The guy from Fiorentino did a great seven drogue comparison test...with and without chain. You Tube; 'Drogue Comparison'. It'll give you a good idea about the effects of chain.

I hope this helps.

Thank yous. Very interesting to see comparison of several different types of drogues in the water.

A couple of comments. One or two of the drogues looked like toys and not really suitable for a real boat in a storm. The weakness of these was noted in their comments.

The method of deployment I think was a bit flawed IE dumping the drogue, line and chain overboard in a wad. I think proper deployment would be to feed the drogue out in a more controlled manner which would have eliminated some of the tangling problems.

While the data generated was very interesting and potentially very useful the tests were in a steady state mode. At sea a boat will alternately surf and stall in following seas so any drogue will also alternately catch and drag then slow and probably sink the tighten and drag again. A more in depth test showing how the various drogues work in that kind of situation would be even more interesting.

[gaucho]

Even though I think that the tests ran are good, after watching his drogue for steering video, Im left a bit disappointed at his presentation of the "competition". I understand he has to sell his product, but when the testing is pretty skewed, I stop trusting the guy. I work in advertising. Apart from the Pepsi Challenge in the 80s, I see no point in comparing yourself trying to be objective (but then not being objective). When he deploys the Gale Rider, he pays out a lot of line. He also claims the drogue HAS to be attached midship, which is not true, it's just what Gale Rider suggests as the ideal pivot point. The GaleRider can potentially be attached to the stern as much as his Shark drogue. Maybe the Shark drogue does a better job being closer, agreed, specially with the lack of chain. But he over does it by paying the GaleRider really far. If you look at Gale Riders video, it seems "as easy" as the Shark; still the Shark might be better, for sure.

So my point is, if this is the way he performs this comparisons, I really don't find the comparisons worth that much.

Shark drogue video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UlLHiKF6to

GaleRider video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vupIl68mCYg

Judge yourselves.

[hpeer]

I wrote the MFG in this topic and they wrote back NO chain.

You can request the whole instruction directly from Landfall Navigation.

LANDFALL
151 Harvard Avenue Stamford, CT 06902 1.800.941.2219 LandfallNavigation.com


3. RIGGING THE GALERIDER: The GALERIDER is ALWAYS deployed and used from the STERN of the boat. A nylon anchor line appropriate for anchoring with a storm anchor is ideal for GALERIDER deployment. Double braid Nylon is preferred. Such an anchor line normally ends with a heavy thimble and shackle, good for attachment to the GALERIDER swivel. No chain should be used. The minimum length should be 350 feet, with optimum deployment expected between 200 and 300 feet to fit the wave pattern. The shackle end of the deployment line should be led aft and off the boat, as it will be used, before it is attached to the GALERIDER. The deployment line may be led through an enclosed, rounded rail chock or directly out over the transom with some protection against chafe on the pulpit or other obstructions. The other end of the deployment line is normally secured to the largest cockpit winch for strength, deployment ease, and later ease of retrieval. After the deployment line has been led properly, the shackle end should be carried forward, outside the lifelines and rigging, and secured to the GALERIDER.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by hpeer

I wrote the MFG in this topic and they wrote back NO chain.

You can request the whole instruction directly from Landfall Navigation.

LANDFALL
151 Harvard Avenue Stamford, CT 06902 1.800.941.2219 LandfallNavigation.com


3. RIGGING THE GALERIDER: The GALERIDER is ALWAYS deployed and used from the STERN of the boat. A nylon anchor line appropriate for anchoring with a storm anchor is ideal for GALERIDER deployment. Double braid Nylon is preferred. Such an anchor line normally ends with a heavy thimble and shackle, good for attachment to the GALERIDER swivel. No chain should be used. The minimum length should be 350 feet, with optimum deployment expected between 200 and 300 feet to fit the wave pattern. The shackle end of the deployment line should be led aft and off the boat, as it will be used, before it is attached to the GALERIDER. The deployment line may be led through an enclosed, rounded rail chock or directly out over the transom with some protection against chafe on the pulpit or other obstructions. The other end of the deployment line is normally secured to the largest cockpit winch for strength, deployment ease, and later ease of retrieval. After the deployment line has been led properly, the shackle end should be carried forward, outside the lifelines and rigging, and secured to the GALERIDER.

Interesting. This would appear to conflict with general advice to both use chain as well as longer line to keep the drogue from skipping or pulling out of waves.

[hpeer]

Yes, not what I expected.