Description
The Para-Tech Sea Anchor is designed to keep your bow to the wind, allowing seas to pass beneath you while you drift very slowly to leeward. The Sea Anchor’s incredible drag practically stops the vessel and allows the crew to passively wait out a storm.
PARA-TECH Sea Anchors are made from high strength NYLON fabric having weight and strength more than four times that of surplus parachutes which have been used as Sea Anchors for many years. Seams are reinforced with Nylon webbing. Nylon lines with a minimum strength of 1,500# are joined at the rode end to a shackle with a strength of from 17,000# to 52,000#. A correctly sized PARA-TECH Sea Anchor will likely never experience the loads it is capable of taking.
PARA-TECH Sea Anchors are designed to be “failure tolerant.” If the full system is over stressed the Sea Anchor is designed to blow a panel before anything else fails. The Sea Anchor will still hold the boat but with increased drift. It will function properly even with some broken or damaged lines.
Boat LOA – 120 – 150 ft.
Displacement – Under 300,000 lbs.
Sea Anchor Size – 32 Foot
Packed Dimensions – 18″ Dia. X 30″ Tall
Weight – 110 lbs.
Included with all PARA-TECH Sea Anchors:
Deployable Stowage Bag, Heavy Duty Shackle, Float Line
NOT Included:
Floats, Anchor Rode, Swivel Shackle, Boat (we’re really cheap about this).
Warranty
The PARA-TECH name is your assurance of quality fabrication per the standards established by the parachute industry. PARA-TECH Sea Anchors are warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of five years. Manufactured in the United States of America.
Rigging, Rode & Deployment
SEA ANCHOR RIGGING
All components used with your Sea Anchor MUST be suitable for storm anchoring and bow attachments (cleats, Sampson posts, etc.) MUST have backing plates. Rode MUST be NYLON and 10 to 15 times the boat’s overall length. A stainless steel swivel is highly recommended. MULTIHULLS also MUST rig the rode to a bridle with EACH leg being 2½ times the beam of the boat and rigged to the OUTER HULLS. A partial Trip Line is the simplest way to retrieve your Sea Anchor.
PAY OUT LOTS OF RODE
The Sea Anchor relies very heavily on the stretch of the long NYLON rode for yielding to the seas (and not standing up to them). Even in moderate conditions, pay out at least 300′ of rode or 10 to 15X the boats overall length in heavy weather situations.
SEA ANCHOR DEPLOYMENT
Secure items on board, lower sails, etc.
Head into the weather to “stall” the boat.
Toss trip line, float line and Sea Anchor into the water on the WINDWARD side of the boat, followed by the rode.
Drift back on the Sea Anchor, paying out the required scope.
Make fast the rode and employ chafe gear.
Secure the rudder amidships.
Secure the boat and get some rest.
