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Back to Storm Tactics Page
Below are some notes
and considerations on storm tactics and storm gear and is presented as a
broad summary. There have been many very good books on the subject
and it is highly recommended that a study of these books is made so as
to get a more detailed understanding of the issues (See books in right
hand column).
On the previous page there are also many online articles that may be
useful. There is no
single answer, your approach will entirely depend on the conditions,
your vessel and your crew and the gear you have onboard.
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Choose the right tactic:
keep sailing (Storm sails)?
Heave to?
Lying ahull?
Lay to a sea anchor?
Run before the storm without drogues
(with or without sails)?
Run before the storm using drogues or
warps etc?
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The severity of the conditions -
Survival or comfort? The
conditions experienced or expected will impact the tactics used; for
example a sea anchor may be a good device for comfort in poor
conditions but will it be safe in heavy breaking seas?
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The size and design of a yacht:
A storm for one yacht might be a good romp for another; a small
yacht may need to take survival decisions well before a much bigger
and more capable yacht. Some yacht designs will behave very well in
some of the above options but may be disastrous for another design.
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The experience and number of
crew will obviously be a major
factor; it may not be possible for shorthanded crews to keep the boat
running before a big sea for a long time, fatigue may become a problem.
Experience of the crew and knowledge of the yacht will help choose
the correct tactic.
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Test tactics and gear before it
is needed: It is always a good
idea to try out different methods and gear before it is needed in a
real survival situation. Using some gear can lead to potentially
dangerous tangles of rope and gear that may put the yacht in a far
worse situation.
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Making the correct decision
early on will have a
significant effect on how things work out. For example, trying to
set a sea anchor when a boat is already running before a heavy sea
may be very dangerous; the yacht has got to be turned around into
potentially large seas, taking the risk of a rollover if caught beam
on.
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The geographical/oceanographic
location of the yacht may also
be important; is there a lee shore? If a lee shore is 100 miles away
and you are running at 6 knots you will not have too long before a
new problem arises if the wind and sea stay up. What other
geographical / oceanographic features may affect the decision on
what tactic to follow?
-
Weather forecast
- what will the weather do in the
immediate or longer term. Significant wind speed and direction
changes will significantly affect tactics used.
-
Tidal and current effects-
may be important for expected
conditions
-
Yacht
superstructure - the ability to seal hatches and
companionways or damage caused to these may change your choice of
tactics. For example lost washboards might make it inadvisable
to put breaking seas astern due to the possibility of being
swamped/pooped
-
Damage
sustained - may lead you to choose a different tactic to
protect a vulnerable part of your vessel
Here is an example of a situation we
experienced:
There were two of us
onboard Peer Gynt II. We were sailing from New Caledonia to Australia
when an East Coat Low developed off the NE coast of Australia. We would
sail directly through the projected path of the storm if we continued on
our course and the forecast winds were 70 knots. There were several
other yachts within 20 miles of our position, two of the yachts were
catamarans, one of which was fairly small. The problem was compounded by
the fact that we were in the vicinity of relatively shallow water (South
of Chesterfield reef). We decided to re-cross the shallow water so
that we would be to leeward of the shallows and have plenty of sea room
for running if necessary. It turned out that we were caught up in bad
weather for 2 days, with winds around 50+ knots. We used a combination of
heaving-to in the early stages and then running off in the later stages.
Two yachts lay to sea anchors, one of which was the small cat. The small
cat had a very rough time of it, the sea anchor held her against
breaking seas that crashed against her hulls and caused a lot of
anxiety for the crew. We (in a heavy and deep 44 footer) were happiest when running
under bare poles, being hove-to was less comfortable than running when
things got rough, however we wanted to limit the amount of sea room we
lost as we were going the wrong way when running. We did not need to deploy our drogue (we have run
before the weather on several occasions without a drogue in different
long keel boats with success) and our running speed was 7+ knots. Had
conditions got worse we would undoubtedly have towed our drogue and/or
warps. With only the two of us on board we would not have wanted to hand
steer until it became absolutely necessary, this way we avoided fatigue. We
used our windvane self steering gear to steer the boat safely and
effectively in these conditions. The design of the boat handled this
with no problems at all, other hull designs may not self steer under
bare poles as well. These were far from survival conditions but had any
of the yachts been caught in the relative shallows, or in the path of
the storm, things could have become more demanding.
The possibility of being caught off that very long Australian
coast line with no safe harbours was a good reminder of when a sea anchor may be
well utilised. A sea anchor may prevent a yacht getting too close to a
lee shore when there is nowhere else to go (if she does not have good
windward ability in bad conditions or the rig has been lost etc).
A sea anchor may prove
useful if there is not enough sea room to use other tactics, or the
yacht is disabled in some way, but other tactics may be more appropriate
when there are not such limitations. A sea anchor holds the yacht up
against the full force of breaking seas, whilst running off considerably
lessons the impact of a breaking sea. If the seas are not breaking
heavily then a sea anchor would work very well, but then so would other
tactics. There will come a time when running before the weather will in
itself become hazardous and the boat will need to be slowed down with
drogues or warps. This is where the pro sea anchor people will say that
the bow is stronger and safer pointed into such seas, however the
counter arguments are just as strong (no pun intended!). When riding to
a sea anchor the yacht may be pushed astern violently which could damage
or break off the rudder, and there is the risk that the yacht may not
keep her bows fully toward the seas. If the rode where to fail due to
chafe the yacht would fall off and for a time be at risk of a rollover.
Well at some stage all blue water
cruisers have to decide on what system to use. It is possible that when
presented with a storm situation, the system we thought we would use now
looks too risky, or other factors make it inadvisable. It is the well
prepared yacht and practised crew that will be able to adapt to the
changing situation and modify plans to fit a developing situation. With
this in mind, when deciding on what equipment to carry, having storm sails, drogues,
large warps and a sea
anchor onboard will cover most eventualities. Other equipment should
also be carried such as rigging cutters, plywood and bolts etc for
making repairs to broken windows and hatches etc.
Carrying the right gear is only
a part of the equation; knowing how, when and if to deploy the equipment
is as important. Knowing your yacht and playing around with the storm
gear in non-survival conditions is advisable. It is also advisable
to read as many articles or books that describe actual experiences for
the different methods available.
A word of caution however; I have seen
descriptions, and praise of systems, when used in only moderately poor
conditions, such as ordinary gales at sea. Breaking seas caused by
severe storms and / or oceanographic anomalies (such as a gale against a
strong current) will have dramatically different
effects on the correct choice of tactics and gear that should be used.
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