Bob Austin posted: So far I have not had to use either a Sea Anchor or series Drogues, fortunately. I am aware of at least one cat which parished when riding to a sea anchor in a very bad storm. I agree with Dennis, I would rather keep moving if at all possiable. One of the other features of a series drogue is to prevent pitch polling, when the height of the waves begin to equal the waterline. I was once in a situation where it was very close to this. I surfed the boat down the quartering waves--not directly down wave. I had a about 20% of the "usual" sail area in a storm staysail foreward, which kept the center of effort forward of the center of lateral resistance, and the engine ticking over to be sure that I always had a flow of water over the rudder, even in the turbulance of the waves. I feel that this is a trick well worth remembering, because if the rudder stalls, you risk loosing control and broaching or taking a path which may not be the best for the vessel's survival. This was in a monhull, but I feel that the principle remains the same. Control is important. Gary: First, excellent post Bob. I agree 100%. However, please note that storm riding to any sort of storm anchor is a deep blue water option. Just like a sextant, it will be of extremely limited use inshore. Deploying a large sea anchor near a lee shore is only forestalling disaster, as a large parachute styled sea anchor deployed with a tiny weathercock sail aft will indeed pretty much stop you. The series drogue was never intended to stop you, instead it provides an easy riding resistance Yes, in that situation, with disabled engines and in such a precarious place I would do so, but only as the very last desperate measure before wrecking. For the bulk of us power catamaran cruisers -- with boats smaller than fifty feet or so; with fuel capacity ranges in the 600 miles general range; with boats ill suited to heavy storm survival (large windows, cockpits, transoms and with hulls unable to recover from a capsize); with only VHF radios giving at best maybe fifty miles range; with pretty accurate weather histories and forecasts readily available; etc. etc. -- I can't imagine how any sensible skipper would ever find themselves out far enough to make use of a sea anchor, much less a drogue. Far better to plan ahead and never find yourself exposed to such a dire risk. Far better to invest the money in fuel polishing and propulsion/steering systems maintenance and spares. If I had a large cat, with a suitable design to gracefully withstand heavy weather, with five times or more my PDQ's fuel range, with SSB and satphone capability, in daily communication with a weather guru, and in company with other similar boats within range to assist each other -- then I would have a properly sized drogue. I would probably deploy it from the stern, in order to maintain steerage. I would also use the engines, against the drogue to maintain steerage and therefore control. I am uncertain how a large sea anchor would work with a catamaran hull, but given that they virtually stop your boat eliminating steerage and therefore control of the boat's attitude to wind and waves will need to be controlled. This large sea anchor would need to be deployed from the bow, to present the bows to the oncoming waves and wind and attitude control attempted with some sort of a riding sail and a large bridle. Further, the drogue line itself is sized to provide exceptional snubbing, needed in heavy seas. The standard large parachute style would need additional snubbing, or adoption of the ParaAnchor, a parachute shaped net of webbing to handle this surging. Face it folks, my boat, and most of yours are simply not deepwater passagemakers. If you want to go there, get a passagemaking monohull sailboat designed to handle those situations. Gary Bell, AKA Mister Science