FIORENTINO - Storm Deployment Of The SHARK.

SHARK DROGUE DEPLOYMENT by Fiorentino

Shot outside the Golden Gate Bridge, Zack Smith, inventor of the SHARK demonstrates how it takes only one crew member to deploy the SHARK drogue in sloppy weather—not several crew members.

The SHARK deploys remarkably fast without the use of long bulky chain, cumbersome cables, or hundreds of feet of heavy, cone ridden rope required by other drogues.

Once Smith deploys the SHARK, additional rode is quickly passed through a chock to properly anchor the SHARK behind approaching waves. Once the SHARK surfaces, Smith directs his crewmember to pay out more rode to submerge the SHARK. (*A bridle is later set up off camera.)

*BRIDLES:
Bridles are always helpful. Smith's personal preference on a monohull sailboat is to set a bridle after wave conditions reach around 25-feet. Novice sailors should consider setting up their bridle prior to drogue deployment. You can use a block or two short ropes to form a bridle.

SAIL MAGAZINE DRAG TEST RESULTS:
"We tested the 12-pound Small Shark. In place of the large hoops of some drogues, the Fiorentino uses a thick-diameter, small-mouth ring, eliminating shroud lines and the risk of tangles. A drogue tail is standard, so it is easy to attach a second drogue or, more likely, a weight to keep the device submerged. According to the designer, chain could be used, but the drogue is intended to work with an anchor attached—a dinghy anchor or second anchor that any voyager would be carrying anyway... The square-cut Dacron canopy and fittings of the Fiorentino store in the tidy cylindrical package created by the hard mouth of the device. Im no engineer, but as near as I can tell, this one is built tough, deployment is easy, and there has been a genuine effort to make the usage foolproof."

Category:

Science & Technology

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