Anyone had experience with these? www.burkemarine.com.au/pages/seabrake

I came back over the bar at the narrows at Dunalley after a return trip from the lower east coast of Tas a couple of weeks back. There was very little swell left by then so there was no issue at all. I do tend to use that transit through the canal when there's swell running and I'm off chasing surf. So I wondered about having an easily deployed and recoverable drogue on board if I ever wanted to enter there with any serious swell. I note that they can be repurposed as a flopper stopper too which would be handy in some anchorages (I'm thinking of you Schouten Island).

Have used one as a flopped stopper, and it worked very well, with a very noticeable improvement once you adjust it to get it working correctly, well worth the time to set it up, which took me about ten minutes.

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BlueMoon said..
Have used one as a flopped stopper, and it worked very well, with a very noticeable improvement once you adjust it to get it working correctly, well worth the time to set it up, which took me about ten minutes.

Good to hear, thanks BlueMoon. If I'm shelling out for one it's nice to know I'd gain an effective flopper stopper too.

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BlueMoon said..
Have used one as a flopped stopper, and it worked very well, with a very noticeable improvement once you adjust it to get it working correctly, well worth the time to set it up, which took me about ten minutes.

Any chance of a schematic for how to set it up as a flopper stopper?

I have a sea brake already but would love to know it can add more value

Hi Dralyagmas, I couldn't see anything detailed on the Burke website page: www.burkemarine.com.au/pages/seabrake

There is a very basic illustration of it on the end of a boom out to the side, looks like it's set deep too.

Have you used your Seabrake at all? as a drogue that is.

Found a vid that was posted about 10 years ago

I have a Seabrake but haven't used it in anger either as a drogue or a flopper stopper. For the latter I will use a bit of chain to weigh it down (ie beyond/below the apex of the cone) and the spinnaker pole to hold it out, using the pole uphaul, downhaul and a spare rope to steady the pole. I'm sure it would work best with one on either side, but even one should improve things markedly.

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Craig66 said..

Found a vid that was posted about 10 years ago

That's hilarious! some sections are so pixelated you can hardly make anything out. I found some of the content poorly written and visually conveyed too. I get what they're trying to get across, but this is potentially a very good product that is badly undermined by this kind of poor advertising. Take a look at the animation on the Burke website, it illustrates a vessel with the seabrake deployed going against the swell, not with it.

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2bish said..
Hi Dralyagmas, I couldn't see anything detailed on the Burke website page: www.burkemarine.com.au/pages/seabrake

There is a very basic illustration of it on the end of a boom out to the side, looks like it's set deep too.

Have you used your Seabrake at all? as a drogue that is.

No I havent used it at all. Its been sitting on the boat but without any gear to deploy it since I bought the boat. Its on my list of things to do prior to sailing away next year, but not high on the list, yet.

I will check out the burke web site.

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dralyagmas said..

BlueMoon said..
Have used one as a flopped stopper, and it worked very well, with a very noticeable improvement once you adjust it to get it working correctly, well worth the time to set it up, which took me about ten minutes.

Any chance of a schematic for how to set it up as a flopper stopper?

I have a sea brake already but would love to know it can add more value

Instructions should be inside the Seabrake bag, mine got wet and destroyed.
I added a couple of diving weights to the bottom of it, and used the spinnaker pole.