Sea anchors can be used to steer a sailboat in some situations in the event that the rudder is lost, as one guy demonstrated when he lost his rudder 1609km (1000mi) from Hawaii:
You can also use them to pull you. I used to work deep sea in the merchant marine, we had them in lifeboats/liferafts. Part of the training had us sitting in a liferaft, in a pool, throwing a sea anchor, and then hauling on the line to pull us through the water. Useful if you are trying to rescue people.
Many sailors also use them for speed-limiting if they are in bad seas, specifically a Jordan Series Drogue, which is a really long line of drogues such give you a lot of drag despite the howling wind.
sailorjack94|3 years ago
sausagefeet|3 years ago