Bavaria 38 swings wildly on anchor

[jeff.sailor]

When I'm at anchor, Bavaria 38 (2004) with an all chain rode swings considerably, wildly as the winds kick up.  Anchor bridle made no difference. 

Anyone see similar.  Any solutions? 

I'm aware that some boats that sail on anchor use riding sails though I'm trying to avoid another piece of gear.

Jeff

[Cdogg]

Hi Jeff,

Although we only have the baby of the family (Bav 30c) we find exactly the same. We spent a weird night on a visitor mooring in Loch Ranza Arran recently and we seemed to be the only boat, among the many there, who were wildly dancing around our mooring all night. To be fair, it was a very blustery night as the wind funnelled down through the valley, but we seemed to be the most 'active' of the group.

I'll be interested to read of any solutions.

Cheers
cdogg

[moonlight_shadow]

Same here with Bavaria 38 (04). For some reason it's like we're the only boat always pointing in the wrong direction !

Our solution.. head down in the cabin and forget about it!

Regards

[AndyPandy]

Hi Jeff,

I noticed this too so i now use a (kong chain stopper) device about a metre or 2 from the boat end of the chain. I attacch a rope to it and cleat it off on a bow cleat. This then takes the weight of the boat and the effect is i dont get noisy chain rumble on the bow roller and the bow sits slightly off the wind and hey presto, no swinging.

Hope that helps,

Andy

[jeff.sailor]

Andy, I'll have to play around some more to see if I can get your results.  So far I've tried snubbing the chain to a single bow cleat, and also attached a Y-shaped bridle ahead of the roller and made fast to both bow cleats.  Neither had a littlest bit of an effect. 

[Kaptajnen]

Our Bavaria 38 CC Ocean also swings a lot due to the wind catching the bow moving it against the alignment from the anchor... At least I think that's the reason....

[Keiron]

So it's not just me that has this problem!  We have a new Cruiser 40 and it swings through a full half circle at times.  I've stopped worrying about it and put it down to hull design.  I have noticed other cruising designs swing significantly whereas the more race orientated ones don't tend to as much.

As long as my anchor is dug well in and there's no one close to my swinging circle I'm quite happy.  However if there is a simple solution I'm all ears.  Especially if it doesn't involve lobbing another lump of metal over the side or spending a heap more money.

Keiron

[singlefish]

havent noticed that with our 38 yet , but havent anchored much , wifes cousin had same prob though with hanse 470 , we put out a sea anchor at stern and that made a huge difference , not something I carry though

[spencerd]

Hi All,

The Bavaria's all swing on anchor due to their flat bottom design, there is no large keel/under-water component to stop this. I always make sure that the rudder is centralised to add some sideways friction. Although a stern anchor helps I would not suggest using this with other boats in close proximity as you may find that the have all swung round you you have not.....

As suggested, get used to it and pour another drink.

Cheers

Spencer

[Rampage]

It happens!  Rampage swings round the anchor like an aging rocker on speed in anything much above Force 5 and there's little that can be done about it - flat bottomed hull and nothing much to stop the swing.  We've got a bit of canvas left over from winter projects, so we may try rigging an anchor sail this summer if we feel motivated enough.  If we do, I'll let you know how it works (or not).

[battuta]

We have the same problem with our 2009 B31 and I use an anchor sail from Banner Bay Marine which helps, though not as much as it did on our prior boat (a 1972 Coronao 25). I'm not sure if a bigger anchor sail, or their newer design delta model might work better?

Riyad
s/v Battuta
Vancouver, Canada

[Nashira]

Our Bav 40 Ocean was also an anchor swinger. I got sick of it and purchased a FinDelta sail. Raise it with mainsail halyard, tie off wings on targa, secure leading edge forward around mast and... presto! Now she stays within 20 to 30 degrees of the wind. It takes about 10 minutes to set up and I find it time well invested.