Please select your home edition
Edition
upffront 2024 December Leaderboard

Get Ready to Kedge - Anchoring for Race Yachts

by Calanach Finlayson 12 Apr 2023 17:00 BST
Get Ready to Kedge - Anchoring For Race Yachts © upffront.com

The practice of kedging has been used for hundreds of years as a method of manoeuvring or orienting a sailing vessel against tide and wind. A kedge anchor is typically smaller and lighter than the primary anchor, making it easier to handle.

Modern cruising yachts continue to use kedge anchors for a variety of purposes including to provide additional holding power in strong wind or to maintain the alignment of the vessel in a narrow anchorage where there is not room to swing.

In this article we look at how racing boats use kedge anchors to hold fast in light wind and adverse current.

Kedging or anchoring?

The definition of kedging is "to warp or pull (a ship) along by hauling on the cable of an anchor carried out from the ship and dropped". This refers to the process by which a lightweight kedge anchor might be carried away from the vessel in a dingy or tender and dropped, allowing the ship to be hauled in that direction by pulling against the kedge.

Under the Racing Rules of Sailing, such an activity would of course breach rule 42. So in fact when we refer to kedging in the context of racing, the correct terminology is really anchoring, as permitted by RRS 45. Technicalities aside, most racing boats will carry a small, lightweight 'kedge' anchor for this purpose.

Know when to do it

Anchoring during a coastal passage race is not uncommon and doing so at the right time can pay significant dividends. Any light airs situation in regions of strong tidal current is likely to present the opportunity for a spot of anchoring. If you find yourself in an adverse current with dying breeze, you might want to think about having a lightweight kedge anchor ready to go and positioning the boat in shallow enough water to use it.

A team which is able to deploy and retrieve their anchor efficiently can hold ground while other boats drift back down the race course around them, before getting sailing again as soon as the breeze fills in.

Take the right kit

The anchor

The number of anchors you carry on board will be governed by which category of Offshore Special Regs you must comply with. Beyond that, the size and style of anchor just has to meet the anchor manufacturer's recommendation based on the boat's dimensions with suitable combination of chain and rope.

Lewmar LFX anchors provide good holding power for their weight. Taking a 35ft yacht as an example, the manufacturer recommendation is the LFX 10lbs (4.5kg) anchor. In addition, these anchors can be partly disassembled for easier stowage.

Rode

Anchor rode is the combination of chain and rope. The length needed (scope) can be estimated as a multiple of water depth. The scope recommended by Lewmar is 3x water depth as a minimum, up to 10x as optimum. Unless you are anchoring for a good night's sleep or to wait out a storm, the shorter end of the scale is usually enough for kedging in foul tide. As a starting point, we suggest taking around 6m of chain plus at least 60m of rope which should be good for short term anchoring in up to 20m depth.

Anchor lines are usually made from Nylon or Polyester in a twisted or plaited style. It might be tempting to try and reduce weight/bulk by taking a thin Dyneema line or even webbing strap but remember you will need to haul this by hand, so cheese wire is best avoided. Webbing straps are particularly unsuitable due the tendency for vibration when held taught in a flow of water.

Stowage

A small, light kedge anchor is easy to transport, allowing you to stow it low down in the boat and not necessarily in the anchor locker. Flake the rode into an open bag or sack and place the anchor on top ready for deployment. A top tip is to leave the other end of the line sticking out of the bag or tied off to a handle so you can make this fast on deck before deploying.

In summary:

  • Choose a lightweight kedging anchor which is suitably sized for your boat
  • Add at least 5m of chain plus 60-100m of rope
  • Stow the rope and anchor in a durable bag so it's ready to deploy
  • Stow the kedging kit low down in the boat close to the keel, ensuring you have easy access

See the range

Related Articles

Soft shackles are a win-win solution
Upffront look at their use across multiple applications Soft shackles have surely penetrated the mainstream sailing in recent years. They are a popular alternative to traditional metal shackles. Made from single braid Dyneema® soft shackles offer several advantages over their metal counterparts. Posted on 8 Feb
Vakaros Atlas 2 - sailing with ultimate precision
A careful review by the experts at upffront.com Recently upffront.com have introduced the latest Vakaros Atlas 2 sailing instrument to the shop and compared it in a review of other top sailing instruments. Posted on 25 Jan
Sailing instruments from Velocitek/Sailmon/Vakaros
An introduction and comparison from Upffront.com The term 'sailing instrument' is broadly applicable to just about any onboard system with a sensor and a readout. While wired instrument systems are common, in this blog we discuss portable GPS sailing instruments from Velocitek, Sailmon and Vakaros. Posted on 11 Jan
Standing Rigging
Why your standing rigging will benefit from replacing steel wire with composite fibre Why will your standing rigging benefit greatly from replacing the steel wire with composite fibre stays? I have been thinking of the advantages of composite rigging while following the different races and yachts challenges circumnavigating the world. Posted on 14 Dec 2023
Block and tackle
Understanding mechanical advantage on sailing boats A rough guide to mainsheet purchase systems by Upffront.com. A block and tackle or 'purchase' system is a form of mechanical advantage, where the input force is multiplied through a series of pulleys or blocks to create a much larger output force. Posted on 23 Nov 2023
Winterising a boat - useful tips from Upffront.com
Dave Proctor explains how to avoid some unpleasant surprises next spring Winterising the boat is a common task for many boat owners, regardless of where your boat is located. For some, in milder conditions, it means keeping everything dry and tidy, but for many the need for packing up the boat for winter is a necessity. Posted on 1 Nov 2023
Winning deck hardware of a Star World Champion
Max Kohlhoff Today we are speaking about deck hardware and rig setup with Max Kohlhoff, the winning helmsman of the 2023 Star Worlds. With Ole Burzinski from Flensburg Yacht Club, onboard Playmate, they recently scored two bullets out of six races in Scarlino. Posted on 26 Oct 2023
Polyform AS and Polyform US fenders
Exporting quality and performance from Norway to the U.S One of latest additions to the upffront.com sailing hardware line-up are the Polyform fenders from the original Norwegian manufacturer - Polyform AS. Established over 60 years ago, Polyform AS is renowned for inventing the modern plastic buoy. Posted on 18 Oct 2023
Electric Furler from Facnor
Latching on the trend of boat electrification The sailing world is undergoing a sea change, embracing the power of electrification for unparalleled ease and convenience, especially for older crews and solo sailors. Electric systems are revolutionising boats. Posted on 11 Oct 2023
Best bottom up furlers
Top five as rated by Upffront.com In this article we round up five of the best bottom up furlers on the market. Choosing the right furler is a question of boat size and SWL (safe working load), sail area, performance level and budget. Posted on 5 Oct 2023