We will not attempt to name all the individuals whose contributions have enhanced our understanding of drag devices. To do so would require more space than is available. we would be remiss, however, if we did not mention some of the names of those who have increased our understanding of the subject. Scores of people preceded the author in this respect, sailors, writers and publishers whose labors have paved the way for other feet to advance on. Patrick M. Royce for one, author of Sailing Illustrated, who embarked on a methodical program for evaluating the uses of parachute sea anchors two decades before your author stumbled onto the concept. The Casanovas, for another, whose vast experience with parachute sea anchors spans a period of 20 years aboard three different multihulls with accumulated distances in excess of 200,000 blue water miles, in the course of logging which they tried every heavy weather tactic known to man, but always found themselves coming back to the parachute sea anchor. Joan Casanova in particular, for having the foresight to see in her own heavy weather experiences a responsibility to inform others, and Charles Chiodi and Ava Burgess of Multihulls Magazine for going to press with the Casanovas' articles - and the book, The Parachute Anchoring System. Veterans Lin and Larry Pardey, of Seraffyn - now Taleisin - fame, for numerous articles and books, their latest entitled Storm Tactics, dealing with the important and often overlooked subject of heaving-to in gales.

Daniel C. Shewmon, founder of Shewmon Sea Anchors, Inc., for numerous articles on the use of sea anchors and drogues and The Sea Anchor and Drogue Handbook, to say nothing of the laborious and costly work that he did in the full scale destruction tests of drag devices behind tugs. We might add that those of us in the business of producing drag devices realize that our ideas and creations will have a significant impact on the future of offshore safety, to say nothing of the lives and fortunes of those who voyage offshore. We recognize the responsibility and live under the weight of its burden. Skip Raymond of Hathaway, Reiser and Raymond, manufacturers of the Galerider drogue. Australians John Abernethy, progenitor of the Seabrake and Dr. Gavin Le Sueur, intrepid sailor, inventor and author of Multihull Seamanship. Alby McCracken of Para-Anchors Australia.

Donald Jordan, for his widely publicized articles on capsize prevention, and as principal author of the Coast Guard report, Investigation of the Use of Drogues to Improve the Safety of Sailing Yachts. Barry Deakin of the Wolfson Unit of the University of Southampton, for similar research and the RORC-commissioned report (#801) entitled Model Tests to Assess the use of Drogues and Similar Devices to Prevent Yacht Capsize in Breaking Waves. Earl Hinz, author of numerous articles and books, among them Understanding Sea Anchors And Drogues, a significant milestone, published in 1987 by the Cornell Maritime Press.

New Zealand's Sir Peter Blake, sadly no longer with us. Chris Bonnet, Principal of the Ocean Sailing Academy in Durban, South Africa. Professor Noël Dilly, Peter Bruce and the late Geoff Pack - whom we miss - of England's Yachting Monthly. Captain John Bonds and Bill Doelger of US SAILING. Charles E. Kanter and John Kettlewell. Chuck Hawley of West Marine. Other editors who are themselves experienced sailors and have published much information on sea anchors and drogue, among them Patience Wales of Sail, Lynda Morris Childres and George Day of Cruising World, George Walsh and Tim Queeney of Ocean Navigator, Dan Spurr of Practical Sailor. New Zealander Kim Taylor, author of The 1994 Pacific Storm Survey. Tony Farrington, author of Rescue in the Pacific. Diviana Wheeler, author of Heart Light.

Various naval architects, among them William Crealock and Thomas E. Colvin. Numerous multihulls designers, among them Jim Brown, Walter Greene, Derek Kelsall, Richard Newick and Chris White, who is also the author of The Cruising Multihull. Jean-Pierre Prade of Catana and George Brandes. Roger Olson of Sam L. Morse Co., builders of the Bristol Channel Cutter. Peter Brouchard of Rule Industries, manufacturers of Danforth anchors.

Lawyer, editor, translator and all around grand sage, Channing Bates, for invaluable literary assistance of every possible description. Canadian Maggi Ansell, for meticulous proof reading and editorial work. Dan Poynter, for invaluable publishing and marketing assistance.

Lloyd Klee of Safety At Sea Ltd. in Auckland, Rodney Pattisson and Mike Seal in the UK, Colin Kenny in South Africa, Werner Stoltz and Graham Drinkwater in Germany, Allan Veth in the Netherlands and Valdimar Samuelsson in Iceland. And, of course, Don Whilldin and the hard-working crew at Para-Tech Engineering.

We would especially like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the mariners whose priceless feedback is the subject of the core of this publication - you will find their names in the summary section of each file. If the boating public derives benefit from this book, it will do so in part because individuals such as these had the wits to know that their heavy weather experiences at sea were of both maritime and scientific value. We wish all of them

Fair winds and following seas !