[Rhodes22-list] Windage

[Bill Effros]

Ron,

Continuing from my previous post, but changing the subject line, when 
you have time I would love to understand the common "windage" calculations.

I see statements like "when you double the length of a boat, windage 
causes the load on the anchor to increase 4 times".  Why would that be?

Boats on anchor face into the wind--when the wind hits them broadside, 
they swing so that they again face into the wind.  The boats swing long 
before the increased load on the anchor becomes any kind of issue.

It is hard for me to believe that a 44 foot long racing scull on anchor 
will ever put more load on the rode than my 22 foot long, 8 foot wide 
Rhodes.

I could understand if doubling the beam squares the load.  It seems 
logical that more freeboard means more windage.  I can buy that wind 
dragging over a longer hull increases the load -- but doubles it?  That 
I can't understand.

The guy who used to sink anchors for a living in my cove once told me 
that my mushroom anchor mooring would hold a battleship in less than 25 
kt. winds, and that people sinking bigger and bigger anchors "for 
safety's sake" just didn't understand that what they already had was 
more than they would ever need.

Any insight you might have here would be appreciated--whenever you can 
get to it.

Bill Effros