A sea anchor (also known as a drift anchor, drift sock, para-anchor or boat brake) is a device used to stabilize a boat in heavy weather. Rather than tethering the boat to the seabed, the sea anchor increases the drag through the water and thus acts as a brake.
Often similar in design to the sea anchor is the usually smaller drogue which is attached to the stern and intended to slow the boat for better control.
Famous quotes containing the word anchor:
“It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)