Parachute Sea Anchor Construction

Commercial Fishing Shroud Lines
Commercial fishing lines offer superior elasticity to promote necessary stretch and reduce shock loads on your boating equipment. Commercial fishing lines won't kink or tangle and each shroud line registers an average tensile strength of 2,500 pounds. Fiorentino uses a maximum number of parachute lines to offer a superior uniform pull on the parachute canopy. This action accelerates inflation and increases the para-anchor's workload capacity by placing less stress on your boat and reducing surges created by a deflated parachute. All nylon shroud lines are individually calibrated with pull scales. Commercial fishing line is the only line specifically designed for ocean use

Heavy Canopy Panels
Fiorentino canopies are made from heavy, zero porosity, nylon materials which means they won't rot or mold. Plus, they offer superior drag because the nylon is water-resistant. This high level of quality is a part of the design of every canopy Fiorentino makes. First, large numbers of pie-like panels are cut and prepped for sewing. Each panel is then meticulously seamed together and tightly reinforced to form a uniform shape in the canopy. The vast number of panels sewn into a single canopy allows it to better maintain its shape underwater. Unlike other manufacturers' anchor canopies, which are designed to blow panels, Fiorentino canopies are designed to withstand heavy seas. That can make quite a difference when sailing in storm conditions!

Patented Stainless Steel Hardware
The exclusive Para-Ring® -- the world's first and only Anchor Stabilizer is incorporated into the design of all Fiorentino anchors.  Fiorentino's specialty hardware is made from high-quality stainless steel that provides the greatest strength and highest resistance to corrosion. The Para-Ring® hardware can also be purchased separately to replace galvanized shackles found on sea anchors today that can quickly breakdown and lock up.

Materials
FIORENTINO'S OFFSHORE & COASTAL ANCHORS® are constructed with all-new materials. Fiorentino never uses scraps or seconds. All Fiorentino materials are pre-selected from reliable manufacturers and tested during offshore and land drills to insure maximum safety.

Proper weight placement
For over five decades weight placement has been used successfully in the rigging of Fiorentino's parachutes. Proper weight placement on Fiorentino's storm anchor canopy reduces the chance of canopy rotation to keep shroud lines from fouling the canopy shut.

Here's how it works: The weight placement sewn on one section of the canopy rotates the para-anchor until that portion of the parachute is directed away from the water's surface. Alternating tension and slack on your anchor rode creates an underwater roller-coaster effect on the para-anchor. Tension on your anchor rode pulls the para-anchor toward the surface, while slack causes Fiorentino's exclusive hardware and canopy weight to sink. If a strong current influences some underwater spinning of your para-anchor, Fiorentino's exclusive hardware will immediately align the para-anchor to insure your canopy remains inflated at all times.

Engineers
All Fiorentino Para Anchors are engineered and rigged by offshore experts with extensive experience in using parachute anchoring systems. As a commercial fisherman by trade with decades of seamanship experience, Gerrard Fiorentino rigs his nylon para-anchors with heavy sea conditions in mind. Everything on Fiorentino para-anchors are beefed up to handle tremendous abuse from heavy surges created by waves, wind, and current.

Heavy Duty is Better
"Concerning any heavy-duty lifesaving equipment, the term over-design is a limp reason to justify the purchase of lightweight articles merely to save a few dollars, a few pounds of storage or to justify an outmoded method of design and manufacture." --Dan Shewmon, author of Sea Anchors & Drogues.

• High-Density Canopy: 12,000 lbs.
• 5/8' Anchor Stabilizer (Para-Ring) 25,000 lbs.
• 2" Canopy Skirt Webbing: 4,000 lbs.
• 1" Vent Hole Webbing: 1,500 lbs.
• 16 Nylon Shroud Lines: 2,500 lbs.

Low-Density Canopy: 6,000 lbs.
1/2" Anchor Stabliizer (Para-Ring) 20,000 lbs.
2" Canopy Skirt Webbing: 4,000 lbs.
1" Vent Hole Webbing: 1,500 lbs.
8 Nylon Shroud Lines: 2,500 lbs.  

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