Viewed as insurance policies when the chips are down, they can help save the boat and lives. The key to success is having the proper device aboard and knowing how to use it. Most failures of drag devices to perform properly can be traced to misapplications. It is essential that the skipper knows beforehand the differences between drag devices and how they are used. But the way of using that drag for storm survival is the difference between success and failure.
Marine literature abounds with stories of the improper use of drag devices.
One result of this is that these devices have been damned by many writers. It is the writing that should be damned, not the device. To continue to quote from the experiences of Voss, Hiscock, Smeeton, Moitessier, et al, is to ignore the fact that in their day they did not have access to well-developed and tested drag devices. Further, their boats and their seamanship skills were far different from those of today's sailors. A drogue is a drag device much smaller than a sea anchor.