A drogue or storm drogue is a device trailed behind a boat on a long line attached to the stern. A drogue is used to slow the boat down in a storm and to prevent the hull from becoming side-on to the waves. A boat that has deployed a drogue should not overspeed down the slope of a wave and crash into the next one, nor will the vessel broach. By slowing the vessel, the drogue makes the vessel easier to control in heavy weather and will help to prevent pitchpoling.

A drogue works by providing substantial resistance when dragged through the water. An alternative device is the sea anchor which is streamed from the bows. The advantage of the sea anchor is that the bows of a yacht are invariably finer for breaking through waves than the stern, thereby giving a safer and more comfortable experience in a storm.

Both drogues and sea anchors will have tripping lines to aid recovery of the drogue after deployment.

An alternative procedure during a storm is heaving to.

Most drogues are best deployed out of sync with the boat by one-half of the length of the prevailing waves; thus the drogue climbs a wave when the boat slides down a wave. Nylon rope is widely used for hauling drogues since it best absorbs the shock loading by stretching. However, new research indicates that using a rope with less stretch accompanied by chain weight helps to maintain a constant force on the deployment rode rendering storm drogue use more effective.

Weights such as chains may be employed to keep the drogue from breaching the surface of the water and skimming across the top. Besides, experienced boaters add a floating trip buoy so that the drogue can be deflated before recovery. The trip buoy line is a floating buoy attached to the top of the parachute cone which collapses the cone when pulled. In the case of series drogue lines, they are attached to the end of the line. Trip lines are especially helpful in series drogues because of their difficult recovery. Although the trip line concept is a derivative of the parachute sea anchor, evidence demonstrates that such a setup is not effective with the storm drogue.

While similar in design, the sea anchor is quite different in application from a drogue. The sea anchor is usually much larger, is intended to slow the vessel to a near-complete stop, and is usually deployed off the bow (front) of the boat so that end is presented to the oncoming waves.

Speed-limiting drogues are single-element devices. They come in several varieties of canopy shapes that are circular like a big round basket. Some are built with solid fabric while others are open in design to permit water to flow through them more readily. Holes or strips are usually cut in the drogue for stability, to reduce loads on the material or both. Currently, the speed-limiting drogue is the most commonly used storm drogue with many designs available in the market place. Ace Sailmakers also makes Speed Reducing Jordan Series Drogues, typically 30% or so number of cones for standard Jordan Series Drogue.