I'm with Gmac and MidLandOne on this.
I've lived aboard for over 2 years on the hook most of the time with a 45lb CQR in a 45' 26,000lb
monohull. Attached to that CQR was 200' of 3/8" BBB chain. I've been through tropical storm remnants that had the winds up to and around 60-70MPH and some squalls and thunderstorms that did the same. My anchor never dragged once.
The one and only time my anchor ever dragged was while setting it in the
Great Lakes. I dropped it into a bunch of weeds and it had trouble finding the ground. It tangled in the weeds. And when it did find the bottom, it was trying to hold in a bunch of roots and plant life that didn't allow it to have a solid holding ground. It wasn't the anchor's fault. It was the anchorer's fault.
To be honest, with that CQR, I wan't even careful anchoring. I just dumped it
overboard (manual
windlass, so it goes fast), let the boat drift back a few feet and dumped out all my
scope in a big pile all at once. The boat would then drift back, the CQR would catch, and I'd be in for a month at a time through any type of storms (only to 60-70MPH and 6' steep chop/breakers) without ever dragging. On topic, I slept through the night every night, except that thunder wakes me up.
My honest opinon is that most anchors are basically the same. It's your anchoring system that makes the difference.
This new cat I have is only a 10 meter. It has a 55lb
Delta and about 150' of 3/8" BBB as well. I hook up the
bridle to that and sleep like a baby.
Like what was said above, it's the anchoring system that is the key.
I prefer all chain, with a nice, long snubber/bridle that will just about touch the
water when fully deployed. The long snubber (with rubber shock absorbers) helps to keep
funny tugs and pulls from making their way to the anchor chain when the anchorage gets choppy. The chain also helps keep any tugs at a more "horizontal" direction, or parallel to the seabed. This means that any old anchor will
work just fine at the end of the chain.
The anchor is really just a "hook" that hooks onto the seabed. The burying and plowing ones are all basically the same. The only thing that makes one drag are loads from the wrong angle (upward or far to one side), or setting it in a bottom that it can't hook on to - but if you do that, you know immediately, because your boat drags while you are setting the anchor.
Also, if you do end up tugging your CQR, Rocna, Manson,
Delta, etc... out from a
funny tug on it (upwards or in a bad wind/current reversal), it will just reset back into the bottom if the tugging is in a direction parallel to the seabed. How? A nice, heavy chain will keep the force in parallel with tht seabed even if you manage to pop the anchor out. It will just reset instantly.
Conclusion: It's the anchoring system, not the anchor that makes for a good night's sleep with the burying/plow type anchors. Of course, anchors like the Danforth or fisherman have less ability to reset after they break out, so I might not sleep so well if I had one of those - but they do have their purposes.