Anchors - Bigger is Better ?

[sailorboy1]

I wonder if your anchor indicates how well you like your boat

[Mantus Anchors]

Some times smaller is better...
We just got back from Mexico, where we put the Mantus Dinghy Anchor through the ropes..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPbI...OanAR3m3kfIDJw

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by Mantus Anchors

Some times smaller is better...
We just got back from Mexico, where we put the Mantus Dinghy Anchor through the ropes..

Looks impressive. As I asked before, do you have any video of how it handles starting on its back?

[Mantus Anchors]

Originally Posted by cwyckham

Looks impressive. As I asked before, do you have any video of how it handles starting on its back?

cwyckham
No, but if the anchor is on its back it will stay on its back... its rare event...
after deploying the anchor 60 time it ended up on its back once. If you trow it upside down it will right itself and fall down in the correct orientation. So in that case we redeployed and set right away.. Remember its a dinghy anchor, 2 lbs...
98.4% Success rate in our hands in very challenging bottoms.
greg

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by Mantus Anchors

cwyckham
No, but if the anchor is on its back it will stay on its back... its rare event...
after deploying the anchor 60 time it ended up on its back once. If you trow it upside down it will right itself and fall down in the correct orientation. So in that case we redeployed and set right away.. Remember its a dinghy anchor, 2 lbs...
98.4% Success rate in our hands in very challenging bottoms.
greg

Thanks for your very quick reply. I agree that a main anchor and a dinghy anchor have very different requirements. I'm willing to occasionally re-throw the dinghy anchor. Using hydrodynamics during the drop to settle in the right orientation instead of statics on the seafloor to correct a bad orientation is a very interesting approach.

What happens, then in a 180 wind shift? Or are you assuming that there's a line ashore, so the pull is always in one direction?

[Mantus Anchors]

Originally Posted by cwyckham

Thanks for your very quick reply. I agree that a main anchor and a dinghy anchor have very different requirements. I'm willing to occasionally re-throw the dinghy anchor. Using hydrodynamics during the drop to settle in the right orientation instead of statics on the seafloor to correct a bad orientation is a very interesting approach.

What happens, then in a 180 wind shift? Or are you assuming that there's a line ashore, so the pull is always in one direction?

The anchor rotates in the medium and its really hard to flip... we will shortly post videos of the anchor rotating 360 degrees with a wind shift.... we just went in circles in the boat and the anchor never pops out... and if you pop it out it just resets...

[Fortress]

Regarding the original question of this thread, I believe that after 4 days of testing which we just finished last week aboard the 81-ft Rachel Carson in the soft mud bottoms of the Chesapeake Bay, and with the boating media present, the answer is clearly: "No."

A large anchor that is designed and optimized for a hard soil will not out-perform in soft mud a much smaller anchor that is.

Details will follow shortly.

Safe anchoring,
Brian

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by Fortress

Regarding the original question of this thread, I believe that after 4 days of testing which we just finished last week aboard the 81-ft Rachel Carson in the soft mud bottoms of the Chesapeake Bay, and with the boating media present, the answer is clearly: "No."

A large anchor that is designed and optimized for a hard soil will not out-perform in soft mud a much smaller anchor that is.

Details will follow shortly.

Safe anchoring,
Brian

I don't think that's really the intent of the original question. The intent was for the same anchor, is bigger better. I'll take a 30 lb spade over a 45 lb CQR any day of the week, for example.

So in your testing, the answer to this question would be, "Does a large anchor designed and optimized for hard soil out-perform a much smaller anchor of the same design in soft mud." I'm guessing the answer is yes.

[motion30]

Originally Posted by Fortress

Regarding the original question of this thread, I believe that after 4 days of testing which we just finished last week aboard the 81-ft Rachel Carson in the soft mud bottoms of the Chesapeake Bay, and with the boating media present, the answer is clearly: "No."

A large anchor that is designed and optimized for a hard soil will not out-perform in soft mud a much smaller anchor that is.

Details will follow shortly.

Safe anchoring,
Brian

Brian
Did you test any of the new generation roll bar style anchors ?

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by cwyckham

I don't think that's really the intent of the original question. The intent was for the same anchor, is bigger better. I'll take a 30 lb spade over a 45 lb CQR any day of the week, for example.

So in your testing, the answer to this question would be, "Does a large anchor designed and optimized for hard soil out-perform a much smaller anchor of the same design in soft mud." I'm guessing the answer is yes.

That would be correct, although from our soft mud testing, I am not sure that I would make the first choice. If I recall correctly, the 44 lb Spade did not distinguish itself as a better performer above the 45 lb CQR in this bottom type.

Brian

[SV THIRD DAY]

There we go Baby....

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by motion30

Brian
Did you test any of the new generation roll bar style anchors ?

Yes, please find below an image of the anchors in this test.

Brian

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by Fortress

That would be correct, although from our soft mud testing, I am not sure that I would make the first choice. If I recall correctly, the 44 lb Spade did not distinguish itself as a better performer above the 45 lb CQR in this bottom type.

Brian

Given the fluke area to weight difference of those anchors, that is a fascinating result! We're all on the edge of our seats waiting for your reports.

[Fortress]

Originally Posted by cwyckham

Given the fluke area to weight difference of those anchors, that is a fascinating result! We're all on the edge of our seats waiting for your reports.

I agree, and admittedly it was unexpected.

Right now we are in the process of analyzing the data from the 60+ pull tests to insure that we can properly answer any follow up questions, and our consultant Bob Taylor, a retired US Navy anchor design and soil mechanics expert, is assisting us in this process.

We hope to release the test data, along with the videos and stills, for all 4 days of the testing (Tuesday-Friday, August 5-8) in the near future. In the meantime, here is a blog post from a Boats.com writer who was aboard:

Fortress Anchor Testing: When It’s Good To Be a Stick in the Mud | boats.com Blog

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by cwyckham

Given the fluke area to weight difference of those anchors, that is a fascinating result! We're all on the edge of our seats waiting for your reports.

The holding is closer to being proportional to (blade area x depth), rather than just blade area. Maybe the cqr managed to get down deeper?

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