Best Anchor for my Sailboat

[boatman61]

3KG for a 21ft boat.. no wonder you dragged.. surprised it finally stopped you... get at least a 12kg plus the chain and anchor plait..

[Factor]

Excel. If you are in Australia, its the sensible choice. You might want to look at the alloy one with the removable shank.

[noelex 77]

The Court 650 is a nice yacht. Most owners seem to store their anchor in the locker rather than on the (usually small) bow roller (but your boat may be set up differently) if this is the case the anchor dimensions are critical and may dictate your final choice. Double check whichever design of anchor you elect to buy fits.

Anchor availability in Australia is slightly limited. Some good designs are difficult, or at least expensive to get.

The Rocna and Manson Supreme are readily available. They are both excellent anchors. The Manson Supreme has a slightly shorter shank so may fit better if the anchor needs to be stored in a locker.
One of these anchors would be my recommendation.

The aluminium Excel has been suggested in a couple of posts. The weight saving for an anchor like this, that requires steel ballast, are not as great as can be achieved with an unbalasted aluminium anchor like the Fortress. The reduction in weight is still beneficial. It is the equivalent of about 5-7m of chain. If you do not have an electric anchor winch this is a helpful difference. The cost is about 50% more.

Aluminium anchors tend to perform differently from their steel counterparts. Fortress have managed a very significant improvement compared to the steel Danforth anchors. On the other hand the aluminium Spade (while still a good anchor) has not got the performance of the excellent steel version. (Which sadly is very expensive to get in Australia)

I have not seen the aluminium version of the Excel in action. Have Anchor Right managed an improvement in the performance over the steel version?. Time will tell. I do have some reservations about the long term corrosion resistance of the 7075 shank. Aluminium from the 5, or 6 series is much more corrosion resistant and would have been a better choice.

The rode is where most of the weight is concentrated. It is difficult to give recommendations without knowing your cruising ground. The sharp bits of dead coral in some of the deep Queensland anchorages require a lot of chain. In the soft mud of the shallow Gippsland lakes much less chain is needed.

[JonJo]

Good anchors are easily and readily available in Australia though they are seldom if ever all for sale in the same chandlery. We have easy access to Supreme, Boss, Rocna, Excel, SARCA, Ultra, Racer and Fortress (plus Bruce copies (Ray, Claw), Delta, CQR and lots of clones). The only one of note missing is the Spade - but Australia arguably has a better choice than America or Europe. Mine is a 8kg aluminium Excel, I've had it for 12 months now and there is no sign of corrosion. It is used regularly and I prefer it over the steel version - but then I am into weight saving (multihull). The strongest wind in which we have used it is 50 knots with 55 knot gusts. The 7075 is used because it has twice the strength of the 5 series and the shank, though thicker than the steel model, is not such as to impede its performance. With the slightly thicker shank, 16mm vs 12mm, the alloy shank is at least as strong as the steel version. In the 8kg version it performs as well as the 15kg steel version. The 8kg model is the same size as the 15kg steel model. It does not clog with mud nor does it get weed caught in a roll bar, as it does not need one. Consequently if you anchor in a muddy and weedy river you can be sure the anchor will not be clogged and drag as the tide changes. It will fit any roll bar that takes a CQR or Delta.

But if you anchor in clean sand then a Supreme is easily available and if in sand and/or mud then the Fortress would be more than reliable. Neither might fit the bow roller easily.

Jonathan

[Adventurebound]

When it comes to anchors, looks like size does matter. Phoned up a guy last night who had a second hand plough anchor for sale which was also about 3 kg. His sales pitch was that it had a very heavy chain and that made all the difference on how well it held. After saying bye bye, I checked up on the internet and found Rocna to be the latest improved development from other anchors. Before I spend the relative big bucks on this, does anyone have one find it's the best? Probably more internet searching will show up another "best"

[JonJo]

If you are into buying 'second hand' then I would not even think of a Rocna.

Rocna are not THE best, they are simply one of a bunch of good anchors but if you check posts on this forum you will find a surprising number of people complaining that they clog with mud and weed. Others suggest this never happens, or never mention it happening to them. This suggests they only anchor in sand, or are economic with the truth. Clogging might be more of an issue with the smaller models? Unfortunately you have to decide, if you are to follow that style, whether this is likely to be applicable to you.

It depends on what you mean by large but I would not suggest using a chain other than that recommended for the size of your yacht and as Noelex points out - if you are to anchor in coral - go for all chain. Coral eats nylon overnight. But the performance of a modern anchor is dictated by the size of chain, the smaller the chain the better it will set. Going one size up, or down, will not be noticeable in setting performance but, say, you would notice if you have a 6mm chain and change it for a shorter 10mm length - and this, again, will be more noticeable with a small anchor.

Jonathan

[Factor]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

I have not seen the aluminium version of the Excel in action. Have Anchor Right managed an improvement in the performance over the steel version?.

Why would it need to? the steel version, which I bought with my own money, is the best anchor I have ever owned. And yes I have owned a Rocna, a supreme a delta, a bruce, and many many cqrs.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Adventurebound

I checked up on the internet and found Rocna to be the latest improved development from other anchors.

As our american friends would say- there is a fair bit of "drinking the kool aid" surrounding rocna.

[Neptune's Gear]

Hmm, clogging on a rocna? I have a 20 kg Rocna, used it for 7 years, including living aboard, anchoring almost every night, all over NZ, Ausy, SE Asia etc. I've never had a clogging problem. My Rocna is an early NZ made one. I like it ☺

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[JonJo]

This is not an isolated post, if it was a one off I would not have mentioned it - there are other similar comments, though with less detail. Interestingly comments about roll bar anchors clogging have come to light recently, no-one admitted this previously - but there was a long running thread on use of the Manson Supreme in weed - which went into the problems in some considerable detail, since then owners have become a bit more 'honest?'.

Jonathan


Guy
Registered User


Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Boat is on the Rio Dulce
Boat: Seafarer36c
Posts: 876 Re: Rocna Versus the World
________________________________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwyckham
Would you care to elaborate? The Canadian versions of the Rocna are much sought after as they were made of better steel. What makes yours junk?

I have no complaints about the quality of the steel, not sure about the Galvanizing job yet.
I think they got the design wrong. The angle of incidence of the plow is not enough. You need too much chain on the bottom to not have the shank lift and decrease the angle of attack when you pull back on it. Or perhaps the shank is to long I don't know. I've watched it on a hard bottom with just 50' ft of chain in 15' while backing down. It will dig in enough to straighten out the chain, then the chain lifts the shank and it pulls back out. The roll bar might help if it landed up side down and does make a great handle Given how wide the thing is it probably needs the roll bar. I have seen it stop digging in, many times right at the roll bar. I can only think it sometimes stops the anchor from going any deeper. With such a large surface area, once it loads up with bottom gunk it does not seem to shed it's load and re set very well. I would be very worried with a really big wind shift over a bottom that might clog it up and it had to reset. Not sure it would.
I bought it early on in the new style anchor craze. Since then others have, I think, revised the design with new anchors. At the latest boat show I saw anchors that I think would dig in better and shed mud better.
The reason I am thinking of it as a piece of junk right now is, it/we drug really bad not to long ago and I 'm still pissed. I hope to recover because I will have it forever as I don't get a new boat or anchor.
__________________

[Adventurebound]

Sure hard to find the holy grail of anchors. I know the worst anchor-it was an engine block and the 30 foot tides around Mackay floated my 14 foot boat out the river.

[Factor]

Mate, don't sweat it, buy any of the "good Anchors" use some good chain and good rode, you'll be right. Personally I wouldn't use anything else other than an Australian made Excel, but if you buy the Canadian owned Chinese made rocna, you'll be fine, the Kiwi Manson, you'll still be fine.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Factor

Why would it need to?

Fortress have shown that there is the potential of improvement by using aluminium rather than steel.

With conventional ballasted anchors aluminium's higher strength to weight ratio can be utilised to make the the shank and back of fluke lighter in weight. With the addition of the same, or more lead ballast the tip weight could be higher, and the COG better. The toe can be made thinner and sharper. These changes will aid performance.

Unfortunately this potential has not been utilised in all aluminium anchors. The Spade actually lost some performance in the transition. (The steel Spade is a top performing anchor. The aluminium Spade does not perform as well in hard substrates and while still a good performer it does not have the same universal excellence.)

I think in the future we may see the very best performing anchors in all categories made out of aluminium.) To achieve this it going to take an enterprising company to produce new anchor design specifically to take advantage of strength and weakness of aluminium. Fortress have done a good job using extrusions to produce a shank of variable thickness tapering both vertically and horizontally to both dig in better and produce adequate strength (they reportedly use 6061 aluminium which has good corrosion resistance). They also use a "T" section fluke which allows it to be thin and sharp, but still have adequate strength. They developed clever innovations such as the adjustable fluke angle and bolt together construction. The Fortress design is still obviously based on the Danforth, but they have at lest significantly altered the design to advantage of the aluminium material.

Hopefully in the future we will see Fortress's approach extended, and bespoke designs developed specifically for aluminium.

At the moment both Spade and Anchor Right have simply fundamentally copied their steel design with some minor changes such as increasing the thickness of the shank. I don't think is the best approach.

Some opportunities for improvement have been missed. For example the Steel Excel uses steel ballast because it is cheaper and there are problems regalvanising anchors with lead ballast. The aluminium Excel has no such limitations. If the aluminium version has used lead like the Spade (this is not clear) why not redesign the tip to make it smaller and take advantage of the higher inherent density of the lead. A smaller thinner tip would penetrate better especially in difficult substrates such as weed.


The steel Excel anchor is a good performing anchor, but I don't believe it is the best anchor on the market. The aluminium version is new and it will take some time to asses its performance. Anchor Right claim the performance is identical to steel version, but perhaps they are being conservative. Anchor manufacturers are naturally reluctant to rate the strengths and weakness of their different designs.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Adventurebound

Leaving the marina I had my auxillary outboard instantly fail. The 21 ft boat was rapidly drifting to a rock wall in the 20 kt winds common here. Raced to the bow and threw out the anchor which didn't hold for some time-about 6 feet from the wall. It was a danforth anchor which came with the boat. The type with spikes on a hinge. The bottoms here are sandy and lots of seaweed in places. Bought a brand new outboard and deciding on a better anchor. What size and type anchor would allow me to have sweet dreams at night?

Mate from the sound of your post with a fair bit of seaweed around you could be based in South of Australia.

SARCA in Action - anchorright.com.au

If you are in Victoria give Rex from Anchorite a ring or possibly call and see him if you are nearby and get a personal recommendation for your vessel. An Excel could be considered ideal and as good as any otherwise a Manson Supreme, Spade or Rocna are all considered new generation anchors allowing you to shop on price.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

The steel Excel anchor is a good performing anchor, but I don't believe it is the best anchor on the market. T

And I didn't say it was the best on the market, just the best I had ever owned.