Beware the Bent Anchor

[noelex 77]

I have just watched a yacht with a Bugel anchor try about 5 times to set their anchor (they even dived on it twice) with no success and they left the anchorage
The conditions were medium hard sand, no weed, 5m (16 feet) depth. There technique was textbook with lots of scope.
I rate the Bugel as one of the top 5 anchors so I was puzzled at its poor performance, but looking at the tip of the anchor the last 4 inches of the tip were bent (down about 15 degrees)
The message is if your anchor is bent, even slightly, the performance in some conditions may be very poor.

Unless you have a CQR where a change in geometry could only be helpful.

[marc2012]

Did not understand statement.re cqr,have weathered everything with them.marc

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by marc2012

Did not understand statement.re cqr,have weathered everything with them.marc

Did not understand statement,re cqr, have ploughed everything with them.

Sorry, I'll get my coat

Pete

[David M]

Yup, I furrowed the bottom many a time with a CQR.

[craigsmith]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

I have just watched a yacht with a Bugel anchor try about 5 times to set their anchor (they even dived on it twice) with no success and they left the anchorage
The conditions were medium hard sand, no weed, 5m (16 feet) depth. There technique was textbook with lots of scope.
I rate the Bugel as one of the top 5 anchors so I was puzzled at its poor performance, but looking at the tip of the anchor the last 4 inches of the tip were bent (down about 15 degrees)
The message is if your anchor is bent, even slightly, the performance in some conditions may be very poor.

Very true. A 15 degree shift of the fluke away from design intent will certainly kill any anchor's performance on medium to hard surfaces. Even 5 degrees would be enough.

The same applies to imitations, if they're slightly different to the genuine article - what small changes have been made in ignorance of the design or in the interests of cost cutting?

In the case of the Buegel all are either amateur or one-off builds, the only company putting its brand on the design is German steel outfit WASI. This means build quality and accuracy issues are all the more relevant, have seen many a messed up Buegel. Not saying this example's tip was deliberately bent down, but was the plate the right thickness or a poor steel grade (strong enough?), etc.