General consensus on Ultra Anchor

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Ultra Marine West

What do you think about Swan sailboat owners?

I have no thoughts on Swan sailboat owners.
Never had any experience with them.

Riv owners on the other hand we get to see regularly.

[Iains boatyard]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

60kg anchor on a 20 tonne trawler -- now that is robust sizing!


Kudos to you I would do the same if my windlass and bow roller could handle it.

Sorry guys size confusion in my head because the US uses weird measurements.
Should be 45kg anchor 100 lb on my current trawler. First Ultra was 27 kg 60 lb
I take from all this the Ultra is a very good anchor.

[OrinocoFlo]

The wind was blowing no more than 15 knots today as we watched another Rocna owner go dragging past our Ultra equipped boat. Mud bottom and the Rocna came up clogged up with thick mud caught in the hoop. They were unable to reset so went to another area in Falmouth Harbor to try again. There seems to be a pattern developing here.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Bluechart

Here are my observations regarding the different types of anchors.'
(I've been sailing for 50+ years, mostly in the SF Bay area, Pacific Northwest, Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico, Sea of Cortez, etc.)

There are ~4 styles of anchors:
1. Danforth (Danforth, Fortress, etc.)
2. Claw (Bruce, Claw, etc.)
3. Plow (Delta, CQR, etc.)
4. Spade (Rocna, Manson, "Spade", etc.)

I've used them all, and here are my observations:

The Danforth Style anchor is probably the best holding anchor, but difficult to secure in a bow roller on a sailboat. (My backup anchors are Danforth and Fortress.)

The Claw Style anchor is probably the worst holding anchor.

The Plow style anchor is a very good holding anchor, although in severe conditions I've noticed they do "plow" along, so there is some movement.
(In this category, I've noticed the CQR Plow the hardest to set, and the first one to loose the set - and not regain the set by itself.)

The Spade Style is probably the best holding anchor. (In this category I've noticed the Mantus is most difficult to clean because of the assembly nuts, and I have had many difficult times trying to set the "Spade" anchor. I've run a fleet of 6 boats in SF Bay for the past 8 years, and we have switched all the anchors to Rocna Spade Anchors - never have we had a problem setting the anchor, or loosing the set.)

Here is another independent anchor study, with holding capacities which you may find helpful.

https://www.petersmith.net.nz/boat-a...ce-testing.php

Independant? Would that be the same Peter Smith of Rocna fame?

Oh, and your testing results appear to be at odds with Steve Goodwin of s/v Panope's results!

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

Independant? Would that be the same Peter Smith of Rocna fame?

Oh, and your testing results appear to be at odds with Steve Goodwin of s/v Panope's results!

For that last bit, testing outright holding power will likely give very different results to testing setting performance, reversals, etc. (especially at short scope). An anchor can be easy to set well but not hold all that strongly or it can be a pain to set but hold like a portable mooring in a straight pull.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by OrinocoFlo

The wind was blowing no more than 15 knots today as we watched another Rocna owner go dragging past our Ultra equipped boat. Mud bottom and the Rocna came up clogged up with thick mud caught in the hoop. They were unable to reset so went to another area in Falmouth Harbor to try again. There seems to be a pattern developing here.

There's more to it if they dragged in 15 kt winds. Probably 1:1 scope.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

There's more to it if they dragged in 15 kt winds. Probably 1:1 scope.

Or they never got it set in the first place (and possibly clogged it up in the process preventing it from setting on its own) so it couldn't do anything useful when it saw some load.

[Iains boatyard]

Interesting that none of the Anchor test include the Ultra. Why?
My cruising buddy has an Rocna rarely can he set in one manoeuvre in the same location as me.

[Iains boatyard]

So Uncle Bob, have you used an Ultra ?

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Iains boatyard

So Uncle Bob, have you used an Ultra ?

No, had a delta, dragged regularly, replaced with a rocna which the rep was adamant was the correct size, dragged less but still dragged and came up with large chunks of the bottom, now have an Excell with which I am very pleased.
The ultra is an interesting looking anchor, (great boat bling ) which I have seen in use a couple of times and has held appropriately. Definitely agree that it is an expensive item.
Out of curiosity, in which part of the world are you located?

[Iains boatyard]

Currently Thailand, hard sand, soft sand, mud, sloppy mud, coral bottoms
My Trawler is not a “ bling boat” I bought the first one after Rocna had all the drama when they out sourced their manufacture to China and had shank bending breaking due to inferior steel.
Pity you are not able to try one they certainly work for me. It has worked in some serious tropical storms one of which spun me in 360 circle.
Pricey but dam good insurance compared to those companies that take your money and run!

[Jim Cate]

Pricey but dam good insurance compared to those companies that take your money and run!

So, which companies are those? A big, general accusation with nothing to back it up.

Jim

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by Iains boatyard

My cruising buddy has an Rocna rarely can he set in one manoeuvre in the same location as me.

If he can't set it first time every time, he is doing something wrong. He needs lessons.

[fxykty]

I’m looking at options for shoreline rope reels. Ultra have a very good looking one that I was checking out (though I’m likely going to order a less expensive one from EasyRoll). While I was on the Ultra site (https://www.ultramarine-anchors.com) I saw their anchor size calculator.

Now, the funny thing I saw is that rather than radically undersizing the recommended anchor size as I’ve read on this thread, the calculator actually oversizes the suggested anchor! I’m a 54 foot long sailing catamaran and the recommendation is for the UA60 - a 60kg anchor! Wow, that’s big.

By reference, for an Outremer 51 (new generation, slightly smaller and slightly heavier than our classic 55L) Spade suggests the S140, a 30kg anchor. That happens to be our current anchor. Going up two sizes for storm yields the S180, a 45kg anchor. Sarca Excel suggests #6, a 30kg anchor. Going up one size for multihull and two for storm yields the #9, a 50kg anchor.

I guess Ultra anchors aren’t as efficient as they claim and need more weight to work as well as other new generation non-roll bar anchors? Weird.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by fxykty

I’m looking at options for shoreline rope reels. Ultra have a very good looking one that I was checking out (though I’m likely going to order a less expensive one from EasyRoll). While I was on the Ultra site (https://www.ultramarine-anchors.com) I saw their anchor size calculator.

Now, the funny thing I saw is that rather than radically undersizing the recommended anchor size as I’ve read on this thread, the calculator actually oversizes the suggested anchor! I’m a 54 foot long sailing catamaran and the recommendation is for the UA60 - a 60kg anchor! Wow, that’s big.

By reference, for an Outremer 51 (new generation, slightly smaller and slightly heavier than our classic 55L) Spade suggests the S140, a 30kg anchor. That happens to be our current anchor. Going up two sizes for storm yields the S180, a 45kg anchor. Sarca Excel suggests #6, a 30kg anchor. Going up one size for multihull and two for storm yields the #9, a 50kg anchor.

I guess Ultra anchors aren’t as efficient as they claim and need more weight to work as well as other new generation non-roll bar anchors? Weird.

Its a totally ridiculous calculator.

60kg for a lightweight low windage cat
45 kg for a heavyweight high windage powered vessel
Anyone with half a clue would recognise that our vessel at 70,000kg needs a considerably larger anchor than you.

Something is definitely broken.