How good is the Rocna?

[pdenton]

Which is better the spade or the rocna. The spade seems to be a lot more expensive. What would you recommend for 35 foot full keel sailboat.

[fallingeggs]

There is no answer, just opinions from folks who might own one of the two, or neither. The "scientific" literature is light, to say the least.

I own neither, but am going with the Rocna for my 38. I'm convinced it will be a great anchor. This isn't to say the Spade (or Mantus, my runner up) won't work just as well, but I need to buy something! Maybe the tipping point for me was hearing that Dashew uses the Rocna.

PS - I don't think you'll hear many bad things about any of the new generation anchors.


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[four winds]

How good is the Rocna? Well, the Rocna is a very good anchor.

I'll offer this observation from the el Nino summer of storms last year near Tampa bay. Three boats, two friends and myself, using a Rocna, a Spade, and me on a Manson. I lost count of the number of storms with 30+ winds, many 40+, not counting gusts. Gusts maxed at 78 knots on one particularly eventful night.

The Spade was the only one of the three that ever dragged, and did so several times.

The Rocna is now in the Keys hooked in sand over hard pan for several months now, in the same spot. Again without incident or even resetting over the weeks. Just seems to squirm itself around in the sand.

[GRIT]

It would be helpful for those of us considering new anchors, if you would let us know which size of spade, rocna and manson are being compared in your post. The corresponding boat sizes would also help.

After all, if the spade was a 10kg on a 15m boat, and the rocna was a 50kg on an 8m boat it wouldn't be much of a fair comparison.

Thanks.
Paul.

[zeehag]

in areas my bruce sets well, i have watched folks with rocnas have difficulty.
is all technique and know how..
i have great luck with cqr, but i changed over to bruce,,as it sticks well.

[CSY Man]

Sailed a 33' cutter rigged sloop for 6 years with a Rocna 20 kg.
Great anchor. Lunch hook, working anchor and storm anchor all rolled into 1 unit.
Previous anchor on same boat was a 55 lbs Delta, good anchor but the Rocna was better.

[leftbrainstuff]

90# Rocna on our Liberty 458 sets and holds well.

I dont think you will go wrong with any of the new generation anchors.

There is a post in cruisers forum with lots of footage of anchor setting. There are also some interesting youtube videos. It's all empirical.

To answer the question of which anchor is better is very difficult to answer conclusively. The matrix of scenarios and boat, chain, anchor combinations is huge. No one has the time or the resources to conduct a suitable shainan study or statistical test program.

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[four winds]

Originally Posted by svquintana

It would be helpful for those of us considering new anchors, if you would let us know which size of spade, rocna and manson are being compared in your post. The corresponding boat sizes would also help.

After all, if the spade was a 10kg on a 15m boat, and the rocna was a 50kg on an 8m boat it wouldn't be much of a fair comparison.

Thanks.
Paul.

Good point, Paul. In an effort to be more brief than usual I failed there.

All three anchors were the recommended size by the manufacturer. None were a size up as is often mentioned.

Pearson 323 - 25lb. Manson Supreme. This is in the upper end of the recommendation. Thankfully it has been flawless.

Westerly Centaur - Rocna 22-25lb.?

Cape Dory 30 Ketch rig - Spade 35lb. Haven't looked this one up, but believe it is the recommended size. Also worth noting this skipper insisted on using an absurdly long rode approaching maybe 17-18:1. Not sure if this had any detrimental effect or just uncalled for.

I was on all chain (3/8) with short oversized snubber. And the others on chain/3 strand rode combo.

[GRIT]

Thanks four winds. I appreciate your replying to my post.
That's very helpful information.

It's certainly an "apples to apples" comparison.

Thank you.
Paul.

[Frankly]

I have a 15KG Rocna on my 32 IP. The only issue is getting it out of the bottom after a good blow (all that holding power comes at a price). We have tested it up to 48 knot gusts in a mud bottom (might have moved a few feet). It brings a good chunk of the bottom up but tows just below the surface beautifully, and in less than a minute is clean. Only complaint is from my SL anchor windlass (expect it to go on strike any day).

In most normal anchor situations I don't bother to even set it (just make sure the chain is straight).

[Mike OReilly]

We have a 55lb (25 kg) Rocna with our 15 ton (30,000#) full keeler. It's been a great anchor so far. Sets fast and hard in most bottoms. Has held us through 50 knot storms. Completely satisfied.

I believe a properly sized Spade and Manson would perform as well, but I've not had a chance to test this. I am certainly happy with our Rocna.

[Paul L]

As others have said all of the new design anchors, aka rocna, spade, manson, perform very well. The differences are a lot less than the differences on anchoring conditions in a 100 yard circle. Anecdotal stories don't really tell you much about different anchors. I assume the Spade mentioned above was a 33lb model, as they don't make a 35lb.
We use a big Spade on our current boat that replaced a Delta and on our previous boat replaced Bruce with a Spade. The downside to the Rocna is fitting the big roll bar.

[SailFastTri]

I own a Rocna 20kg, a Manson Supreme #35, and used to own an aluminum Spade 80. I sold the AL Spade because it didn't set in hard packed sand and I dragged. The Spade has a larger tip cross section and the triangular geometry of the tip does not penetrate hard bottoms as easily as the flatter blades of the Manson/Rocna. I have dragged slowly with the Rocna in soft ooze mud. I assume the M-Supreme would also drag in similar mud.


The M-Supreme and Rocna are similar in performance. The difference between them is "mice nuts" (small). Both bring up a ball of mud/weed in the hoop. The Manson is sharper in the blade tip and I believe would set easier in hard bottom, and penetrate weed better. If you have a bowsprit as I do, I can fit a bigger Rocna because (for equal size) the Manson has a higher shank and hoop. (20kg Rocna vs. #35 Manson).


The hoop might limit deep bottom penetration. They are all great anchors and any would serve well as a primary. However, if you get a Spade I suggest the steel model (not AL) for better weight and penetration.


That's my summary in a nutshell.


PS - I sail a 12 meter tri. Lighter weight but more windage than a mono.

[Celestialsailor]

I have 3 anchors and only use my 45lbs Rocna. When shopping for that style, I looked at the quality of welds on the Mason copy and immediately bought the Rocna.

[four winds]

Paul L, the Cape Dory skipper said it was a 35, seems it is actually a 33.

Just looked up the sizing chart for the first time. Interestingly, all three boats would be specified for a 33 Spade. Which goes up to 41' with displacement less then a bit over 7 tons.

The Rocna and Supreme would spec the lighter 22-25 lb anchors for all three. They all appear about the same surface area, but the Spade has the large wedge of weight (lead?) In the tip that the others don't. Comparing all the new gen anchors, the Spade is the most divergent in design of them.

While I agree that anecdotal evidence may not tell us much. That is not the same as telling us nothing.

The scenario I described above took place over many weeks with all three boats anchoring in several different places in the anchorage.

The OP asked two questions though left the question mark off the second one.

How good is the Rocna? In my opinion very good.

Is the Spade better than the Rocna? In my opinion, no. In fact I think the Cape Dory skipper would agree.

No offense intended to Spade owners.