Mantus vs Fortress for storm anchor

[Mike OReilly]

At the risk of starting yet another anchor fight, I'd like your wisdom on the selection of a storable storm anchor for my boat: a heavy-displacement full-keel 37' cutter. My intention has been to purchase a large Fortress, but I'm now wondering if a big Mantus might be the way to go.

Any non-polemic thoughts?

[Kettlewell]

I have both. Here are some thoughts. The Mantus will be heavier for the same ultimate holding power, but it also will be a better anchor if you are in a situation where the direction of pull is likely to change 180 degrees. I don't think anything can beat a Fortress in a straight line holding contest, so if you just want that one big anchor you can put way out in the dinghy from your most exposed direction, the Fortress is it. If you want to be able to drop the anchor from your main boat, and have it be able to handle winds from 360 degrees, the Mantus would be better.

[Mike OReilly]

Thanks John. My approach has been to go with a big Fortress for exactly that kind of scenario, where there is plenty of time to manage a predictable storm. But now that Mantus has come into my view (good marketing on their behalf), I've begun to wonder if the versatility of this anchor would make it a more useful tool for a wider range of "storm" conditions.

As you say, having both is probably the best answer (along with a good bower than can handle the vast majority of needs), but if you had to choose, which would it be? My sailing plans for the next few years are going to be Great Lake to the east coast, and into the Caribbean. After that, who knows...

[Bash]

I use a Fortress FX-55 for my storm anchor. It's a huge thing (46" shank), probably too big to fit in the chain lockers of most CF members' boats. However, it's easy to assemble/disassemble, so it stores nicely in the bilge or a lazarette.

(I keep an FX-37 assembled in my chain locker to use as a kedge. Would not be able to fit a larger anchor in the locker when it's full of chain.)

[S/V Alchemy]

I have to wonder how "surprised" you could be until you get beyond "who knows". "Line squall weather" gives enough warning to deploy a second storm anchor, and there's no shortage of weather reportage in all the areas you indicate.

I own a Fortress but no Mantus, and use the Fortress as a primary 33 footer and it will be the "lunch hook" on my steel 41-footer when I launch that in April. I consider to this stage that the Fortress is much as Mr. Kettlewell suggests: a great secondary, storm and/or kedging anchor. If you are expecting a 180 reverse, perhaps less so, but then I'm not yet persuaded a Mantus would trump a Rocna-style or a Sarca-style.

I am convinced that "go farther" cruisers seem to like the Fortress as a secondary on a wide basis, and that there are no more critical anchor raters than someone in a distant, uninhabited lagoon or Patagonia or Greenland. YMMV!

I am now persuaded that Bruces and CQRs are inferior to many of the newer styles, however. So I've decided not what we will ultimately bring, but which of the anchors I already own will be left behind. Nonetheless, there are specific grounds where I think even the Bruce and CQR can rise to the occasion with any of the new anchors...but that's a different post.

I know that the Fortress is a charmer when it comes to retrieval and stowage, and that my 11 year old kid can retrieve a mixed rode solo. So we actually use the anchor more due to this aspect...even if there is a reciprocal YC nearby, if we've got full batts and the rail BBQ installed, we will anchor out instead of heading for a dock because it's easy-peasy, as the 11-year-old would note.

[MarkJ]

It does seem to be a weird decisive issue on Internet forums, but when one is out cruising the subject never comes up.

Why would one use one type of anchor only to change it once a storm is forecast?

Maybe people say they would use two anchors set at 120 from each other... But if so they should be both the same type, shouldn't they?

In all the anchorages I have been in no one uses a Fortress, though some have them in the bilges... But none have bought them during their cruise, only BEFORE they started cruising.

So what do most people use? All the paupers, like me, use Deltas and that type; older folks use CQR; rich people use the new generation anchors like Rocna, Manson Suprime, and I guess some are starting to buy Mantus (especially on CF after their give away and 20% discount offer!!!!!).

If the generalization is correct then the new cruisers outfitting a boat should be buying a nice big new generation anchor as their one and only bower and something else for a kedge anchor.

For a kedge a light dismantable anchor would be great. Remember you might be rowing it out, or even swimming it/ dragging it. I think I have only used a kedge anchor two or three times in 35,000 miles round the world. but that's on the tropical trade routes, so high latitude people may use something different.

Mark

[sww914]

I have an FX23 and it's a great anchor, I use it as a kedge, lunch, and stern anchor and it's flawless. I am just not comfortable with it as a primary anchor. I doubt it's ability to reset in mixed bottoms and I doubt it's ultimate strength when compared to heavy steel. I don't like the way that aluminum deforms and becomes very weak as soon as it stretches. Steel can bend along ways and stay strong. Additionally, I think that there's no substitute for weight on the bottom.
Our primary now is a CQR but I plan to add a Mantus and remove our Bruce from the quiver.

[Mike OReilly]

I was thinking of an FX-55 vs an 85 lb Mantus. Sizing is based mostly around what I think would be my maximum size to manage. In times when I'm deploying this anchor, I'm gonna want the biggest thing that I can manage and properly set (which is, in my experience, the single most important factor for proper anchoring).

I already carry a slightly over-sized rocna, a large danforth and a smaller bruce as my kedge/stern anchor.

[sww914]

It sounds like you need a Mantus AND a Fortress!

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by sww914

It sounds like you need a Mantus AND a Fortress!

Yup ... Unfortunately I probably need more storage space and certainly more $$$$ , hence the need to choose.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I was thinking of an FX-55 vs an 85 lb Mantus. Sizing is based mostly around what I think would be my maximum size to manage. In times when I'm deploying this anchor, I'm gonna want the biggest thing that I can manage and properly set (which is, in my experience, the single most important factor for proper anchoring).

I already carry a slightly over-sized rocna, a large danforth and a smaller bruce as my kedge/stern anchor.

For a Rafiki 37 with a dry Weight: 32000 lbs I would be looking at the Mantus 65 lbs, not the 85 lbs

The Fortress is 3 sizes larger than needed, but for storms, it's all good. You still have to stow it. It's a big anchor for a 37 foot boat

[Kettlewell]

On my 38-foot motorsailor, fairly heavy, I carry a 45-lb main anchor--right now a Mantus--which is my day-to-day anchor always in use. I also carry two FX-23 Fortresses, one of which gets used a lot, and the other is a second back up. I haven't yet used the Mantus enough to know and trust it, but whatever I put down there as my main anchor is good for winds up to hurricane force, considering reasonable protection from wind and seas, and decent holding. My previous 45-lb Bulwagga held us up to 56 knots on short scope in poor holding once. In places I sail a lot we get thunderstorms that are occasionally violent. If I see that something is coming (like a line of thundersqualls), I will frequently put down a Fortress anchor in various configurations depending on the situation. If the harbor is very exposed in one direction, I might put it out that way, or if I don't want to swing somewhere, I will put it out to protect me from that. I am often anchored in places where a large swinging radius on 7:1 scope or better is simply not possible. The third Fortress acts as a back up in case I lose an anchor, or in the case of a revolving storm I will put out all three in a star pattern on long rodes. Sometimes I have used the Fortress anchors to supplement a mooring in a tropical storm or a hurricane, keeping the main anchor onboard ready to go in case needed.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I was thinking of an FX-55 vs an 85 lb Mantus. Sizing is based mostly around what I think would be my maximum size to manage.

Take a look at one before you purchase. Even in the bag, these things are monsters. (As you might expect for any anchor built for 7/8" rope.) An FX-37 still be oversize for your boat, and it would be an anchor you're much more likely to use on a regular basis.

Fx-55 Specifications:

Recommended boat length: 52 - 58 ft. (16 -18 m)
Weight: 32 lbs (14.4 kg)
Replaces steel anchors: 50 - 65 lbs (23 - 29 kg)
Dimensions
Shank length: 46" (1,168 mm)
Fluke length: 27" (686 mm)
Stock length: 37" (940 mm)
Proof coil chain: 1/2" (13 mm)
Nylon rope: 7/8" (22 mm)
Shackle size: 1/2" (12 mm)
Working load: 4,000 lbs (1,814 kg)
Holding power:
32 Degree hard sand: 16,000 lbs (7,258 kg)
45 Degree soft mud: 4,800 lbs (2,177 kg)
32 Degree soft mud: 2,400 lbs (1,089 kg)

[noelex 77]

My Fortress FX-37 held a 50 foot cat in 40-45 knot winds after their 80Lb Bugal dragged (although at that stage it was 55k gusting to 70k) and they cut it away.
The beauty of the Fortress is its light weight wich gives it great versatility as kedge etc.
The Mantus is getting some great reports (although I a have not personal seen it) and does not have the the same risk of dislodging with a change in wind direction.

The lightweight Fortress is much easier to handle especially from a dingy, but if the storm is unforcast deploying any second anchor in true storm force conditions is difficult/dangerous, or impossible.

[Mike OReilly]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the thoughts and experience. I agree that a massive storm anchor does me no good sitting in the bilge, so it might be better to have one that is more manageable, and therefore more likely to be deployed in time. I'll take a closer look at the FX-37.