Need a good Weed Anchor, Spade A140 not working

[irwinsailor]

Craig, are you saying a Ronca is the only anchor that you need to carry?

[dkall]

Craig, I'll be glad to test out your Ronca anchor if you would like to provide me with one.

I'm not going to purchase one untill I see it for my own eyes and see other cruisers using it in the real world. You could well say I'm a doubting Thomas and yes I am. When it comes to the boat, I'm not singularily interested in believing advertisers claims. You seem to be close to the lone wolf in supporting the the Roca anchors on multiple boards.

I'll watch the other boats in the anchorages and when I see one using your anchor I'll ask them and if the waters warm and clear I'll dive on it.

You can say whatever you wish about how I form an opinion on your anchor or other boat gear, but untill I see some real scientific data I'll make my judgements as I've outlined. And I sincerely hope you'll not quote the WM test as scientific. I would sincerely be surprised that any scientific journal would publish such a small study with such insufficient data.

However; all the above is in no way to say I don't make mistakes too. I use d the same method years ago to purhcase a Barnacle anchor (half the wishbone) and after using it one season in my sailing grounds I sold it. I was not at all satisfied with the results.

I do enjoy watching all the work you do in pushing your anchors and enjoy any data you supply. But for now; I'll wait and see.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Craig,
You got me there. I haven't used a Rocna. Like Sean, I'll wait to wear out my others before buying something new. My CQRs have worked in my conditions just fine so far and when I come up against the weed problem will throw a fisherman at it.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[GMac]

Originally Posted by dkall

You seem to be close to the lone wolf in supporting the the Roca anchors on multiple boards.

Be fair, they are newish to a lot of the world so there is not a real big pool of users to comment who would also be on this board. I know many here (NZ) with them and all only have good things to say about them. As far as I know none post here besides me.

My opinion
Are older designs bad? No generally.
Should people be scared if they have one? In no way at all.
Are the new generation superior to older designs? Yes in many ways.
Will the new ones be the CQR's, Bruces of the 10's (??? 2010)? 5 years I don't think so but 10 years, quite possible.

but untill I see some real scientific data

You never will. Could be done but I doubt it ever will be. Would be great to see.

Disclaimer: I do have dealings with Rocna, Spade, Manson, Lewmar, Fortress, China a little and a few other anchor makers. None pay me anything though or will even give their sisters ph number.... damn it

[craigsmith]

Originally Posted by irwinsailor

Craig, are you saying a Ronca is the only anchor that you need to carry?

Yes.

You may choose not to believe

Peter has only Rocnas on his own boat (four of 'em) and considers the selection more than adequate for present sailing around NZ, an upcoming expedition to Patagonia and Antarctica, subsequent cruising up to the Caribbean and possibly across to the Med and Europe, etc.

The point is it's intended as a general purpose anchor, and works as one. There is no type that we know of that will perform better on any seabed, let alone across all. Sorry if that sounds like hype but it's honest.

One possible exception is if you really want to anchor on rock, where something like a grapnel could be a better idea.

[orion1]

We carry two CQR's a 35#, a 45 #, one Northhill, a Fisherman and a FX 55 Fortress. In our area we do not have too much grass to deal with but feel that no one type is adequate. CQR's are our primary bow roller anchors.

[Maine Sail]

I too had bad trouble getting my Spade A80 to set in a hard bottom. I could literally drag it 200 yards before it would bite. I replaced it with a Spade S80 (the steel version) and the performance was drastically better and certainly better than my CQR. The aluminum Spades have siginificantly more complaints, in the forums, about setting performance than do the steel Spades.

My primar anchor is no longer a Spade though. I switched to a Manson Supreme (similar to a Rocna) and it is by far the finest all round anchor I have ever used in my 36 years of sailing. Sure I'd love a Rocna but the price was nearly double and I was originally buying this anchor as a test to see if I liked it. Even though it's a knock off of a Rocna it performs far better than the other anchors I currently own like a CQR, Bruce, Spade, Fortress & Delta. Perhaps someday if Craig gets his distribution in the US nailed down I will try a Rocna but I can't imagine a better performer than my Manson Supreme. It even sets in thick eel grass which is most likely due to it's sharp arrowhead like design....

-Acoustic

[cat man do]

Thank's for that Acoustic, I'll also be giving the Manson supreme a run when I get in the water, for the same reasons you mentioned.

While probably not as good as the Rocna, it will be better than most I think, and I can afford to go up in size and have another as a spare.

I'd just hate the prospect of having to leave a Rocna behind if jammed.

Dave

[GMac]

Acoustic, that's a big anchor on a liteweight looking bowroller. You checked it is up for the job? Not having a go just an observation.

[Maine Sail]

than it looks and is through bolted and back plated for about 14 inches into the foredeck. It's made by Garhauer and the metal is thicker than some of the other "off the shelf" rollers I've seen. That being said, I never rely on the anchor roller, when anchoring, unless it's settled weather. I always lead the anchor rode to a bow cleat this is just common sense. I really like the design of it sticking out so far because it keeps the anchor from swinging into my hull when I haul it on deck. To me an anchor roller is simply an anchor rack to make for easy launch and retreival after of course the anchor is broken free..

Here's another view where you can see the mounting...

[Euro Cruiser]

GMac, Acoustic's bow roller arrangement is the typical set-up youll find over here in the States and also thru-out N Europe. A bit heavier than some, this Garhauer unit looks like it's bent up from ~5mm plate (I believe Hunter uses 4mm and, on some boats like Bavarias and Dehlers, I've seen 3mm) and of course it's cantilevered out there like a swimming pole dive board. This works OK in N America because our weather is relatively mild, marine infrastructure is vast and so protected berthing at a dock is the norm, and sailing in N Europe is often seasonal and (more often than is appreciated) in protected waters (English estuaries, behind the Baltics' rocks, up the Spanish & Portuguese Rias and so forth).

As I think about heading your direction, I'm beginning to think that our entire anchor system needs to be revisited. These kinds of cantilevered roller assemblies will twist like a pretzel out in the Pacific, I fear. And I almost never see cruising boats moving the rode to a bow cleat via a fairlead (which often have their own issues).

I'm unaware of the Manson Supreme and am glad it's mentioned here, as it looks like it's worth considering. Ironically, I'm 200 NM from the Spade factory in Tunis, Tunisia - an easy sail away - and they want more for a S140 at the factory than I would pay for one back in the States. Someone simply doesn't want my business badly enough. Acoustic, thanks for the post.

Jack

[dkall]

Here is what a hurricane did to the yacht Mirador:

[GMac]

That's a better photo. Just looks a bit strange stuck right out there.
Here you would probably have a bit of something under it like the deck molded out further or something most of the time.

That is a 'nice' job Dkall. Time to galv your chain again I think

[Shas]

I don't see what that video purports to show.
If they had 130 feet of chain out in 15 feet of water ,
why is the anchor almost immediately below the bow?
And why would ANY anchor drag on a windless,
dead-calm sea? Who is kidding whom?
Shas

[Ram]

Shas
No ones trying to "kid" anyone, just stating facts in this case.
The reason the anchor is near the boat is because I needed to get a shot of the bottom and how it was draggin, (look at the track marks left in the sand)so I moved the boat so you could look down on it . And of corse no anchor would drag on a windless day or night, but then it was not windless when we were draging the night before the shot was taken .
The spade would not dig in & i supect it must have been hard #$@* under the first few inchs of sand, I have since bought the Manson Supreme and will start using it as my primary anchor and the spade as a second. The spade is much lighter and has a thick point wile the MS has a very sharp thin point ,and heavier and should do the trick in the weeds & hard stuff
Ram