New West Marine Recall on Rocna Anchors

[Trinomite]

I hope I got this post right...An anchor with no name...(Respects to the lead singer of America)

Therapy, you wrote and I quote:

Thank you for your response and the concerns raised.
Unfortunately we do not have serial numbers on our anchors.

That is not acceptable from anyone who builds an anchor and passes considered standards to hold a vessel.

Many Years a go, after an expensive refit to put my vessel back into the charter fleet, my first client ran the boat aground at 5:00am after having a strong channel funneled wind called locally a Squamish, tug at his anchor all night long at his unrecommended anchorage. He ran aground on FinisTerre Island, off Bowen Island, Howe Sound BC, Canada.
He claimed that the anchor failed and that the anchor line parted.
The anchor was retrieved as was the anchor line. The serial number and the receipt on the anchor line helped to prove that the client was responsible.
Damages were $27k CDN.
Need I say more

No Tickee, no Shirtee..

(If Offshore Lack of Standards will be the new level of Marine Hardware, why do we bother with Lloyds of London's International Shipping Standards)

Best Regards
Tri

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by conachair

I've heard that yaching monthly magazine in the uk are doing an investigation into the shank steel, maybe they'll test to see how bendy the shanks are.

Indeed and they are after photos of bent Rocnas to publish, so if anyone has a photo of a bent anchor you might want to have a chat with Graham (Snooks) at Yachting Monthly one of the magazines staff.

Photos of bent Rocnas - Yachting and Boating World Forums

Pete

[sded]

I managed to bend a 35lb delta. And interestingly the replacement had a much more robust shank. So anchor bending is pretty common.

[BO]

Originally Posted by Trinomite

..... Therapy, you wrote and I quote:

Thank you for your response and the concerns raised.
Unfortunately we do not have serial numbers on our anchors.

That is not acceptable from anyone who builds an anchor and passes considered standards to hold a vessel. ..... (If Offshore Lack of Standards will be the new level of Marine Hardware, why do we bother with Lloyds of London's International Shipping Standards ....

Type Approval by a Certifying Authority does not require each item to have a serial number just that each items conforms to the approved standard or design by a manufacturing process. It is not that uncommon to have mass produced "Type Approved" equipment i.e. lifejackets, navigation lights, chain, wire rope, electrical cable.

Where individual product traceability is required or requested, then serial numbered equipment is necessary e.g my boat hull GRP was laid under Lloyds Supervision, so has a unique hull number, recorded against the type approval for that hull design.

Perhaps Rocna could introduce serial numbers to their anchors and individual Certificates of Conformity per serial number to win back confidence in their product, but that level of QA costs! Is it worth it to them, who knows.

[Michael.J.Smith]

Originally Posted by SV Liberty

OK, I think I've got a good Rocna, but thought I'd ask the forum (or at least folks who follow this Rocna anchor stuff).

I bought our Rocna sometime in 2006 or 2007 - coulda been as late as November 2007 or so - it was shipped from Canada, maybe from an outfit called Suncoast or something like that.

So, do I have a Canadian Rocna, built to original specs, with no worries? It does not have the ROCNA stamped/cast into the fluke that I see on new ones.

We've spent a lot of time on that hook and like it a lot, waaay more than our old original Bruce (that we still have on the bow roller as our secondary).

Dave

Yes this ia a good one it would have been manufactured in New Zealand or Canada.

[Michael.J.Smith]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

We understand all that as it has been rehashed here and elsewhere over and over.

Can you PLEASE give us some specifics on your anchor bending situation?

1- Bottom type?
2- Boat weight?
3- Wind speed? Peak and nominal?
4- Stuck on a coral head or in rocks?
5- A PICTURE?
6- Your rode type?
7- Location when this happened?

So far there has been one photo of a bent Rocna, that's it. Please add to the validity & seriousness of this issue with an actual photo of your bent anchor, with the specifics of the incident, so the claims of "our anchors are fit for purpose" can be seen by any potential Rocna buyers with the evidence that goes to show they may not be....

The anchor in question has now been totally destroyed in the testing process they had to cut the shank in half to get to clean material. But what i can gather from your reply is that these anchors can only be used in certain weather conditions and certian sea beds?? If that is the case why is that not stated on their web site. For your information i now have the test results and they do not bode well for Rocna or Holdfast the results and the photos will be published in many yatching and Boating magazines world wide in fact the results are discusting. Specially since Steve Branbury stated in the Yatching Monthly magazine that is was only a specific batch in 2010 that was faulty as you know i brought mine in mid 2011. I believe rocna are well awear that they have been building sub standart anchors for years. This is now a rubbish product manufactured in China out of rubbish material that has been specified by rocna/Holdfast at a very low cost.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Michael.J.Smith

Yes this ia a good one it would have been manufactured in New Zealand or Canada.

Whether it's a "good one" is subject to use and prevailing conditions.

It is a Rocna built to the designer's specifications, however.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by marinextreme

and distributor and unfortunately is going to suffer greatly through loss of sales now, something he had no hand in causing.

Not if he will sell me a "real" one.

[virginia boy]

West Marine is still selling Rocna anchors! They had a 33 pounder on their shelf (Alex, Va) two days ago. Manson Supreme was sold out.

[Arch Stanton]

The demonstration with the wheel and the bending shank is worthless to me without seeing how the shanks of other anchors with the same recommended applications perform in the same test.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by Arch Stanton

The demonstration with the wheel and the bending shank is worthless to me without seeing how the shanks of other anchors with the same recommended applications perform in the same test.

Other Anchors may be deficient also.
What would be very telling is the comparison of a "good" rocna and a "bad" rocna of the same size.

Extemp.

[Arch Stanton]

Originally Posted by Michael.J.Smith

The anchor in question has now been totally destroyed in the testing process they had to cut the shank in half to get to clean material. But what i can gather from your reply is that these anchors can only be used in certain weather conditions and certian sea beds?? If that is the case why is that not stated on their web site. For your information i now have the test results and they do not bode well for Rocna or Holdfast the results and the photos will be published in many yatching and Boating magazines world wide in fact the results are discusting. Specially since Steve Branbury stated in the Yatching Monthly magazine that is was only a specific batch in 2010 that was faulty as you know i brought mine in mid 2011. I believe rocna are well awear that they have been building sub standart anchors for years. This is now a rubbish product manufactured in China out of rubbish material that has been specified by rocna/Holdfast at a very low cost.

I would really like to see an answer to Maine Sails questions. You replied to a list of very specific questions without directly addressing a single one. To me, first-person anecdotes of the conditions of failure are a lot more valuable than speculation about the company.

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Arch Stanton

The demonstration with the wheel and the bending shank is worthless to me without seeing how the shanks of other anchors with the same recommended applications perform in the same test.

The wheel demo was not at all quantifiable in terms of force required to bend the anchor. However, based on my tests there is no question that a similar sized Manson would have required more force to bend for two reasons. First, the cross sectional area of the Manson at the mid point of the shank is greater than that of a Rocna. Second, the Manson is made of alloy that is quite a bit stronger than what Rocna now says they are using, although they sometimes say that what they use is a "trade secret", which I translate to mean they reserve the right to use whatever steel is on hand.

So while the wheel test wasn't scientific, all the empirical data we have indicates that the Rocna is going to be the substandard performer when stacked against its most obvious analog.

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by Michael.J.Smith

For your information i now have the test results and they do not bode well for Rocna or Holdfast the results and the photos will be published in many yatching and Boating magazines world wide in fact the results are discusting.

If you were to post the results here it would be of great interest to those of us who do not have access to sailing magazines and to those in the market for an anchor who are researching online.

Mike

[barnakiel]

Most amazing thread. I am looking forward to reading the results, anywhere.

Rocnas are priced with huge premium and I took that the premium was for the quality of design, materials and workmanship. Now it seems to sound like two of the three elements are missing. Bet we won't get a refund of 2/3 of the premium, or what?

;-)
b.