Sarca Excel

[downunder]

Originally Posted by malo37

I imported a batch of Sarca Excel anchors into the Uk last year (with a lot of help from Rex who I had never heard of previously) on behalf of an interested group on the Yachting Monthly forum. These anchors out perform anything I have had previously and certainly in mud and sand seem to be as solid as a permanent mooring. A little more difficult to get out but perfectly manageable and reassuring. From my own perspective sailing in Northern Scotland in a 40ft 10 tonne boat, I would say that the weak link, if there is one on my anchoring system, is no longer the holding power of the anchor but is the strength of the chain etc.

Good recomendation. What size (weight) anchor ??

cheers

[Diehard boatie]

I have one of Rex's anchors on my 40 foot cruiser, custom bow sprit and all. It locks onto anything it gets thrown into and we feel as safe as if moored.

As an example - Last new years eve we parked in Sydney Harbour for the night (again) to see in the new year. It can get very rough up till 6pm with so many ferries and boats looking for a vantage point to see the fireworks and so much wash is created that we have had the odd sick person who never got sick before.
We had 4 boats all about the same size bunked up together and only my anchor was out holding us in place, mainly because I was the first one there and there was no room to put out any more anchors...it did not move even in all of the wash. So if you are having second thoughts about Rex's anchors...don't... they are the best in the business and I am happy to promote what is an excellent product. The bonus is that Rex is not a bad fella to deal with either.

[Wayward Wind]

Originally Posted by Diehard boatie

So if you are having second thoughts about Rex's anchors...don't... they are the best in the business and I am happy to promote what is an excellent product. The bonus is that Rex is not a bad fella to deal with either.

In that case I am glad I have one of Rex's Excels as I will be watching the NYE fireworks in the harbour. Hope it will hold ground against guys who chuck grappling hooks off their runabouts. Ditto about Rex being a great guy to deal with. Same goes for Joy, his Mrs.

[SurferShane]

Originally Posted by Wayward Wind

In that case I am glad I have one of Rex's Excels as I will be watching the NYE fireworks in the harbour. Hope it will hold ground against guys who chuck grappling hooks off their runabouts. Ditto about Rex being a great guy to deal with. Same goes for Joy, his Mrs.

Well I can testify I am on Sydney harbour directly exposed to the current squalls gusting up to 30 knots and the boat has not moved anchored to the Excel 4. Oh, I usually would not anchor like this, but I had a dinner occasion and knew I could trust the anchor. Likewise, Rex was more than helpful.

[kjames]

Hey Congo / Rex

I have a 10 Tonne boat that is 12m / 40’ long. Sarca website says use a No. 6 size anchor. People on this forum often say go up one size i.e. No. 7. What is your recommendation?

Cheers

[congo]

Hi Kjames ,

Thank you for your question, many thanks to all with their warm comments.


Our anchor sizes are not randomly chosen, or based on hit and miss anchor sizing, because we are certified with Super High Holding Power certification we run with an anchor size that would normaly be chosen buy a survey officer if you were under survey, they rarely get it wrong as it all comes from the original U S L code formula, draft versus displacement, weight versus wind age and so on.


After many years of supplying certified anchors for boats from runabouts to 300 ton trawlers gave us a fairly accurate method on nominating an anchor size for your boat –yacht—runabout excetra.

When it comes to work boats and large trawlers we have no say as it is up to a survey officer to nominate the correct anchor size, but in dealing with the authorities does give us a great indicator for success in anchor sizing.
So for your boat a N0 5 22 KG Excel would see you on the border line, you are right a N0 six 30 K.G will give you some margin, if you decided to go to a No 7 36 K.G. the advantage over the No6 K.G. is the ability to penetrate harder surfaces not just because of the extra weight but the actual physics the No seven will produce, more driving force than the No 6.

So will you need the No 7? Well based on many years of experience dealing with boats under survey I don’t believe so, the No 6 will supply ample holding power for your size boat in just about all substrates where it can bury its flukes, the Excel has great ability in change of tide and rapid resetting ability in very strong winds, Excels shank is produce from Bisaloy—spring steel, the shank is not but welded but goes right through the fluke and is welded on the underside as well as the top, the cutting toe is also of Bisaloy.
So there is no strength issue, I don’t think you would have a problem, in saying that I cannot guarantee you will hold in all situations. It would be irresponsible of me to say that and would be a downright dangerous statement as all anchors are a compromise.


At the end of the day it is you the customers that experience various anchor designs performance and there is no more accurate test than in real life situations.





Regards.
Rex.

[Sextant]

Hi All Like to add my comments having used a Sarca Excel #4 (35lbs galvanised) for a few years now on our previous yacht, an X412 from X-Yachts, 41' o.a. 8000kg (dry).
We are based in Sydney Harbour Australia (Port Jackson) and have extensively raced and Cruised the East Coast of Australia and in particular 2 Cruises to Tasmania (09-11). We have anchored in many different locations and conditions including a couple of reasonable blows to 35 kts+, we use 10mm chain and our Excel has set first time every time and has not dragged including during severe conditions when sheltering in Bass Strait Islands and East Coast Tas.
We have now upgraded to a beautiful Xc42 Cruising yacht also from X-yachts, 42'o.a. 11000kg (dry) and are replacing the stock anchor with a #5 Excel (48lbs Galvanised), would ideally like a Stainless steel model but budget dictates otherwise. We found it to be an aggressive anchor when setting and had great service from our previous Excel and looking forward to cruising Tasmania again Jan-Feb 2012. Sextant

[JonJo]

Sextant,

If you are going to cruise Tasmania in Jan and Feb 2012 I assume that with the new yacht you also gain access to time travel. I know X-Yachts are good, we too owned one till we saw the light of a multi! but time travel was not an option we have seen previously. If you are thinking of stainless and are tempted, despite its cost, I might suggest you have a quick word with Rex. You will find that the galvanised version is a better buy - even if it lacks the bling. The same would go for any other stainless anchor, lovely to look at but cannot match Bisplate 80.

We too are going to Tas early next year. If time travel fails we would look forward to seeing you there, we too own an Excel No4.

Jonathan

[Sextant]

Thanks Johnathan. We fitted a Tardus for this trip but if that fails will be bound to real time in Jan 2013. This will be the H13 Cruise, go to skipr.net and link up for H13. I agree with you about the galvanised version but the reduced friction of the stainless version when setting appeals. Will look out for you.
Denis

[JonJo]

Denis,

316 stainless has a Yield Strength of 205 MPa, Bisplate 80 in comparison has a Yield Strength of 750 MPa. These are typical figures. 316 is actually weaker than marine alloy, 5083, at a Yield Strength of 240 MPa and mild steel a 250 grade a Yield Strength of 260 MPa. Bisalloy (the company) as rule of thumb suggest that a product manufactured from Bis 80 will be 2.5 times as strong as the same, identical, item manufactured from mild steel, though I'm not sure what they mean by mild steel - but I think 250 grade is the lowest quality.

I suspect that it would test the skills and sensitivity (though my wife can suggest that I do lack sensitivity and skills) of any yachtsmen to differentiate the setting ability of stainless over gal. My personal view is that a well used (and thus polished) gal anchor would set in exactly the same manner as a well used (and thus matt) stainless anchor - but I am more than willing to be shown that I have no idea about what I'm talking! But the gal Excel contains Bis 80 in the toe of the fluke and the cutting edges. I suspect the toe and leading edges of the gal version will maintain their point and knife edges longer than that of stainless.

When we meet up you will need to show me your Tardis, they must have made it smaller than when we last looked and maybe we could fit one as well. They could be uncommonly useful!

Jonathan

[almiaman]

Hi,
I have a 25 X 18 cat with a 40 ft mast. It displaces about 1.4 tonne in cruising mode. The windage at anchor is quite high.
Interesting to see a thread about Sarca anchors.
I first saw them at the 09 Sydney boat show and bought an Ex-cel #3 right there and then.
I was really sick of my plow dragging across the top of the weed fortified sand. All this in full view as I anchor in a few feet of water. The bottom in my home port varies greatly. Apart from the above mentioned sand there is soft sand, hard beach sand black mud and weed beds.
The Sarka has changed my life. I put it down and sleep peacefully through wind direction changes. In the morning I can often see the chain trails and the reversed anchor only a meter or so from where I left it.
I have no interest in Sarca other than being an extremely happy customer.
I see Rex at most sydney boat shows and stop to chat about his great anchor and catch up on how he is doing.
I recommend you try an appropriate sized one on your boat, you will be very happy with it I am sure.
Regards, Al

[SurferShane]

Hey, did a dive on my Sacra Excel a few days back again cleaning the hull. Biggest problem was that I could not find it! Eventually I picked what must have been part of the shank. With a bit of digging I confirmed it was exactly that. It must have been a fairly soft sand bottom and she was hunting underneath.

The only warning I would give is to set the proper scope. It seems this way the anchor will set properly, but will still be easy to pull up. A hard equation to get right, especially for the manufacturer.

[JonJo]

Not sure about the comment about using the proper scope. And am sure this is not the responsibility of the manufacturer. We set, with our Excel, at about 3:1 and if only a short stop, cocktails and canapes, will leave it as such. We would simply set running the boat gently in reverse. However if setting for the night we would set at 3:1 and then let out a minimum of 5:1 and run the engines, its a cat, at around 2,000 revs. For anything longer than a 2 hour stop (they, the crew, have big cocktails) we would deploy 5:1. If there was to be any sort of breeze we would let out all the chain, but we only carry 50m and would try to set in 4-5m of water.

In terms of finding the anchor to see how its set, we would agree (big problem). We paint the shank of our anchors, all of them, bright yellow. It stands out in the seabed. But often we find that the complete anchor and 2m of chain have completely disappeared - but this would also be true of a Spade and Fortress (correctly sized for our yacht).

J

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by JonJo

In terms of finding the anchor to see how its set, we would agree (big problem). We paint the shank of our anchors, all of them, bright yellow. It stands out in the seabed. But often we find that the complete anchor and 2m of chain have completely disappeared - but this would also be true of a Spade and Fortress (correctly sized for our yacht).

J

2m (6feet) of line with a small float (or use floating line) attached to head of the anchor is useful. You can find the anchor when completely buried, or in thick weed.


As well as making the anchor easier to find, if the anchor does get caught you attach can attach a retreval line to this point without diving down all the way to the bottom.

I have a rope like this perminantly attached to the anchor

[JonJo]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

2m (6feet) of line with a small float (or use floating line) attached to head of the anchor is useful. You can find the anchor when completely buried, or in thick weed.


As well as making the anchor easier to find, if the anchor does get caught you attach can attach a retreval line to this point without diving down all the way to the bottom.

I have a rope like this perminantly attached to the anchor

Good idea, though you need to ensure the rope is sufficiently deep not to get caught in anyone's prop. We once had a longer 6mm buoy line, with the buoy marked - 'anchor for Josepheline' and someone tried to tie onto it - so the idea of a subsurface buoy is good.

In terms of setting and holding - we did some load cell work at various scopes, see Practical Sailor (USA); Sailing Today (UK) and Cruising Helmsman (Aus) - various detail in each. Within the test programme we used a 2.75:1 scope, measured from bow roller. The maximum load was 650kg (it felt as if we had run into a brick wall) at between 30-35knots (do not recall exact windspeed). We discontinued this specific test so do not know, if had we stayed, the loads might have been higher. The Excel did not move. We had a heavily weghted market buoy to check for anchor movement. We were anchored in clean sand and could see the bottom. The scope used is not to be seen as anything we would endorse, it was simply done to find points on a graph. The was done with an all chain rode. There was minimum wave effect - so just wind and momentum, producing dynamic or snatch loads.

The point being, even at a scope ratio lower than anything anyone would use the Excel held.

We do not know if other anchors would have performed as well - we cannot recommend a repeat (as we are not sure if the various points of load on the yacht are actually designed for this sort of thing - hopefully they are but we are not willing to test!)

It also illustrates in a dramatic way why you need a snubber - something, anything with elasticity but whatever needs to function at quite high loads (assuming you might find you can only use a low scope ratio because there is not room).