Sarca Experiences

[Kettlewell]

CSY Man, I too remember fondly my Danforth HT 12 that I used to own--can't remember which boat I let it go with, but it was a mistake in retrospect. We anchored our 30-foot Angus Primrose design out in Huntington Bay on Long Island with Hurricane Gloria approaching using a 35-lb CQR, the HT 12, and some other no-name Danforth anchor. After the eye passed right over our boat the mooring field that was to windward of us was on the beach and we were sitting in the bay almost all by ourselves. If you can get a Danforth dug in, or a Fortress, they will hold until something breaks. I wonder if the current crop of Danforth Hi-Tensile anchors made by Tie Down is as good as the old ones were? They are still made in the good 'ol USA, but I have heard mixed results. Also wonder about the Kingston brand Hi-Strength anchor, which looks to be a good copy of the Hi-Tensile. I'm wondering if the poor results some people report with Danforth-style anchors is that they are just not built to the correct specs. At least the Fortress appears to still be very well made and work properly, which is one reason I like them a lot, though there are times when I think the added weight of steel would be useful to help penetration. Is your Rocna one of the NZ made ones or is it Chinese made?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by JonJo

The Simpson Lawrence Delta was patented by Gordon Lyall and 2 colleagues in the 1980s. Gordon, retired now but still an active yachtsmen (or was a few months ago) was Technical Director of SL. In hindsight there were a number of contraints in the design, they did not have easy access to cheap high tensile steels, SL was a major player in the marine component industry (it became a founding half of Lewmar) and anchors were only one part of Gordon's reponsibility and in fact the Delta took 6 years to come to fruition. Part of the design brief was also to have an easily retreived anchor - which might have been a response to the then innovative Bruce (which might lift mud and be heavy) or simply because 30 years ago most people did not have powered anchor windlasses ...

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, JonJo.

Thanks for sharing your detailed knowlege. Have you worked in the marine manufacturing industry (perhaps Lewmar?)?

“... The name Lewmar dates from 1950 when Len Lewery joined forces with Leslie Marsh, a local plant hire operator to develop and manufacture dinghy fittings ...
... Clyde Marine plc, owner of Simpson Lawrence Distribution and Engineering, purchased the Lewmar Group from Vector in a private sale (1996) ...”
➥ Lewmar

[delmarrey]

So, I wonder if this old 1943 Navy 10 kg Danforth look-a-like is a heat treated series?


.

[JonJo]

Hi GordMay,

I do not work for Lewmar, if I had done I would have known more of its history but was brought up in Scotland, lived in Glasgow for 4 years, so have some nostalgia for SL etal. I did take the trouble to have some long correspondence with Gordon and I must have mistaken something he said. Interestingly mud wars are not new. Gordon, once the Delta was on the market, used to provide talks, sort of advertising I guess. Anyway Gordon would take a Delta, a Bruce and a tennis ball and demonstrate that you can catch a tennis ball in a Bruce but not a Delta (and by analagy, mud). All I can say is that they were real men then -catching tennis balls with anchors! If this was part of my job description, prancing around catching tennis balls, I'd be looking at Fortress, Manson (with their Racer) or Spade with their alloy series - but then I'm a wimp!

But the Delta was a major step forward and we are 30 years further on. Even the Delta was made from Hi Tensile steel, undefined, yet some anchors made today are made from what, mild steel? - because if people used Hi Tensile steel, like Manson's Supreme, or Anchor Rights SARCA Excel - they would say so. So if people do not say so I would assume they are made from, what we called in the British steel industry, clog iron - whatever is cheap. It might be good enough - but why not use 21st centruy raw materials and why not tell us?

And thanks for the welcome to the forum!