Videos of Anchors Setting

[Snowpetrel]

Great work Steve, I was so exicited to see a new video notification from you, had to wait till the end of the workday to watch it. What an awesome amount of work and a great result. I enjoyed seeing the failed attempts as well, like you I instinctively thought they would work well. Cheers, now got another job to do, add some panope holes to my secondhand manson, thanks

Sent from my SM-G930F using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Panope]

Snow,

Of all people, I figured you would be most likely to break-out the power tools after watching that video. But instead of 'Panope Holes', we really should call them 'Anchor Right Holes' or something.

All,

Rex Francis (of Anchor Right) called me yesterday after viewing this latest video and we had a nice chat about perforated flukes, and general anchor ramblings. Naturally, he thought my investigations are great as my drilled fluke testing affirms this technology that he himself developed.

He also wanted me to let people know that he holds patents on his anchors that include holes in the fluke. He as no problem with individuals drilling holes in their personal anchors but he (like myself) caution that any drilling will weaken the structure, possibly to the point of becoming unsafe.

Additionally, he wants it do be known that he does not want another manufacturer to take advantage of this concept (holes in fluke) and he feels that his patent coverage is broad and enforceable.

I hope the comradary that I share with Rex does not lead to anyone to believe that I give preferential treatment to his anchors. Prior to viewing my initial group of test videos, Rex did not know anything about me. What he saw in my videos (and my boat project thread) was a person who, in his words, is a "real bloke". His trust in me, coupled with the faith he has in his own products, gave him the confidence to start sending anchors to me from halfway around the world - no strings attached. Two of his anchors have performed perfectly in my tests but for a third anchor, it was not all roses. This was disappointing for Rex but I will say that he accepted the results fully.

I even chose a non-Anchor Right product as my favorite personal anchor (Spade).

Steve

[groundtackle]

Once again Steve has given us food for thought, thanks.
So whats going on then?
Is the attatched seabed causing a weight imbalance reducing toe pressure/ attack angle.
or
The attatched seabed alters the entire fluke shape. Something else?
EXCEL performs as designed without the added inconsistancy of seabed. I am continually amazed how clean this anchor arrives from below.
EXCEL fluke design features a 70% convex / 30% concave combination. The 30% concave cutting edges are minimal at the toe and increase in surface area directing seabed towards the tail where the holes are located. This tail end compressed seabed pressure is key in setting but the lack of concave area reduces the tendancy to bucket large volumes of seabed.
The ventilation holes add to the cleanliness, allow the anchor to shuffle, break free upon retrieval and certainly help it to dive deep regardless of the bottom composition.
We welcome the feedback. I'm sure I'll here from Rex later tonite and pass on his thoughts.
Sorry to sound like an anchor salesman, guess thats what I am now.
Chris
Groundtackle

[Panope]

We had a forecast of 25 knot breezes the other day which made for some fine sailing. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to tossing an anchor over the side, the wind abated somewhat.

I really wanted to get some clear footage of the anchor in actual wind/wave conditions, but it appears this will be impossible as the waves seem to 'stir' up an incredible amount of organic material from the nearby beach.

Steve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKy4QOXi3_o

[Panope]

I dug up some long lost photos:

Launch day, Sept 1981. A shot of me setting Panope's anchor for the very first time (I was 12).


I have since changed EVERYTHING on that fore-deck. I can not remember what size genuine CQR we had (probably 45 lbs.). It required much patience to set. Once set, holding power was quite good. Anchor was lost to rode chafe in Baja 1989.

[Tayana42]

How great to have these photos of the first launch of your beautiful boat. What a great experience for a 12 year old boy.


S/V B'Shert

[Panope]

Nick Shaw of Ground Tackle Marine, offered to exchange my Super Sarca #5 for a #6. This is the perfect size for Panope.

Rather than another boring test of an anchor performing perfectly, I tried to make it fail by blocking the fluke slots (these slots perform the function preventing mud from sticking).

Alas, the test did not go as I had presumed it would............

Steve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga4y...ature=youtu.be

[Panope]

Anchor testing suspended.

I brought Panope to my house for the winter. I will likely start into some fairly 'deep' projects that may or may not be completed by spring time.

I appreciate all the participation/interest in this thread.

Cheers,

Steve

[malbert73]

Cool trailer. What can pull it?


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Panope]

Macho Pick-up truck.

[Snowpetrel]

Thats a perfect setup Steve, how nice to be able to pull your boat home for the winter. Many thanks for the great video's and all the best for the winters projects. Melting lead will keep you warm...

[Souzag818]

Hey Steve. Thanks for the effort you put in. Because of you, I'm now the proud owner of a Spade S100 on my Wauquiez Pretorien. It's probably big for my 35' 13500 lb boat, but better to be too big than too small. I'm also located in the PNW, so I get the "not diving" on your anchor bit- cold water, cold air...so having an anchor that holds makes me warm inside... Thanks, again

[ErikFinn]

Happy wintering Steve. Looking forward to seeing some Delta videos next season.

[Panope]

Since starting my anchor testing one year ago, I have received numerous requests to test various anchors, with the DELTA anchor generating the most requests.

Cruisers Forum member Cotemar offered up this 20 Kg / 44 lb. example in new, unused condition. It arrived by package delivery today. Thank you Cotemar.

As Panope is high and dry for at least the winter and much of spring, we will have to wait for a proper test under my normal protocol. That said, I might do some preliminary testing with a smaller boat sometime soon.

Steve

[eheffa]

Thank you Steve.

These tests represent an invaluable resource for those of us who like to anchor out and want to be able to sleep with confidence in our ground tackle.

A year and a half ago when I bought my boat, I thought I was choosing the best possible anchor for my Nordic Tug 37 (~ 40' LOA and 22000 lb displacement). After lots of on-line research and talking to more experienced mariners, I chose an oversized Rocna 25 Kg anchor.

We have spent a lot of time on the hook since. We have had a number of nights in more blustery or high current anchorages where with a shift in the wind or more commonly a shift in the tide, the anchor alarm has gone off in the middle of the night. I have been puzzled by this as on each occasion as while it looked to me like we might have moved, I'm able to verify and conclude that we aren't dragging any longer. This takes at least half an hour of observation and worry in the middle of the night with the wind whipping around. (Not great sleeping conditions for sure and not really much fun.) I had been attributing these 'false' alarms to my setting the range on the alarm too tightly but I now have a sneaking suspicion that on at least some of these occasions we had actually broken loose and lurched to a new set point.

I had always thought that 'dragging' at anchor was more verifiable and consistent but now I appreciate the there is another phenomenon which might be better named: LURCHING at anchor. I think that has been happening to us.

Your videos of the anchors resetting may provide an explanation for what we have experienced.

With the Black Friday sale yesterday, I placed an order for a Spade S120. I truly hope we have fewer nights lurching at anchor with the new setup.

Thanks Steve.

-evan