Lavezzi 40: Chain size 8mm or 10mm and how much did you fit in chain locker

[CaptainRivet]

Hi all,

What chain size the FP Lavezzi has from factory 8mm or 10mm?
From 6.2t/12000lb weight it should be 8mm one…

Mine has a 10mm chain and that feels oversized. With raising the windlass by 9cm i assume I can fit 70-80m 10mm chain. Have 45m now and want max that fits.

On the other side Anker locker is quite shallow, how much chain could you fit there.

[Boatfreak]

Hi

Can't say anything specific to the Lavezzi, but I have been through this on my Athena 38, and I would imagine it is much the same. I would say if using standard grade 40 chain that 10mm is the right size.

When I bought the Athena she had 30m of 12mm chain. 12mm is way over the top and 30m is nowhere near enough for the Med. We couldn't get a 10mm gypsy and couldn't afford a new windlass at that time so I calculated the maximum amout of 12mm I could fit in, It came out to 90m, so we bought an extra 60. It did fit but was not happy either going out or coming in. There was insufficient distance below the gypsy for the chain to properly orientate itself.

I have now replaced the windlass and the chain. By using G70 chain I was easily able to fit in 100m and it works well in both directions though obviously it is still necessary to flake it manually on recovery. 8mm G70 will be as strong as 10mm G40 but occupy less space and be lighter. There is not much difference in cost, the 8mm G70 is slightly more expensive. I have saved 180kg over the 12mm.

I have not noticed any tendency to move around the anchor any more than with the heavier chain and in some ways it is an improvement, My two 2GM20s were not powerfull enough to straighten the 12mm chain and properly dig in the anchor, consequently the chain would straighten over time with the effect of wind and boat mass. Not good for Med mooring. With the 8mm chain, I can pull it straight under power.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by Boatfreak

Hi

Can't say anything specific to the Lavezzi, but I have been through this on my Athena 38, and I would imagine it is much the same. I would say if using standard grade 40 chain that 10mm is the right size.

When I bought the Athena she had 30m of 12mm chain. 12mm is way over the top and 30m is nowhere near enough for the Med. We couldn't get a 10mm gypsy and couldn't afford a new windlass at that time so I calculated the maximum amout of 12mm I could fit in, It came out to 90m, so we bought an extra 60. It did fit but was not happy either going out or coming in. There was insufficient distance below the gypsy for the chain to properly orientate itself.

I have now replaced the windlass and the chain. By using G70 chain I was easily able to fit in 100m and it works well in both directions though obviously it is still necessary to flake it manually on recovery. 8mm G70 will be as strong as 10mm G40 but occupy less space and be lighter. There is not much difference in cost, the 8mm G70 is slightly more expensive. I have saved 180kg over the 12mm.

I have not noticed any tendency to move around the anchor any more than with the heavier chain and in some ways it is an improvement, My two 2GM20s were not powerfull enough to straighten the 12mm chain and properly dig in the anchor, consequently the chain would straighten over time with the effect of wind and boat mass. Not good for Med mooring. With the 8mm chain, I can pull it straight under power.

True Athena and Lavezzi are quite similar.
I don‘t wanna save weight as that’s what effectivly holds the cat on Anker and going 8mm is out of scope, financially as I have 45m and as explained doesn’t make sense.
Windlass is newly overhauled and has an 10mm gipsy plus I installed a 10mm chain stopper that also guides the chain properly to the gypsy so it cannot jump off and run down as previously happened quite often. Best mod I ever done

[Boatfreak]

Well, I wasn't trying to persuade you to use 8mm, although you seemed to be considering it. You have a legacy 10mm system and I'm sure thats what is standard. In the absence of a pertinent answer from someone with a Lavezzi, my point really was that 100m of 8mm is fine, 90m of 12mm was not. Unfortunately I can't comment on 10mm.

I'm not so sure chain weight is fundamental to holding, after all I replaced the 12mm because we lost it after dragging in 45knots of wind, I'm sure there were boats in the anchorage with 10mm chain who did not drag. I hummed and ha'ed over the 8mm but was emboldened to try it by a thread on this forum " A mathematicians approach to anchoring", his conclusion seemed to be that a lighter chain is OK, you just need more of it. My problem was the same as yours, "how much chain can you get in the locker and it still work"

My point about the orientation of the chain was about the distance from the point of first/last contact on the gypsey to the top of the pile of chain in the locker. That distance needs to be enough to allow the chain to rotate to align itself properly with the gypsey. Too much chain and it wont happen every time. The chain can only rotate so much per link.

[sailingjoy]

On my Mahe 36, a bit smaller than the Lavezzi and the Athena, I went from 10 mm to 8 mm (Maggi Aqua 4 = grade 40). Same strength but much lighter and takes up less room. Very happy with it.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by sailingjoy

On my Mahe 36, a bit smaller than the Lavezzi and the Athena, I went from 10 mm to 8 mm (Maggi Aqua 4 = grade 40). Same strength but much lighter and takes up less room. Very happy with it.

I actually have 45m of maggi grade 40 10mm chain too and wiill just add another 40m