Anchor for 43’ Leopard

[dmerck]

Hi we are new here, we just bought a 43’ leopard 2006. We are wanting to put the largest anchor we can on her because we plan to mostly anchor. Does anyone have any suggestions. We were thinking an 85 lb mantas or Rochna or spade? Has anyone done something similar.? Did you have to retrofit it?

Thanks,
Dave and Diane Merck

[ozsailer]

Gday Dave and Dianne. Most anchor manufactuers will have a sizing guide on their website. Without getting into anchor debates we have a Lagoon 440. I would imagine similar size and weight to you. Recomended size from Rocna was 33KG but we opted for the 45 KG. We have been very happy with our choice. We cruise for 6 months of the year so use our anchor all the time.



Ozsailer
Lagoon 440

[Bean Counter]

Originally Posted by ozsailer

Gday Dave and Dianne. Most anchor manufactuers will have a sizing guide on their website. Without getting into anchor debates we have a Lagoon 440. I would imagine similar size and weight to you. Recomended size from Rocna was 33KG but we opted for the 45 KG. We have been very happy with our choice. We cruise for 6 months of the year so use our anchor all the time.



Ozsailer
Lagoon 440

When using the current Rocna sizing chart, for a catamaran, it recommends using one size larger than the table.


So a Lep 43 (sail) is 13m long, is lightship 8.6T so say 12T fully loaded. Using the Rocna table 14m < 13T = Rocna 25, next size up for cat is 33Kg.


A fully loaded Lagoon 440 is likely > 13T so the recommended anchor would be the 33 + next size up for cat is a 40.


https://rocna.com/fitment-guide/

[BillKny]

One thing everybody ignores on the Rocna sizing chart... EVERYBODY...

It is clearly stated in the chart that "We base our calculations on 50 knots wind..."

50 knots... sounds like a lot... but...

It is not at all unusual to have more than 50 knots of wind in a thunderstorm or strong cold front. Granted, not for hours, but 15 minutes is enough to put you on the rocks.

Rocna has always claimed that their sizing is "conservative," and it might well be, but only within the limits they themselves put on it.

I would upsize at least one size from what they recommend if you are a full time cruiser and have to anchor in whatever weather comes. If you are a casual cruiser gunkholing on weekends, their recommendations are more than sufficient.

Nobody EVER woke up at 2 AM in a gale worried their anchor was too big!

[Bean Counter]

Originally Posted by BillKny

One thing everybody ignores on the Rocna sizing chart... EVERYBODY...

It is clearly stated in the chart that "We base our calculations on 50 knots wind..."

50 knots... sounds like a lot... but...

It is not at all unusual to have more than 50 knots of wind in a thunderstorm or strong cold front. Granted, not for hours, but 15 minutes is enough to put you on the rocks.

Rocna has always claimed that their sizing is "conservative," and it might well be, but only within the limits they themselves put on it.

I would upsize at least one size from what they recommend if you are a full time cruiser and have to anchor in whatever weather comes. If you are a casual cruiser gunkholing on weekends, their recommendations are more than sufficient.

Nobody EVER woke up at 2 AM in a gale worried their anchor was too big!

I am sure Rocna would like people to follow your advice as that would increase profits on more expensive anchors, but their site says:




Over-sizing

Many Rocna customers, in improving their anchor type by switching to a Rocna from an older anchor which they have learned to be unreliable, make doubly sure about their upgrade by also increasing the weight of their anchor. We see this tendency a lot, and try to discourage it. As above, our official sizing is very conservative, and in many cases it's a case of "don't over-size – we already did that for you!"
On a weight-for-weight basis, the Rocna represents a very significant step up from most other types, and doubling the size (for example) could inadvertently cause serious problems with retrieval and other handling issues.
Going over our sizing recommendations could in some cases be justified, for example by the requirement to use very low scopes (short rodes). In this case, a higher angle of pull will be applied to the anchor, necessitating a higher element of dead-weight in the anchor to resist this. As a real world example, Steve Dashew uses a Rocna 110 on his 84' powerboat Wind Horse. Our recommendation for this boat is a Rocna 70. However, Dashew routinely anchors in tight and non-ideal anchorages, and reports his Rocna perfectly secure at scope as low as 2:1."

[rslifkin]

The Rocna (and Mantus) recommendations are definitely more conservative than a lot of others. Because they actually give some information on their sizing criteria (unlike many), it's easy to determine whether you want to go up another size for extra safety margin or not.



With a high windage boat like most cats (or my powerboat), I'd go up a size. The Rocna chart told me I should have a 55lb / 25kg, but I went for the 73lb / 33kg Vulcan instead, as it's not a lot of extra weight to carry, fits fine on the bow, and it gives that much more margin for a crap bottom or a surprise thunderstorm.

[alaskanviking]

i went through this a couple years ago. watched all the independent or other reviews i could. I have Roca and Mantus onboard. 43ft monohull, with a pilothouse so my windage is higher.

don't get stainless, was something i ran into a lot. stainless is weaker than galvanized steel, and suffer from crevice corrosion if the conditions are right. see some bad stories with this. the boat came with a 45lb stainless plow anchor and i didn't see any structural issues, but there was rust. so I'm not sure how this applies for the majority of normal every day anchoring. the dissimilar metals from stainless anchor and galvanized chain IS a thing however so inspect often, specifically stainless swivels.

for a regular anchor it should be a size bigger than for the charts for Roca and Manson, based on everything i read and experiences i found. keep that with a grain of salt as everyone's boat is different. two or 3 sizes up for a storm/hurricane anchor. i do know what they advise which i will address shortly. for 43ft it should be a 60-80ish anchor. storm anchor should be 80-120lbs.

I have a 110lb Mantus anchor hanging off the bow now. I have yet to use this anchor, i ordered it and it was late and didn't get delivered on time, I haven't anchored since. I have no doubts it will hold, However I'm a little worried about how difficult it will be to recover if it digs itself deep. was bought as the storm anchor. I am Alaskan and intend to sail home once im out of the military. we have "Wiliwaw" winds that are sudden bursts up to 100knts from winds funneled through gaps in the mountains. im in hurricane country now so i expect/hope it to be good for those requirements as well.

Stern anchor is a 35lb Roca. i tested a similar anchor for the Navy on small boats. i bought this after the first of those tests to stress the anchor systems with my larger boat. we were looking for an anchor system that allowed a shorter scope. 35lb was a little bigger than recommended size for the RHIBs we used, to allow for short scope. the problem was it would burry itself hard and be difficult to retrieve. because there was no winches on those boats and everything was hand recovered, not enough anchoring training ect, more than a few anchor lines got cut. the next order for anchors was a different style that was cheaper, although we used the remaining rocas on our larger boats.

using the 35lb on my 43ft worked well actually, held me all but once however these were mostly in a protected bay so no extreme tests. mostly sand bottom. the only time I dragged was in soupy mud and it wouldn't stick for nothing that day. this is why I use it for a stern anchor now. once i rafted up for a yacht club thing. the extra weight really dug in the anchor. sand bottom. when it was time to leave a big power boat had drifted over the anchor so i couldn't use the boat to help pull it up. my buddy had to dive down and dig it out by hand. it was so deep he couldn't see anything but the chain and the tip of the shank. i believe a larger anchor would have spread the load out more and not buried itself so deep, however it was pretty impressive that it held in that scenario. the Roca has a rock slide on the shank. i haven't had to use it but if you move your rode to the slide slot it allows the rode to reverse and assist pulling out the anchor. i like the idea of this feature, however it worries me that if the wind shifted you could accidently pull out your own anchor theoretically.

currently looking into a 60-80ish for my everyday anchor. I will go with Mantus again. the 110 Mantus bolts together, this lets me take it apart for storage which i think makes it a really good storm anchor. one of the problems i have with the 110 is the big hoop is in the way of adding a bowsprit, although its also what helps it anchor fast. was thinking maybe one of Mantus new ringless designs may be good however i haven't looked up info or testing on it yet.

between the Rocna and Mantus i feel both were equally able. I went with Mantus because they have more weight in the tip for faster anchoring. again originally was looking for anchors that offered more precision with a short rode. the bolt together design made more sense for a storm anchor for storage requirements. there was also issues with the metallurgy of the Rocna at the time supposedly. also keep in mind my choices were based more on west coast weather with a max of Alaskan winds. here on the east coast im not fully certain what i should expect with weather and bottom conditions.

[alaskanviking]

I forgot to mention that the 35lb Rocna that i use for a stern anchor is a pain in the a$$ to store. currently in the lazarette but its heavy and bulky and always in the way and catching stuff. its a canoe stern so space is a premium. I intend to get a Mantus anchor holder for it later. seems this device is a good solution for the issue, and make it easier/faster to deploy.

[Olorin]

I have an Island Spirit 40 catamaran. The Rocna table said 25 kg for our boat so I emailed the president of Rocna as I wanted to go bigger and he said there really is no downside to the bigger anchor as long as your windlass can handle it and it fits the boat.

We've had a Rocna 33 kg since 2010 and are very happy with its performance.

[tedowens]

I have a 2007 Leopard 43 and a 33 kg Rocna anchor. It has worked great. It fits nicely into the anchor well, and it does a great job of holding the boat. I have been a full time live aboard for five years, and I have anchored about half the time. I completely endorse the Rocna. The only problem that I have had is in grass after a big wind shift. The anchor will hold in grass, but it scoops up a big ball of grass. So, if you also get a big wind shift, it will not reset by itself (first the ball of grass needs to be removed). Also, I saw on the Gone with the Wynns blog that they had trouble with the fit of a Mantus in to the anchor well (on a Leopard 43).

[old pirate]

We have a L42 and use a Rocna 33 as primary anchor. In 9 months cruising last year (Queensland coast) and only 6 nights in a marina, we found the Rocna held great. Always slept well !

[Paws-on-Paws]

I believe you should also think about your chain - length, thickness and weight? heavy chain increases the holding power...

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Paws-on-Paws

I believe you should also think about your chain - length, thickness and weight? heavy chain increases the holding power...

An extra 20 lbs of chain has a very, very small impact on holding power. An extra 20 lbs of anchor is quite significant, on the other hand.

[GRIT]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

An extra 20 lbs of chain has a very, very small impact on holding power. An extra 20 lbs of anchor is quite significant, on the other hand.

I strongly agree with this sentiment. More anchor, in my opinion, is more important than more chain. I figure the chain should be sized to resist the pull of the boat on an immoveable object. Once that is sorted out, then get the largest anchor you are comfortable with.

Cheers.
Paul.

[ThereAndBack]

43 ft Voyage 430 here. I run a 40kg Rocna.