Anchor chain length advice please

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mickyp168

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Hi, I have just treated myself to a new anchor . My old one had about 9m of heavy old chain attached which I find too heavy and cumbersome at my age! I would be grateful for advice as to what is the correct length of chain I need to attach. new anchor is 5kg Danforth. The boat is 23' sloop , 1400kg, anchoring will be in approx 3/4m on a sandy bottom in northern med (S of France) so no heavy tides to worry about

thank you
Mick
 
Hi Mick,

Someone of greater knowledge will no doubt correct me, but I would say that's a bit on the light side 8kg would have been my optimum choice. Chain length rule of thumb 4 x max depth.

Gareth
 
tjanna said:
Hi Mick,

Someone of greater knowledge will no doubt correct me, but I would say that's a bit on the light side 8kg would have been my optimum choice. Chain length rule of thumb 4 x max depth.

Gareth
Click to expand...

I wouldn't claim to be expert - put I've lain to the meltemi for 3 days, with a 6kg Danforth in a much larger boat - gusts of 40 knots.
The Danforth is IMHO an excellent anchor, BUT is notoriously weak for re-setting and has a habit of fluke and shank bending.
So OK for the OP if he's certain he won't have any wind shifts.
I use my kedge 6kg Danforth on 25m of 7mm chain and 50m of 10mm octoplait.
I would be pretty sceptical of any but the Danforth/Guardian/Fortress penetrating with less than 5:1 scope - even more in the shallow water the OP is proposing.
 
The Americans use rope for anchoring more than we do in the UK, and over there a common rule of thumb is to have a chain the length of your boat before switching to rope. I would not go less than that; you can add as much more as you want provided your boat can take the weight.

Pete
 
I think our Sadler 29 just had 2 or 3 metres of 8mm chain and the rest rope, with a 25lb plough on the East Coast. Holding was never a problem but the rope could get round the keel before I worked out how to stop it.
 
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