anchors in The Ionian

cladwalk

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38ft Oceanranger with cheap copy CQR.......anchor gets bent when on the hard last winter so this year I used our second anchor, a 15kg Bruce.......we had 2 serious late failures having been satisfied that the anchor was well set
I assume that its caused by the anchor locking onto weed, giving the impression of a good set and then somehow releasing.
Rod Heikel highly reccommends the Delta in the Ionian [the point presumably penetrates the weedy layer]
I get home 2 weeks ago to read in YM that Deltas are c..p but Manson Supremes are the business
any comments
 

Pete7

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their is another post casting some doubt (to put it politely) on the quality of the article.

When I read it over the weekend I was interested when then said "we hadn't counted on it blowing a Mistral" yet the photos show it flat calm :confused:

"Aluminium is more likely to bend out of shape" of course it is when you put 3 tonnes on it :rolleyes:

Of the Spade S80, "blunter than some of its rivals - less effective on very hard or weedy bottoms". Can't see any weed in the photos, so is this fact or conjecture? :rolleyes:

There are others areas of concern too. I suspect YM just bought this article in to fill some space. Why couldn't they commision their own tests, Southampton Uni perhaps? group of marine students, their boat and a dozen anchors in Studland bay for a couple of days. Job done.

Since you don't seem to have an anchor that sticks very well, how about replacing with two new ones. Rocna/M.Supreme + Delta/Fortress, sort of combination.

Pete
 

snooks

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There are others areas of concern too. I suspect YM just bought this article in to fill some space. Why couldn't they commision their own tests, Southampton Uni perhaps? group of marine students, their boat and a dozen anchors in Studland bay for a couple of days. Job done.

Yep YM bought in the anchor test from Voiles et Voilier, It was in the editorial and in the copy of the test, and we didn't try to hide the fact. YM did it, not to "fill some space" as you put it, it was thought the test deserved a wider audience as the results were interesting and they had test data to back up their findings.

BTW not everything that is tested is photographed, and not everything that is photographed goes into the magazine

As for your idea of a test in Studland bay I can think of one variable that the voiles test didn't have, and that is tide! Both going up and down and with current. So, very much job not done!

And that's before the seahorses start getting upset. :D

That's why you'll find that most practical test are done at places with little or no tidal range such as the med. YM commissioned their own test a few years ago when they teamed up with Sail and tested as many anchors as they could over 4 day in the US

The problem is there IS NOW WAY of testing anchors without some random factors, which is why all of the tests you see have caveats. No two places on the sea bed are the same, if you dig an anchor where one has been put already, the bottom is different, various methods of setting an anchor, different weights of anchor etc etc etc All of which mean that all anchor tests can only report on their findings and not say conclusively which THE best anchor.

Anyway back on topic, I've used a Delta in the ionian and we didn't have any problems over the week we were anchoring for the article we ran on Med Mooring and anchoring a few years ago. But then again it was on the boat and we didn't test any others :)
 
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Chris_Robb

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38ft Oceanranger with cheap copy CQR.......anchor gets bent when on the hard last winter so this year I used our second anchor, a 15kg Bruce.......we had 2 serious late failures having been satisfied that the anchor was well set
I assume that its caused by the anchor locking onto weed, giving the impression of a good set and then somehow releasing.
Rod Heikel highly reccommends the Delta in the Ionian [the point presumably penetrates the weedy layer]
I get home 2 weeks ago to read in YM that Deltas are c..p but Manson Supremes are the business
any comments

Hi - I will be joining you in the Ionian next year - seems half the forum is on the move.

I changed from a Copy CQR a couple of years ago to a 20kg Manson Supreme. It hasn't failed to set first time, and within seconds of it hitting the bottom. So Manson, Rocna? I think they are probably more of an all rounder than the delta - which is good, and they are certainly better when soft mud is the bottom, in which the delta tends to plough a furrow. Of the Manson or Rocna - I think the Manson looks the more professionally made - but they both work well.
 

binch

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Have used the genuine CQR for over 30 years and it has rarely given problems if enough cable is veered and if the anchor and chain cable is enough.
Admiralty tests for the new generation of minesweepers showed that the deciding factor is the chain cable.
Anchors drag not because of a straight pull but because they are "wiggled" out by the vessel sheering about. Given enough cable, they will not do so.
We once spent 400 consecutive nights at anchor without problems, but we had anchors one notch above Simpson Lawrence's (remember them?) table and chain cable one size above ditto.
Nothing ever broke because it was too strong. No anchor ever dragged because it was too heavy.
I like to sleep at night.
 

Moodyjim

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I got the Rocna slightly on the heavier side than recommended as did a mate of mine and although mine works really well he has more experience with his and highly recommends it. On test they re-set almost at once if pulled out by odd movement of the vassal!
 

djk

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When we bought our 42ft yacht nearly 10 years ago it came with a 40lb CQR. I seemed to remember the old rule of thumb re anchor size: 1lb per foot plus 10lb to give the size of anchor to use.
We changed the anchor for a 60lb Genuine CQR which is with 60m of chain.We've been sailing in the Med for 7 years and moved to the Ionian last summer and had no problems anchoring.
 

SeamanStaines

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I spent many years in the Ionian. It depends on where you are anchoring. I found that most of the town quays where best suited to a Danforth (normally our kedge anchor). I used to shackle it in place of the CQR bower when stern to. This is because they are mainly silt and the Danforth's are really good in this situation.

Once out of the quays you are usually on rock so anything with a hook on it will do, the CQR was fine apart from the fact that I used to bend it occasionally.

The Manson Supreme is a suberb anchor and I have one fitted now, fantastic perfomance in sand, weed etc;. I still tend to use an old CQR in rocks though as I really dont want to bend then Manson!

As always you cant get by with one anchor, you need some choices to suit the situation you find yourself in.
 
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