Bruce anchors on East Coast

[DennisF]

This is a limited anchor thread. I’m not after an exposition on everyone’s favourite anchor, but to answer a specific question. Have those of you with experience of GENUINE Bruce anchors had any problems with them on the East coast?

I have an appropriately sized genuine Bruce on my Westerly Berwick, and in 4 years of anchoring on the Orwell, Deben, Hamford Waters, and Ore have never had a problem, but have never been anchored in very high winds. I have obviously seen lots of videos on their limitation, but as I’ve never had it drag I’m reluctant to throw money away in replacing it unless there is a good reason to do so (Especially as Rocna etc won’t fit the bow roller without alterations). So, do those of you with Bruce anchors find them to have good performance on the East Coast, or have you had lots of problems?

 

[Seashoreman]

I have a genuine Bruce on my Leisure 23sl bilge keel at 2 tons. I singlehand and anchor on almost every trip and cant recall any dragging.
Big clods of mud yes but anchor sits on roller until I can get to it and stow in bow locker as I need roller clear for my swinging mooring.
One problem I experienced which could be described as dragging was a three night stay in the Butley River with occasional 20+ winds gusting from all directions. I use all chain and this managed to wrap around the anchor and on a rising tide this tangled mess dragged. I upped
the lot and took off home. I was fairly lucky timing wise.

 

[michael_w]

My 15Kg Bruce works a treat on my 11m cruising boat. When anchoring in the Pyefleet with the world's second most sticky mud I wonder if I can get the thing back.

 

[johnalison]

Our main anchor is a CQR 45lb and the kedge is a 10Kg Bruce, which we have mostly used as a stern anchor in the Baltic, where it is the commonest type for that purpose. Ihave only once used it in local waters, and that was when our CQR failed to bite two or three times at the Rocks. The Bruce, on a few metres of chain, plus warp, bit straight away and was hard to pull up, so I am generally impressed with it.

 

[Concerto]

In the past I have used Bruce anchors on several boats on the East Coast. Only had a problem with one dragging in calm weather. The tide moved us and when we tried lifting the chain we found it was incredibly heavy, eventually using a spinnaker halyard to winch it up. The anchor jammed on a RSJ that was laying on the river bed. We tried motoring in every direction and hammering it to drop the RSJ. The Bruce held fast. After about half an hour it suddenly went plop and dropped. So, yes Bruce anchors can hold fast!!!

 

[DennisF]

Thanks all. It looks from the replies so far that my own experiences with the Bruce seem typical on the East Coast. I’m always amazed by how poorly they perform in the anchor test videos on YouTube, but as I say I’ve never had a problem (Well, so far anyway )

 

[NealB]

I've used Bruce, and other anchors, on quite a variety of boats, in quite a variety of places around the UK and the Med.

I couldn't, hand on heart, say that any one particular type is 'the best'.

So, yes, add me to the list that has not had problems with a Bruce on the east coast.

I think the few times we have dragged, have been on short lunch stops, when I haven't bothered to make sure the anchor is well set (ie user idleness, rather than an unsuitable anchor).

 

[michael_w]

I've had my Bruce drag twice. Once in Alvor in Portugal when it got caught up in an abandoned lobster trap. The other time in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey when it grabbed someone's old telly set.

 

[LittleSister]

I have had a Bruce type a little while. I assume it's a copy, but I can't remember checking. It's always worked fine on the East Coast around the Orwell, Deben etc., but unless you get a patch of weed that mud seems almost ideal anchoring material. (It also had no trouble setting or holding in sand or shingle, when I once anchored for a post-lunch snooze on the inshore side of the Cork Sand off Harwich.)

On a trip over to France, though, I wanted to stop for a few hours sleep at Ramsgate, and being single-handed, a bit breezy and having a long keeler which makes close quarters manoeuvring rather challenging, I decided to anchor outside the harbour (the marked anchorage immediately south of the southern breakwater) rather than face the stress of hunting for a space in the marina in the dark. It took 3 or 4 tries to get the anchor to bite there, and I was getting well fed up. Eventually it took, though by that time my confidence had been dented, and the rock breakwater not far away looked rather scary. The boat rolled uncomfortably in the swell, and all in all I didn't get much sleep at all. I think it was that night that persuaded me to buy a bow-thruster!

So the Bruce copy(?) is to some extent 'on probation', in that I'll be seeing how it copes when I'm finally able to try it in more varied bottom types. In the meantime it seems fine for 'my' bit of the East Coast.

 

[peteK]

I have a genuine Bruce on my Leisure 23sl bilge keel at 2 tons. I singlehand and anchor on almost every trip and cant recall any dragging.
Big clods of mud yes but anchor sits on roller until I can get to it and stow in bow locker as I need roller clear for my swinging mooring.
One problem I experienced which could be described as dragging was a three night stay in the Butley River with occasional 20+ winds gusting from all directions. I use all chain and this managed to wrap around the anchor and on a rising tide this tangled mess dragged. I upped
the lot and took off home. I was fairly lucky timing wise.

I thought of getting one for my 23sl what size have you got.

 

[Seashoreman]

I thought of getting one for my 23sl what size have you got.

7.5K. I find it a fairly good physical size to wriggle under the pushpit and stow. I can safely say I have never had anchor drag
in my local sailing area. Mud, shingle and sand.

 

[Leighb]

I had a genuine 10 kg Bruce on my previous boat, Halmatic 30. I never had any problem with it holding, but on a few occasions it was extremely difficult to break out even with an electric windlass, SL Seawolf. One was after two days anchored up the Alde above Aldeburgh with another 28’ yacht alongside, another was when acting as Committee boat on the Haven series line in Harwich Harbour, we had been there several hours and with a Southerly breeze picking up and the tide flooding it was too much for the windlass clutch, and it took two of us pulling directly on the chain to break it out. For a few minutes we were wondering if we had got foul of an old chain or something, but brute force won in the end.

 

[peteK]

7.5K. I find it a fairly good physical size to wriggle under the pushpit and stow. I can safely say I have never had anchor drag
in my local sailing area. Mud, shingle and sand.

7.5 kg was the one I had in mind,does it fit in anchor locker?

 

[Seashoreman]

7.5 kg was the one I had in mind,does it fit in anchor locker?

Its a perfect fit. Also, and this is totally personal, it has no moving parts so as a solo sailor I feel confident to handle it quickly, and occasionally
in the dark , without trapping my fingers. Only disadvantage I can think of is sometimes it clings to a couple of clods of thick mud but this can be dealt with later.

 

[peteK]

Ok thanks for that information,still using the ori ginal 15lb cqr type that came with the boat with nearly all chain.

 

[Slowboat35]

I had a genuine 10 kg Bruce on my previous boat, Halmatic 30. I never had any problem with it holding, but on a few occasions it was extremely difficult to break out even with an electric windlass,

When this happened to me one of the crew suggested everyone came for'd, we winch the chain as tight as possible and then we all adjourn to the stern.
It popped out like a cork, but does require crew. Winch was a 1500 watt Lofrans and was stalled.

 

[ex-Gladys]

On a visit to the Isles of Scilly in a mates 42' cat, his main anchor was a Bruce. We anchored where we could dry in Green Bay on Bryher. We followed the chain at LW and there was about 8 meters of chain under the sand before we got to the Bruce...