CQR anchors.

[doug748]

For some, the best anchor tests are undertaken by SV Panope on YouTube. After a rest he is now making new anchor videos and has been given a genuine CQR for testing so here here we are, the much criticised CQR:

So if you stuck with it well done, if your CQR is in the coalshed it may be time to resurrect it.

Apologies if this has been mentioned before, I must admit I don't always follow anchor threads to the bitter end. : -)

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[SimonFa]

Anchor threads have a bitter end? I thought they went on forever, or had a bitter ending.

 

[NormanS]

Generations of people have successfully used genuine CQRs. As is common with several makes of anchors, substandard copies have ruined the reputation of the genuine anchor. Aggressive marketing has made some of the perfectly good anchors unfashionable. If you are a dedicated follower of fashion, you are the kind of person that chandlers dream of.

 

[wully1]

In my limited experience they are good in sand or stiff mud, useless in kelp and always doubtful.
In the past I’ve given up and swapped out to the Fortress in kelp.
Not had any issues (so far) with the Rocna but still have, and will keep my CQR.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

What a waste of time, it's like saying a Trabant is as good as a Bugatti Veyron because both have engines and brakes that work.

 

[zoidberg]

Generations of people have successfully used genuine CQRs. If you are a dedicated follower of fashion, you are the kind of person that chandlers dream of.

I've used CQRs mostly successfully, for decades, using the judgement and skill I was taught. I certainly won't lose sleep worrying about whether one, once well-set, is up to the job. I have two x 25lb genuine CQRs in the shed, both inherited.

I also have a Kobra II, a steel Spade, and a pair of Fortress Fx-16s, all big enough to serve as 'primary'..... and a modest folding fisherman hook, also inherited from F-in-L.

The Kobra II is the only one I paid for at retail. The rest were bought 'used' at less than half-price...... so I'm certainly NOT the answer to a chandler's prayer.
Perhaps a broker could persuade me I need a bigger boat to carry them.....

 

[jordanbasset]

Used to have a CQR, found it okay in mud and soft sand but as we travelled to Greece from the UK found it poor in penetrating weed and in hard compacted sand. Changed to a Kobra 2 and the difference was like between night and day

 

[AndrewB]

Used to have a CQR, found it okay in mud and soft sand but as we travelled to Greece from the UK found it poor in penetrating weed and in hard compacted sand. Changed to a Kobra 2 and the difference was like between night and day

Oddly, my experience has been almost the reverse. My 45lb CQR was the anchor of choice on harder surfaces including seagrass and light weed. With persuasion it would get a grip even on pebbles. But in soft sand, or powdered coral such as one finds in the tropics, it could slide through, where my Bruce would hold. Any half-way decent anchor will hold in mud - but as your post suggests, this is a not such a common seabed away from England.

(After a few experiments, neither the Fortress nor Delta anchors I bought were ever to be preferred. The heavy Fishermans I once owned was superior to the CQR on hard surfaces, but not being self-stowing, ultimately threatened to do in my back. Never tried a Kobra though and doubt now I ever will. But of course, anchor choice is a personal thing, and we get accustomed to the foibles of our own piece of ironmongery.)

 

[Stemar]

What a waste of time, it's like saying a Trabant is as good as a Bugatti Veyron because both have engines and brakes that work.

Maybe, but for most of us, the Trabant would be the choice because we can't afford a Bugatti.

 

[GHA]

....... the difference was like between night and day

Very common comment from cruisers after swapping to a new gen.......

 

[RichardS]

I wouldn't want an anchor with a floppy hinge in the middle as it seems to be an extra complication without any perceivable benefit but several downsides.

There might be better, or worse, justifications for choosing or not choosing a specific anchor ..... so I'm not suggesting that "engineers" are any better at these decisions than anyone else.

Richard

 

[FlyingGoose]

Call me a trouble maker , but are these tests not a waste of time, as we
see in many anchor threads here and a cross the pond , we all have our favourites and swear by them.
Due to different substrates, different displacements of vessel, chain calibration, weather, etc etc,
Once I see an anchor test with many variables as possible I shall believe them.
99% on anchor hold is anchoring correctly IMHO ofc

 

[JumbleDuck]

What a waste of time, it's like saying a Trabant is as good as a Bugatti Veyron because both have engines and brakes that work.

Well yes, sort of. If what you need to do is run down to the Co-Op for a pint of milk, the Trabant is every bit as good as the Veyron, just as my beaten up old Berlingo is every bit as good as a nice new Range Rover for almost all real-life purposes.

What matters about an anchor is not how good it is, but whether it is good enough. My 25 lb CQR may have the holding power of a 10 lb Spade, but so what? All I care about is whether it holds me, and it does. No need to buy a Veyron to fetch some milk. Anyway every design ever invented is good enough, as long as you make it big enough. My boat spends most of her time afloat at anchor ... to a railway wheel.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Very common comment from cruisers after swapping to a new gen.......

Or from hi-fi enthusiasts when the get right of the £6k interconnects and buy £20k ones.[1]

Confirmation bias - Wikipedia

[1] I actually new someone who did this, and raved about the resuls. In 1993, when £20k was real money.

 

[RichardS]

Or from hi-fi enthusiasts when the get right of the £6k interconnects and buy £20k ones.[1]

Confirmation bias - Wikipedia

[1] I actually new someone who did this, and raved about the resuls. In 1993, when £20k was real money.

£6k interconnects! You would have to have a screw loose to even spend £6k on interconnects so £20k is only slightly more wobbly.

I upgraded from £6 cables to £30 cables in the late 80's when these things first became fashionable, and only that after exhaustive testing with Kind Of Blue on vinyl.

Richard

 

[GHA]

Or from hi-fi enthusiasts when the get right of the £6k interconnects and buy £20k ones.

Been through this before and same as before you're talking rubbish, full time cruisers are a very pragmatic bunch who come out in a rash spending money and who live in the real world, if something doesn't work very well it will be generally told to anyone and everyone loudly at happy hour, *much*more so if it was expensive. Your argument is just plain wrong and cqr's are crap compared to new gens.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

I could not get on with my CQR, I almost always had to try setting the anchor a few times before it would dig in; nowaday I use a big Kobra II, never failed, if anything the Kobra is too sticky (Fortress Guardian for Kedge). however, it is encouraging to see a CQR video with positive results.

 

[C08]

My CQR was always lying on its side when I viewed the anchor?

 

[NormanS]

I used a CQR for 30 years successfully on my previous boat. OK, it was 140lbs (she was a big boat). There's more to anchoring than just buying whichever anchor happens to be fashionable this year.
I use a fishfinder to give me a clear idea of the seabed, so that I can avoid foul ground like weed or stones. I now have a smaller boat, and carry a selection of anchors, none of which is fashionable, but all of which work well on their chosen seabeds.

 

[NormanS]

My CQR was always lying on its side when I viewed the anchor?

When a CQR first hits the seabed, it normally lies on its side. As soon as any load is put on it, the hinged fluke digs in. As it does so, the anchor normally rights itself, burying itself, so that if there has been real load on it, you probably won't see it at all.