Defective Anchors - beware imitations

Doesn't look as pretty as my cheap chinese stainless steel copy, and clearly doesn't dig in as well.

I was mightily pleased to get it back from the welders to replace the temporary 35 lb souwester plough. So much weight in the tip of the stainless steel one it thinks its heading for Cook Island every time I let it down. I've /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gifnicknamed it "daisy roots" as per Lonnie Donnegan's song
 
looks the same as ours too, now 6 years old and losing its galvanising. We once broke a genuine CQR in the same place when we hooked it under a reef and tried to break it out by driving over it as fast we could. Steel boat so not much worried about bow roller or sampson post strength.
 
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What a silly thing to say!

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And the hoary old chestnut about keels falling off - based on one incident with one model! What about the 15000 plus boats they have built in just the last 10 years with no keel issues?

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Actually the whole fleet that was involved in that incident had keel trouble - it was not just one boat. One had it completely detach - admittedly. But others were on point of detaching, others had serious misalignment, damage to hull area.

But then again Westerly's had Keel troubles years ago ... so no-ones perfect.

As to the anchor ... I have a Sowester Plough copy of CQR .... boat is 34yrs old and it's been on there all that time. I have no worries about using it.
There will always be exceptions to ALL items ... even Rolls Royce break down.
 
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There will always be exceptions to ALL items ... even Rolls Royce break down.

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We parked next to a brand spanking new Bentley convertible yesterday and the lovely lady owner was putting her shopping on the back seat, because the car electronics had decided not to let her open the boot.

Cast anchors can be good or can break and difficult to tell which one in a batch is the bad one. We still have one in the garage that did sterling service on our W33 until I replaced it with a proper drop-forged genuine article CQR. Drop forged CQRs used to come with a lifetime warranty because they might in extremis bend but wouldn't break. There was a cast CQR too but that was a different cheaper beast and identified by the weight stamped onto it's shaft, I think a bit less in every size than it's top of the range version.

There is sadly a lot of cheapo crap out there in the chandleries nowadays, nothing to do with the boat builder IMO because it will be in the specification list what it is and upgrades are always possible. I doubt new boats come with 2 anchors anyway so there is always an option of buying the one of choice and downgrading the token standard offering to be a kedge. Personally I would't WANT Bavaria or Halberg Rassy or their agents making this choice for me anyway.
 
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What a silly thing to say!

Anchors like this are widely available from all the major chandlery supppliers, not made or supplied by Bavaria but by agents, who usually provide what the owner asks for. If he wants a cheap anchor (as most do) that is what he gets. If he wants something better he pays for it. Same with most production builders.

And the hoary old chestnut about keels falling off - based on one incident with one model! What about the 15000 plus boats they have built in just the last 10 years with no keel issues?

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I have never bought a new boat myself & just took the original posters report at face value.
That looks like a cheap anchor & tho I always look for a bargain I would have avoided that particular model even if for no other reason than the cheap electro plating that I know from hard practical experience dos'nt last five minutes.
It is like Bavaria yachts themselves all glamor & glitz but with questionable underlying value.All those long deep fin keels look dodgy to me & as refueler pointed out Bavaria yachts do have some previous history......
 
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Cast anchors can be good or can break and difficult to tell which one in a batch is the bad one.

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Actually castings by the very nature are prone to fracture because they do not have grain structure in the same way that wrought iron or now drop forgings have.
 
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It is like Bavaria yachts themselves all glamor & glitz but with questionable underlying value.

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What a bell-end.

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Each to his own but I would'nt touch one of those modern fin keel yachts with a barge pole.
 
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Each to his own but I would'nt touch one of those modern fin keel yachts with a barge pole.

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I note that you are now broadening your criticism of modern yacht manufacturing to encompass something like 50% of yachts purchased annually in Europe from Bavaria to 10+ brands. Even the latest HR 37 has a distinctly fin and spade like profile.
 
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Each to his own but I would'nt touch one of those modern fin keel yachts with a barge pole.

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That's cos you couldn't get close to one! With your keels designed for the southern ocean, only ever used on the millpond and sails the size of hankerchiefs so you don't need to reef until it's blowing dogs off chains ... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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All those long deep fin keels look dodgy to me & as refueler pointed out Bavaria yachts do have some previous history......

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Please don't take me out of context - I was just refuting a comment by another that it was a single incident.
I have nothing against modern builds - they cater for a market.

As I said there are older boats that had keel historys as well ...
 
What started as an interesting and potentially informative thread seems to have deteriorated into the inevitable, albeit somewhat tedious, anti modern yacht build propaganda. How sad.

Back to the OP, which part has failed, it isn't clear from the photograph. If it's the weld, is there any evidence why and what was the mode of failure? Lack of penetration? Thermal or other stress crack. Is the rusting pre or post failure?

The Post regarding owner observation seems fair. Perhaps a good lesson for us all is to look over our vessels with a keen eye regularly. Streaky rust leaks are usually worthy of further investigation.
 
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What started as an interesting and potentially informative thread seems to have deteriorated into the inevitable, albeit somewhat tedious, anti modern yacht build propaganda. How sad.

Back to the OP, which part has failed, it isn't clear from the photograph. If it's the weld, is there any evidence why and what was the mode of failure? Lack of penetration? Thermal or other stress crack. Is the rusting pre or post failure?

The Post regarding owner observation seems fair. Perhaps a good lesson for us all is to look over our vessels with a keen eye regularly. Streaky rust leaks are usually worthy of further investigation.

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If your post about anti-yacht etc. is directed at me - I am not amused. I in fact was posting that failure of one does not mean failure of all. The fact another brought up keels I particularly showed its lack of value.

Back to the anchor itself - as another has commented - the break point appears not to have been a new occurrence, it has appearance of having failed over time allowing corrosion etc. I have no issue with the failure, but I do with the title of the thread - beware imitations. This implies that only xxx manufacture should be on board etc. despite we already have posts here of pattern copies lasting years and genuine CQR's failing. I don't see threads condemning genuine CQR's for a failure.

Like they say - life is life. Witness the other thread with the bent Rocna .....
 
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Each to his own but I would'nt touch one of those modern fin keel yachts with a barge pole.

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I note that you are now broadening your criticism of modern yacht manufacturing to encompass something like 50% of yachts purchased annually in Europe from Bavaria to 10+ brands. Even the latest HR 37 has a distinctly fin and spade like profile.

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True enough I would'nt touch any of them.That much leveridge & weight bolted over such a small area should be enough to put the wind up anybody.(Not just the more practically minded) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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Each to his own but I would'nt touch one of those modern fin keel yachts with a barge pole.

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That's cos you couldn't get close to one! With your keels designed for the southern ocean, only ever used on the millpond and sails the size of hankerchiefs so you don't need to reef until it's blowing dogs off chains ... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

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On the contrary,it's because I take risks & the consequences of touching the bottom with one of those flimsy race machines dos'nt bare thinking about.
I expect I would have already lost my keel in the Solent!(but don't let that deter you.Providing you stick to the deep water channel you should be alright). /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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What started as an interesting and potentially informative thread seems to have deteriorated into the inevitable, albeit somewhat tedious, anti modern yacht build propaganda. How sad.

Not just about boat building meathods but design & that is interesting to some of us.......just as much as anchor failure........& of course ultimately it is about seamanship.
 
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That much leveridge & weight bolted over such a small area

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How about a quick whizz round the Irish Sea in a F6 with me in a trimeringue? You could listen to the beam bolts and waterstays squealing and groaning under the stress when the leeward float ploughs into the back of a wave. All good wholesome engineering fun. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
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That much leveridge & weight bolted over such a small area

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How about a quick whizz round the Irish Sea in a F6 with me in a trimeringue? You could listen to the beam bolts and waterstays squealing and groaning under the stress when the leeward float ploughs into the back of a wave. All good wholesome engineering fun. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

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If you look in the video's section you will see that I posted a video link about trimarans.Fantastic fun I have no doubt in good weather but that cannot always be relied upon. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
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