Fortress anchor - why did you buy one?

[NormanS]

My present boat came with a 20kg Danforth as a second anchor. We decided to spoil ourselves, and replace it with a Fortress FX23, (7.something kg, IIRC), which has just about the same physical dimensions, and presumably similar holding characteristics, but is ever so much lighter to handle, either in the dinghy or aboard.

I use it if anchoring for a blow in a Vee, and also when arranging a Bahamian Moor. I have never altered the fluke angle to 45°, and never will. The Fortress sits with its crown in a bespoke bracket on the toerail, and the shank lashed to the stainless bulwark rail. I deploy it with a short (5m) length of heavy chain and the rest nylon.

My only complaint about Danforth / Fortress type anchors is that they cannot easily be persuaded to self stow on a bow, or stern, roller.

 

[zoidberg]

I bought an Fx-16 some time after I saw two large Fortress' fitted on an Oyster 565. I reckoned they had to be good on that 'no expense spared' boat. I then heard they were fitted on VG boats.... One came up here for modest money, so I had it, and used it in the Isles of Scilly sands for several days..... 20 feet of chain, then rope rode. It impressed me.... and it impressed the Tresco harbourmaster at the time, Henry Birch.

Another unused one came up, on another site, again for less than half retail so I had that one, too. Too much of a good thing....?

 

[Neeves]

I bought an Fx-16 some time after I saw two large Fortress' fitted on an Oyster 565. I reckoned they had to be good on that 'no expense spared' boat. I then heard they were fitted on VG boats.... One came up here for modest money, so I had it, and used it in the Isles of Scilly sands for several days..... 20 feet of chain, then rope rode. It impressed me.... and it impressed the Tresco harbourmaster at the time, Henry Birch.

Another unused one came up, on another site, again for less than half retail so I had that one, too. Too much of a good thing....?

Zoidberg,

You are most unusual (I'm sure in many respects) but I have never heard of anyone with 3 Fortress and I though we were excessive!

Lightness comes through as being a primary reason for purchase (maybe along with its uncanny hold per kg of anchor) and the condemnation from some anchor makers of use of alloy (as it is weaker than steel) has not merited a mention (presumably because good engineering has minimised the issues). Interesting that the much vaunted ability to change fluke angle does not merit much mention (if at all) and though mention is made of mud its not high above the horizon.

Interesting that few anchor makers have looked at alloy, given members here define it as one reason for purchase, we only have the alloy Spade, Excel and FOB Lite as alternatives.

Also interesting so many have bought them cheap, second hand - she obviously think them useless and others are at the other extreme and value them.

Lots of contradictions!

Jonathan

 

[wully1]

I bought mine because it’s:

Light and Easy to stow on a bracket in the cockpit locker

Light and Easy to row out in the dinghy if needed

Light and Easy to launch as a stern anchor

Good in kelp

 

[Neeves]

I bought mine because it’s:

Light and Easy to stow on a bracket in the cockpit locker

Light and Easy to row out in the dinghy if needed

Light and Easy to launch as a stern anchor

Good in kelp

Interesting - Good in Kelp? its not only interesting but a surprise.

Not knocking the post - just not a characteristic I that I would have thought of (and I certainly have no experience - we steer very clear of kelp!)

Jonathan

 

[NormanS]

Zoidberg,

You are most unusual (I'm sure in many respects) but I have never heard of anyone with 3 Fortress and I though we were excessive!

Lightness comes through as being a primary reason for purchase (maybe along with its uncanny hold per kg of anchor) and the condemnation from some anchor makers of use of alloy (as it is weaker than steel) has not merited a mention (presumably because good engineering has minimised the issues). Interesting that the much vaunted ability to change fluke angle does not merit much mention (if at all) and though mention is made of mud its not high above the horizon.

Interesting that few anchor makers have looked at alloy, given members here define it as one reason for purchase, we only have the alloy Spade, Excel and FOB Lite as alternatives.

Also interesting so many have bought them cheap, second hand - she obviously think them useless and others are at the other extreme and value them.

Lots of contradictions!

Jonathan

I think it's fair to say that we appreciate the lightness of an alloy anchor, like a Fortress, when it has to be physically handled, either from over the side or in the dinghy. For those of us with displacement boats where a few kilograms isn't going to make much odds, the weight of our normal self-stowing bower anchor is relatively unimportant, particularly with a powered windlass. I know that you, Jonathan, favour alloy anchors, but you have a relatively light displacement catamaran, where weight, and its placement is critical. I suspect that most anchor makers are aware of this, and don't see a big market for alloy anchors.

 

[biscuit]

I have an FX 11, kedge, mine never used in a blow, but have sat out an anchor watch on a scary night using one on a friend's boat and most impressively, it didn't shift.
I am a bit puzzled though regarding the above discussion regarding Mud Palms. This from the Fortress website:
"Fortress Anchors recommends permanently installing the Mud Palms on the anchor and leave them on your anchor at all times." (but I haven't put them on mine yet)

 

[Neeves]

Norman, appreciate the comment (its too easy to overlook the fact that 'real' yachts are still being sailed ). - When we used steel anchors I would be constantly changing them to evaluate - carrying even a 15kg up, our, side decks was never withouts its worries and I'd hate to pull one out of the bilges, through the companionway, up the steps and then along the deck - and 15kg is hardly heavy.

From memory Clipper, unusually for a 'racing' yacht, use 40kg Deltas as the primary and they store them under the fore cabin sole. They 'deploy' hoisting them out of the forehatch using a halyard. To me this must be a nightmare - and cannot figure why they have not used Fortress or alloy Spades (the latter would be 20kg and have twice the hold of a Delta).

I do wonder why modern bigger yachts, say over 40", do not have twin bow rollers - to me its seems compromise and economy has gone too far. If I was using steel anchors, whether light displacement or not, I'd want 2 bow rollers with one anchor on each.

Jonathan

 

[Neeves]

I have an FX 11, kedge, mine never used in a blow, but have sat out an anchor watch on a scary night using one on a friend's boat and most impressively, it didn't shift.
I am a bit puzzled though regarding the above discussion regarding Mud Palms. This from the Fortress website:
"Fortress Anchors recommends permanently installing the Mud Palms on the anchor and leave them on your anchor at all times." (but I haven't put them on mine yet)

Put them on - they will allow the anchor to set more reliably and quickly.

Jonathan

 

[noelex]

In my view, the problem with aluminium anchors is that there are no excellent designs suitable for primary use. The aluminium version of the Spade is a reasonably good anchor, but the steel version is much better in hard substrates and weed (I would rate this as an excellent anchor).

It is hard justifying spending more money on a lower performing product, especially when the Spade design (unlike the Fortress) requires a large amount of ballast, so for those using the anchor as a primary, the potential weight saving is only significant for those without a windlass, or for very weight sensitive designs such as lightweight catamarans.

It would be nice to see one of the roll bar anchors converted to aluminium. These designs use a roll bar rather than heavy ballast (some designs have an additional small amount amount of ballast) to orient themselves in the correct setting position. I think the design could be converted to aluminium much more successfully than the heavily ballasted anchors.

Even better, rather than simply converting an existing steel design to aluminium with minimum modification, it would be good to a see a manufacturer design an anchor from scratch for the lighter weight aluminium material.

 

[mariadz]

We bought ours as a kedge and second anchor. With a Moody 54, we needed something substantial but I also wanted something we could use in number of ways. I thought the combination of rocna and fortress worked well.

 

[wully1]

Interesting - Good in Kelp? its not only interesting but a surprise.

Not knocking the post - just not a characteristic I that I would have thought of (and I certainly have no experience - we steer very clear of kelp!)

Jonathan

Yup... On a previous boat I had a big CQR and a Fortress - One night I just could not get the CQR through the kelp to set. Each time I recovered it it was draped in kelp. Bent on the Fortress and it bit first time. On recovery the next day the flukes had sand on them so it had got through - the shank was again covered in Kelp. The sharp points help getting it through the fonds.

Or something - anyhow, it works.

 

[NormanS]

I use a fishfinder to show me where the kelp is, - and avoid it. I doubt if any anchor will perform satisfactorily in kelp, although a fisherman might just.

 

[chal]

I bought one because it's light. For the size of anchor I need, it's the only one I can comfortably manage: anything else and I'm struggling to lift it and retrieval always seems to result in adding a further ding to the paintwork. Awkward to store though.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I am always 'intrigued' at the use of "uncanny hold per kg of anchor" when the subject is anchors. What does it really mean? I am pretty sure that an 'anchor' constructed out of tin foil would also have an "uncanny hold per kg of anchor". One day I might even make a little one and test it.

p.s. When I was a little boy in the fifties many, if not most, amateur fishermen used a 12" length of 6" steel 'I' beam as a sinker, instead of the traditional stone block, when out fishing in their 13ft boats. Off-cuts were readily available due to the post-war reconstruction building boom. These, too, had an "uncanny hold per kg of anchor"...

 

[zoidberg]

Yes, I have more anchors than I know what to do with..... almost. As for the Fortress collection, Sara of this parish alerted me to an Fx-23 for sale 'elsewhere', which went for £30!

Here's 3 pics worth a few thousand words....

Two minute job. No tools.

 

[Neeves]

In my view, the problem with aluminium anchors is that there are no excellent designs suitable for primary use. The aluminium version of the Spade is a reasonably good anchor, but the steel version is much better in hard substrates and weed (I would rate this as an excellent anchor).

It is hard justifying spending more money on a lower performing product, especially when the Spade design (unlike the Fortress) requires a large amount of ballast, so for those using the anchor as a primary, the potential weight saving is only significant for those without a windlass, or for very weight sensitive designs such as lightweight catamarans.

It would be nice to see one of the roll bar anchors converted to aluminium. These designs use a roll bar rather than heavy ballast (some designs have an additional small amount amount of ballast) to orient themselves in the correct setting position. I think the design could be converted to aluminium much more successfully than the heavily ballasted anchors.

Even better, rather than simply converting an existing steel design to aluminium with minimum modification, it would be good to a see a manufacturer design an anchor from scratch for the lighter weight aluminium material.

I think you might find that the thick toe plate of the Rocna is not much different (in either volume and thus weight) to the steel ballast in an Excel or lead ballast in a Spade. Rocna, Supreme, Boss - all are ballasted. If you want to buy an unballasted roll bar anchor you need to look at a Bugel or Mantus.

Jonathan

 

[thinwater]

I've had 3 boats that I cruised enough to comment on anchors.

I bought a Fortress for the first. The existing primary was a knock off Danforth. The boat was a 1200-pound, 27-foot catamaran[edit from 2700], and a big hunk of steel made no sense to me. I learned the subtleties of setting anchors, what bottoms were trouble, and the value of sharp points.

The second came with a Fortress secondary (Delta primary, soon exchanged for NG) which was occasionally very handy. I used it a good bit during anchor testing, to anchor the boat while other lesser (including NG) anchors were winched towards the boat. Several times I helped others take a CQR kedge out in a dinghy; but did that seem like a stupid, dangerous activity by comparison. Sure, you can do it, but it is not nearly the best way.

Third came with Forress and Danforth knockoff, like the first. I got a NG for primary and took the knockoff home. Once we grounded and had no dinghy (long story--not at all my guest helmsman's fault). The water was warm, so I swam the Fortress out, slinging over my back like a brief case. Piece of cake.

Not my favorite primary anchor, but a tool box requires more than one wrench, and the Fortress is the absolute, unchallenged best for certain things. And nearly the worst for others.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

The boat was a 1200-pound, 2700-foot catamaran,

That must have been one hell of a boat! Respect, Mr Thinwater!

 

[thinwater]

That must have been one hell of a boat! Respect, Mr Thinwater!

She required your a-game in a breeze.