Kobra 2 anchor any good?

In tests it regularly seems to come out top of the sensibly-priced anchors, i.e. none 'new generation'. I was going to buy one a couple of years ago, but Plastimo had just gone belly-up so availability wasn't good where I was.
Hope you get some first person opinions.
 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
My anchor has been stolen so I need a replacement. I hear good things about the Kobra 2 anchor and I am considering getting one 16 kg. Any Kobra users out there with comments please?
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It is quite a common anchor in France, I have not tried one personally but being curious :) I ask everyone having sailed a bit further off what they think of their anchors, I still have to find one person not happy with their Kobra (pretty much like there are other persons perfectly happy with other anchors).
Of course no idea of the 10s-100s of knots they have taken at anchor :) , nor the rode they were using, no comparison with other anchors, etc etc, but they all have done at least one Atlantic or RTW trip, fwiw.
 
I have a 20kg Kobra 2 on my Rustler 36, after two seasons, I am very happy with it. it digs in very quickly , so much better than the CQR it replaced. I would suggest you get one slightly bigger than the re commended size as some reports of them bending under maximum load, but I would have another if I lost this one.
 
Mine's a 16kg one on a SO34.6 which has done me well in blows up to F7 in the west coast for 10 years. Stows well on the bow roller too.

Recommended size for us is 10kg I think but out here oversized is the norm (for sensible types).
 
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Had a new 12kg one this summer on a Sadler 32. About 2 sizes higher than in Jimmy Green's recommended chart, but easier to handle than the 35lb sowester plough it replaced.

Too early to say how good it is, only used it a few times and never yet in challenging conditions. Happy so far.
 
The Kobra is a good anchor and is very good value for money.

It is a convex plow anchor like the Delta and shares a lot of similar characteristics with this anchor. Observing underwater the the way the anchor sets is similar. The Kobra has a thinner and more tapered blade. It penetrates hard and weedy substrates a little better than the Delta. On the downside It is slightly less roll stable than the Delta. Both anchors develop a high list with a change in direction of force, but the Kobra is a little worse.

One major limitation of the Delta is that the convex blade together with small fluke area does not develop a lot of resistance in soft sand. The Kobra will penetrate a bit deeper than the Delta which is a help in these sort of substrates so it tends to do a little better, but the difference is not great. It is not unusual to see these anchors slowing moving backwards while remaining set.

Overall I think the performance of the Kobra is slightly better than the Delta and it is less expensive. If you can fit one of the concave roll bar anchors these are excellent anchors and offer considerably better performance, but are more expensive. If your boat cannot fit one the roll bar anchors, the next best alternative is the steel Spade. This is an excellent anchor, but is more expensive again.

Here are some photos I have taken of the Kobra in action:

This is a good performance from this anchor:

imagejpg2_zpsa140b97b.jpg


This Octopus likes the Kobra:

imagejpg1_zps53baa565.jpg



Here the anchor is doing poorly, but this was only set at 3:1 in 5m. You can see from the puffs of sand it was slowly dragging:

imagejpg1_zps2b675fff.jpg



This photo show a typical setting distance. Unfortunately, like the other convex plough anchors this is quite long. Typically 5m.

imagejpg3_zpsb37fdd3a.jpg
 
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Thank you all for the valuable replies. I have just purchased a Kobra 2 16kg; will be delivered next week. I wonder whether I can give the anchor to my wife as her Christmas present....better not.
 
3 year's use with a 16kg holding a 11 tonne 35 foot Colvic Watson. Holds rock solid but to be honest a gusty 7 in Dover harbour was its toughest test - lots of wind but little wave action. Stows nicely, never budges with three days on the hook and so lots of tide changes. Size charts are bonkers in my opinion and we went up two sizes.
 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
My anchor has been stolen so I need a replacement. I hear good things about the Kobra 2 anchor and I am considering getting one 16 kg. Any Kobra users out there with comments please?
Click to expand...

Good test reports here especially with respect to price. On a straight line pull IIRC it broke out at around a ton. OTOH the Fob Rock (made in France) which is another plough type anchor held at over two tons pull. It's a bit more expensive. However in the review they observed that the Rocna was as good as the Rock.

PS Oops I see that you have already got the Kobra. Never mind, it's a good anchor.
 
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Captain Fantastic

You made a good decision. We have used one in variety of seabeds. You should find that the Kobra works in seabeds that will defeat other anchors, like weed and if there are stones, pebbles etc (as there is nothing to clog). In tests it swivels in the seabed better than many other anchors, so good in a swifter change of load direction - it seems to be a benefit of the protruding sole, or ballast chamber (as it shares this advantage with the Spade and Ultra). I'm not sure it will work too well in very thin mud, but few anchors do work. It is now supplied as a standard anchor on some very expensive French yachts - though this might be prompted by its price, not its performance (but the boat builders could buy cheaper anchors).

Sadly I have seen bent shanks - so take care and watch. The shank is longer and thinner than many anchors. But weak shanks do not seem to worry some people, though they might have questionable motives for ignoring this deficiency.

I do not think it can be beaten on a cost:hold basis and I would put it up there with other modern anchors.

Anchors are a compromise and you cannot have a budget buy without some sacrifices (in this case the shank, not the performance.) Mind you - you can pay a lot more and still need to make sacrifices - paying more and you still buy a compromise.

It would be interesting if when you have a few nights under your belt if you can post your views - its a cheap, or it seems cheap to me in Oz, anchor and most except Noelex (who has never used one) are supportive.

Jonathan
 
J Neeves said:
Captain Fantastic

You made a good decision. We have used one in variety of seabeds. You should find that the Kobra works in seabeds that will defeat other anchors, like weed and if there are stones, pebbles etc (as there is nothing to clog). In tests it swivels in the seabed better than many other anchors, so good in a swifter change of load direction - it seems to be a benefit of the protruding sole, or ballast chamber (as it shares this advantage with the Spade and Ultra). I'm not sure it will work too well in very thin mud, but few anchors do work. It is now supplied as a standard anchor on some very expensive French yachts - though this might be prompted by its price, not its performance (but the boat builders could buy cheaper anchors).

Sadly I have seen bent shanks - so take care and watch. The shank is longer and thinner than many anchors. But weak shanks do not seem to worry some people, though they might have questionable motives for ignoring this deficiency.

I do not think it can be beaten on a cost:hold basis and I would put it up there with other modern anchors.

Anchors are a compromise and you cannot have a budget buy without some sacrifices (in this case the shank, not the performance.) Mind you - you can pay a lot more and still need to make sacrifices - paying more and you still buy a compromise.

It would be interesting if when you have a few nights under your belt if you can post your views - its a cheap, or it seems cheap to me in Oz, anchor and most except Noelex (who has never used one) are supportive.

Jonathan
Click to expand...

Thanks Jonathan, I will fit the anchor ready for next season and I will post with my findings.
 
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