Kobra Anchor

The Kobra is one of the better convex plough anchors and is great value for money. One reason for its better performance over say the Delta, is its lightweight shank that helps the anchor adopt and stay in the correct setting position.

This lightweight shank made from an unspecified type of steel has been criticised, but for a budget anchor I would personally rather increase the performance with a lightweight shank and accept slight risk of bending, over an anchor design with worse performance. They could use one of the better steels, which would be nice to see, but this would add to the cost and may take the anchor out of the budget category.

However, while this anchor is great value, its performance while excellent for the price is not as good as best models, in my view.

The anchor tests have shown mixed results for the Kobra. While it has been rated highly the average result is below the top performing anchors, an excellent result for a budget model, but there are better models available albeit at a higher cost. My own underwater observations fit in with this assessment .

There are photos of Kobras working underwater in the thread I started about photos of anchors setting. You can look at the many examples of the Kobra and make up your own mind. My own assessment is while the Kobra is working better than the Delta it is nowhere near as good as the top anchors such as the Mantus M1, Rocna and steel Spade.


Here is a photo showing a reasonably good result from a Kobra. If you look closely you can just see an Octopus that has made a home under the fluke.

img_1614121_0_bcd25fad4811acee3952cc8fd40b7e72.jpg
 
I did see one Kobra that had the bolt missing and obviously failed to work at all. This anchor had dragged a long way:

img_1602376_0_d11392e4afe34b849f7129b469baba77.jpg


This is an operator error not a fault of the anchor, but one point to note is the owner deployed the anchor multiple times without realising the fault. Each time he raised the anchor to try again, gravity kept the fluke in close enough to the correct position that the poor geometry from the missing bolt was not obvious.

I am sure YBW forum members would be more observant, but the bolt does sit under the fluke where it is a little hard to inspect without a conscious effort.

As it relies on a single bolt It would be worth considering modifying the bolt to add a hole for a split pin as Spade did after an owner sued them for damages (unsuccessfully) after the shank became detached from the fluke destroying their yacht. I have seen this done on a few Kobras, but think it was an owners modification rather than standard from the factory.

I have also seen a Kobra where the owner had the shank and fluke welded together, but I would not recommend this solution.

Also note the smaller Kobras have a different folding mechanism (this is difference between the Kobra and Kobra II) but this is only available in very small sizes. The bolt is a much better solution so I would avoid the smallest models.
 
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noelex said:
There are photos of Kobras working underwater in the thread I started about photos of anchors setting. You can look at the many examples of the Kobra and make up your own mind. My own assessment is while the Kobra is working better than the Delta it is nowhere near as good as the top anchors such as the Mantus M1, Rocna and steel Spade.
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As the Mantus M1 has the hold, of equivalent weight, to a Delta I think your ideas are a bit out of line.

Unless you have hold data available that you would like to share.

for example

An Inquiry into Anchor Angles - Practical Sailor

Jonathan
 
Interesting to note, on the foredeck of Revd Bob Shepton's 'Dodo's Delight'is arrayed a Rocna, a Bruce, and a CQR. He recommends carrying 3 anchors ( 4 if possible ) with each capable of serving as the principal anchor, should the 'favourite' be lost. But then, he is equipped for 'High Latitude Sailing'....
 
temptress said:
Another anchor discussion? we live on the hook and carry 3 different anchors for use at different times or sometimes at the same time. Lots of very good anchor models out there.
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There ARE lots of decent anchors out there (if I list them though I'll upset someone as I may miss some, Rocna, Supreme, Knox, Spade, Excel, Ultra, Fortress, Viking etc etc - and some people are quite happy with CQR, Delta and Bruce - Kobra has the advantage of being a good anchor, found by those that actually use them as more than good enough, and its cheap. AND - I don't knock cheap! Mantus is a 'good' anchor as long as you appreciate its hold is that of the same sized Delta (the idea that its as good as a Rocna, for whom I have no love, is an insult to Rocna and Peter Smith). Basically Mantus has half the hold of the same weight of Rocna (which is the only reason I can think of to oversize). I omit Vulcan as I have no experience of it, at all, and user comment is limited. I omit SARCA as I don't like the tripping slot on a cruising yacht.

Of these I suspect Kobra is the cheapest per kg and based on testing and using one cheapest vs performance (hold in sand and firm mud). I confess my knowledge of UK, or European, anchor prices is very dated - maybe someone has a better idea of current anchor prices.

There is no perfect anchor, yet.

Its refreshing to hear that others carry a quiver of anchors, use them in the seabeds that best suit the specific design and will use more than one at a time. The idea of carrying one, 'primary', anchor only - seems - unprofessional (and tempting fate).

Jonathan
 
noelex said:
I did see one Kobra that had the bolt missing and obviously failed to work at all. This anchor had dragged a long way:


This is an operator error not a fault of the anchor, but one point to note is the owner deployed the anchor multiple times without realising the fault. Each time he raised the anchor to try again, gravity kept the fluke in close enough to the correct position that the poor geometry from the missing bolt was not obvious.

I am sure YBW forum members would be more observant, but the bolt does sit under the fluke where it is a little hard to inspect without a conscious effort.
Click to expand...

You would think and hope that someone close enough to take photographs underwater and able to identify the fault would surface and inform the owner of the issue thus ensuring the owner could effect repairs and not be left with the need to make multiple attempts at getting the anchor to set).

Jonathan
 
Our current boat came with a CQR.
After years of slowly dragging a CQR across many anchorages in Europe, including the Med, the Caribbean, Central and North America and praying for the damned thing to, please, set, we bought a Kobra II. We have not been disappointed and to date it has set almost immediately and well.
We kept the old CQR, which did hold us once at 40kts in the Waddenzee (mud/sand), as a spare. It lives strapped down in the bilge as movable ballast and just in case.
 
Laminar Flow said:
Our current boat came with a CQR.
After years of slowly dragging a CQR across many anchorages in Europe, including the Med, the Caribbean, Central and North America and praying for the damned thing to, please, set, we bought a Kobra II. We have not been disappointed and to date it has set almost immediately and well.
We kept the old CQR, which did hold us once at 40kts in the Waddenzee (mud/sand), as a spare. It lives strapped down in the bilge as movable ballast and just in case.
Click to expand...

Another happy user of a Kobra II - a 20Kg model on our 12 ton Oyster 406. We don't do much anchoring, but when needed it has set easily and done the job. Also carry a Fortress FX-23, but never had need to use it - so far!
 
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