New anchor - Lewmar

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Neeves

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Thinwater sent me this link

https://www.lewmar.com/node/20408

Its taken years to reach the catalogue - they must have ironed out all of any bugs by now.

Interesting that bucking current trends not to quote any performance data they have had it Classification Society tested and given Super High Holding Power rating. This means they can now sell to vessels in survey and buyers have some indication of both performance and strength. It thus competes directly with Spade (also SHHP) which are fitted, very prominently, to all the new RNLI Shannon Class lifeboats

It does look to be a development of an earlier design, from a 1990 drawing board.....????

Jonathan
 
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They mention :
  • Optional roll bar for sailboat application

A silly question probably, but why would a roll bar be optional for sailboats?
If it 'improves' the anchor, would it not be good for powerboats as well?
 
Not a silly question at all.

My thoughts:

The market place (us) have become fixated with roll bars - the anchor has to have a roll bar. Roll bars are there because the designer could not get the anchor to self right (they are a cop out - indicative of laziness). The roll bar was invented (and patented) by Peter Bruce - but he never found the need to use one. Spade proves you don't need a roll bar - a successful anchor (badly marketed) and copied by many, Rocna, Ultra and now by Lewmar. The Delta proves you don't need a roll bar and Anchor Right's Excel underpins the success of a Delta type design.

A roll bar is an impediment to setting deeply (though once set - adds hold). The additional hold is not efficient - if you wanted more hold - then have a bigger (more surface area) fluke.

Understanding of anchors is minimalist - look at the number of times people compare a Rocna with a Mantus, look at the people who think Rocna is not a ballasted anchors. Look at the experts who cannot understand why the Mantus is a rubbish design. Hence the fixation with roll bars and other fashionable ideas

I mentioned this on another thread but the ballast in a Rocna is so similar to the ballast on a Spade - except the Spade ballast is all focused in the toe. I actually measured both a compared. The Rocna ballast is spread over half the fluke - and it will not self right without the roll bar. The Rocna fluke is the exact same plan view as a Spade, the shank of a Rocna is the same as a Spade (which is the same shank as on the Delta). Delta self rights, Spade self rights - Rocna was a step back - but embraced by the market place.

If the market place wants a roll bar - give it to them. If a roll bar sells anchor, add a roll bar.

Interesting that Knox has a slot to keep the fluke clean, and Viking has perforations to achieve the same - which is exactly what the convex addition on the upper side of the Lewmar fluke will do. The market place does not seem to mind that a Rocna can come up, on retrieval, full of seabed (despite warnings of the danger). John Knox and Lewmar seem to have taken notice.

There's nowt as queer as folk :)

Jonathan
 
Wonder who decided the name :) Epsilon traditionally indicates a negligible, unsignificant quantity, a letter like Alpha, Aleph &co might have been more appropriate for this n-th "Number One anchor". Or, we are pleased to introduce the new "AlphaOmega" anchor, where the anchoring universe begins and ends, look no further. :d
 
One thought, don't know how relevant it is, but could that short shank make it difficult to stow on a bow roller without it bashing the gel coat? I already have to be careful with my Delta. If the roller's on a bowsprit, no problem, but most aren't.
 
I might have thought Lewmar would be anticipating that the Epsilon will replace the Delta and we would see it as a standard piece of Lewmar kit on many yachts at boat shows. My understanding is that Lewmar would sell a pretty complete package to boat builders and the anchor will simply be part of the package.

On the basis of ambitious numbers one might think the fluke would be cast, the shank cut from plate the 2 components welded together (or is this too simplistic). Investment casting is common, gives a nice clean finish and has not proven to have issues with some other anchor manufacturers.

For complexity of manufacture (where casting would be an obvious alternative) - look no further than Spade. Cast the fluke, cut the shank from plate, ship flat pack - what would be simpler (and cheaper) for Spade.

Jonathan.
 
The price does not seem much more expensive than a Delta, which for a SHHP anchor vs a HHP anchor looks good to me (and is going to knock the bottom out of the anchor market)

Jonathan
 
doug748 said:
"I cannot find it on sale in UK but it is available in France, and maybe elsewhere, have not checked. ANCRE LEWMAR EPSILON 16KG - ACIER GALVANISER - NOUVEAU "


Looks like the popular 10kg size might come in under £200 UK which would be an attractive mid range price.

.
Click to expand...
Maybe my eyes are deceiving me but the one in Neeves' link from thinwater and the one shown in the U-ship listing don't look the same.
 
Neeves said:
The price does not seem much more expensive than a Delta, which for a SHHP anchor vs a HHP anchor looks good to me (and is going to knock the bottom out of the anchor market)

Jonathan
Click to expand...
Yes, that price looks good. But it doesn't look like the same product, as I said in post#11. The thinwater link looks to be a complex mixture of concave and convex but the U-ship one looks fairly straightforward.
 
vyv_cox said:
Maybe my eyes are deceiving me but the one in Neeves' link from thinwater and the one shown in the U-ship listing don't look the same.
Click to expand...


I see what you mean, maybe someone has been juggling with earlier design graphics. Cant see the mounting point for a detachable roll bar on the French one, perhaps it is just the angle of the shot. Can't see a mention of it in the text either.

.
 
The anchor was 'introduced' at METS last year and the year before and I was sent a 'snap' of the first release and it looks like the one in Thin's link (a 'sort of' Spade fluke with a small delta stuck on top) - the marriage of concave and convex. When it was introduced it was exhibited with a roll bar, attached. Both Thin's link and the French link look to be 'design graphics'.

The protuberance in the sole looks like ballast (as per Spade), how they have formed the delta portion on the 'upper' is impossible to tell - if its solid then the weight is quite far aft.

I spoke to the Lewmar rep who assured me 18 months ago they would only release the anchor with SHHP accreditation - and you would not get that (which they claim) unless the anchor works (and works well).

It looks as though we need to be patient - leaving other anchor makers to worry - those prices and SHHP look refreshing (for the customer).

Jonathan
 
Neeves said:
the anchor with SHHP accreditation - and you would not get that (which they claim) unless the anchor works (and works well).
Click to expand...

Have they changed the rules for the SHHP? SHHP is/was was an anchor with a holding power at least four times an ordinary stockless anchor, an ordinary stockless anchor has an holding power around its own weight, I reckon all existing anchors have a holding power at least several tens of their own weight (let alone light alloy anchors).
Have they changed the rules? All anchors seem way beyond this SHHP, though surely not all manufacturer want to go into the hassle of certification, tests in various bottoms, etc etc.

edit

Another document indicates ordinary stockless anchors holding 4-6 times their weight, that would make about 20x necessary for SHHP, again I think most anchors hold more than that.
 
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Neeves said:
Thinwater sent me this link

https://www.lewmar.com/node/20408

Its taken years to reach the catalogue - they must have ironed out all of any bugs by now.

Interesting that bucking current trends not to quote any performance data they have had it Classification Society tested and given Super High Holding Power rating. This means they can now sell to vessels in survey and buyers have some indication of both performance and strength. It thus competes directly with Spade (also SHHP) which are fitted, very prominently, to all the new RNLI Shannon Class lifeboats

It does look to be a development of an earlier design, from a 1990 drawing board.....????

Jonathan
Click to expand...
I don't see how whatever anchor the RNLI decide to fit to lifeboats is relevant to yacht owners. I use an anchor which gives me the confidence to hold the boat unattended, either when I am ashore or sleeping aboard. On the very few occasions when a lifeboat anchors, it will still be fully crewed.
 
Re the RNLI's choice of anchors - I spent some time working in their design office in the early 90's, and the Operations Department had only just progressed (grudgingly I think) from having two large (think 150 lbs) fisherman anchors on the Aruns to a large fisherman and a Delta anchor on the new Severn and Trent classes.
 
NormanS said:
I don't see how whatever anchor the RNLI decide to fit to lifeboats is relevant to yacht owners. I use an anchor which gives me the confidence to hold the boat unattended, either when I am ashore or sleeping aboard. On the very few occasions when a lifeboat anchors, it will still be fully crewed.
Click to expand...

Except that the RNLI have to use 'small boat' anchors - and our anchors, our range of anchors, are all they have available. On the previous generation of lifeboats Delta was fitted as standard. The story I was told - One of the new Shannon lifeboats was provided with a Spade to try - they did not give it back, but paid for it from petty cash. The word got around and one by one the other Shannon class stations tried a Spade and kept them, paying out of petty cash. Basically each Shannon tried a Spade (though the comparison was a Delta) and each station independently decided to stick with Spade. They sit prominently on the foredeck - standing out with the yellow paint of the fluke. As with the Delta they are bolted to the fore deck, and seem to be a major trip hazard (as were the Deltas).

All credit to the distributor of Spade in the Channel Islands who masterminded the whole exercise (Blue Water marine??) from whom someone might be able to qualify the veracity of the story.

To me its a neat marketing coup - to most people - if the RNLI use a bit of kit - it must be good.

Previously Spade were Classification Society approved as SHHP anchors (and without accreditation the RNLI would not have used them) and Rocna enjoyed (and may still be certificated) and Supreme, Ultra, Excel and Fortress are similarly certificated.

But tell me how would a buyer compare an anchor - might not RNLI approval carry some weight? You have different, and may be more specific, demands - how do you assess an anchor - for your needs.

Jonathan

My mail crossed with that from Bejansailor. In this case the Spade anchors were not centrally purchased, or so I was informed.

Personally I think Lewmar missed the boat (if you will excuse the expression) and it was a significant coup for Spade to make the sales. Those anchors will sit there to be seen by every yachtsmen they rescue to see......
 
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