New Generation Anchors.... Didi Anybody Buy One?

Well, I'm going to reply even though I didn't buy / haven't used one.

I had an interesting chat with the new owners of a 44 foot cat several weeks ago. I asked whether they were using the anchor that came with the cat. Apparently not. They changed from a 20 kg Delta to a 33 kg Rocna, and were very happy.

I have to say that, when the time comes for me to buy a boat (and after having spent a number of worried nights at anchor with a charter boat's Delta / CQR / Bruce holding the boat) I will definitely be buying a new generation anchor - either a Rocna or a Spade. I will have peace of mind with those that I just wouldn't have (any more) with the other designs.
 
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Replaced a CQR with a Manson - just finishing 3 months on W coast of Scotland with lots of anchoring.

Been very pleased with it on the whole - normally held first time - worst has been 3 attempts in thick kelp - came up with half a forest attached until mangaed to get through it.


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Did you use the shank slot at all / a lot? Seems a useful feature on foul bottoms so long as the potential for accidental tripping is borne in mind? There seem to be ways to minimise this possibility, and the anchor should reset anyway, so just wondered if you had any actual experience of this?
 
Hi,

No - I never used this facility - generally try and avoid anchoring where its foul (and I have diving gear on board which gives an alternative should I have problems)

I guess the main reason for not is simply that they say you shouldn't normally have your shackle in the slot - which means that I'd have to unbolt my shackle and re-shackle it - not impossible - but one more thing to fiddle with
 
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The Rocna website has an article that is rather critical of the Manson Supreme, in that it is a) a copy of their anchor, and b) has design and construction flaws http://www.rocna.com/boat-anchors/manson-supreme-anchor.php. I'd be interested to know whether you can confirm or refute any of these assertations (will probably buy one or the other myself shortly)

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Longshanks - that article impuning the quality of the Manson Anchor nearly led to legal action against Rocna, and the pulling of a huge contravertial anchor thread over a year ago. The link no longer appears to be available. At the time - having just bought a Manson Supreme - and it IS SUPERB - I email Manson to warn them and also request some comfort. This is the reply I got from STeve Mair. It appears that Rocna is just ever so slightly misleading.

Hello Chris



Thank you for emailing directly.

I am not sure if you saw our posting on that forum just yesterday? If you have a look at our website you will notice we make stainless steel and Galvanised anchors up to 7000lb for Megayachts of 500 feet long. The testing, welder qualifications, welding procedures and production techniques are the same throughout all our range. We use computer FEA modelling, proof tests, seabed tests and weld tests more commonly than any manufacturer.



Please disregard all the rubbish that gets posted by Craig Smith. Craig is 20 years old and is a computer technician who sells computer chips over the internet. He has never owned his own boat and has never been in charge of any vessel. His father, who designed the anchor, is a respectful, nice man who combined the Delta (which they used on their boat), the Spade and the Bugel and our Supreme winglets and roll bar to come up with their anchor. Their Patent is very different from their current anchor…which is very close to the Supreme. Craig lived on his father’s boat for a time and is now a self confessed anchor-expert.

This is some of the nonsense he speaks and the commonly held opinion of Craig.



http://64.70.221.24/DiscBoard/viewtopic....60e69668d0d723d





Chris, The Supreme has been tested to Lloyds Register of Shipping and comes with an SHHP certificate. It is the only anchor you can buy that can meet this classification. This is fact. We have in-house testing facilities that can pull up to 275,000lbs on any anchor. We have to destruct our anchors to comply with Lloyds. In actual destruction tests The Supreme was 25% higher in set-deflection loads than the Rocna. This is fact. Everything is manufactured in house and I personally overlook the manufacture of anchors as well as very strict quality control checks.

The Supreme comes with a lifetime Warranty and we have been in business since 1972 and remain under the same family ownership today (no other anchor manufacturer in the World has been making their own anchors this long). After more than half a million anchors in every corner of the Globe, we have a very good reputation and one that I hold dearly.

Please read the attachment from an unsolicited purchaser of the Supreme. We were blown away to be honest, it was a very humbling letter to receive.

http://www.manson-marine.co.nz/SitePages/Sup_testim_1.htm



If you would like any material specifications, weld details, weld deposit information or anything else please ask. If you have a look over the website www.mansonanchors.com you will find a fair bit of very useful information.

We would love to know about your travels and the performance of your anchor good or bad. We are always interested to hear of where our customers end up and the experiences they have….we have a VERY large library of people and their boats on file.



Happy travels Chris.



Steve Mair

Manson Anchors
 
Yes,

I bought a ronca 15 for my 30' jeanneau in april 07. Its been used for around 25 nights of anchoring and a few lunch time stops. It has always set first time, instantly. Often in weedy sea lochs ( I sail from Oban ). Examples this summer -2 windy(30 kts +) nights in loch screesort (rum) , we met people later who had dragged there the previous week, and heard a mayday the following week which involved an anchor drag there. A couple of weekends ago anchoring at Bunessan on mull, 40 odd boats, we arrived late, saw two boats resetting, one using a danforth type, and picking up a load of weed. We set twice, instantly, I only moved and reset because once I had run back on my rode I didn't have swing room , so moved to more space.
The only problem I have ever had is breaking the thing out when it has dug in after a windy night. Usually have to pull in to around 1.5 x depth and let the boat work the anchor out from there.
 
I am not surprised Rocna took it off their site! It was really defamatory. Rocna was saying that the construction was substandard with substandard steels etc, which is just not the case. Anyway - my CQR is acting as a garden ornament now - I would not have it on board for anything!!!!
The new anchors (Rocna included!) are so light years ahead in ease of use and effectiveness that I can't understand the diehards who continue to sign the praises of the CQR /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif!!
 
I run twin Spades but have also trialled the Supreme and Rocna on the exact same boat in the exact same places on the same rode. Not to mention in many other ways as well.

I went Spades due to weight, I like lighter and got the Alloys.

If there is any difference in performance between the Rocna and Supreme, I can't find it and have been trying too now for over 3 years.

Of the 3 I'd give Spade the edge, not by much but they have a small one over the other 2.

Use any 3 with confidence would be my call, assuming it's backed by a matching rode.
 
Just wanted to say, this is one of the most useful anchor threads we've had. Mostly contributions by people who have actually used the new generation anchors, and has not degenerated into the usual pissing contest (yet!!). Strangely quiet from our Kiwi friends until now...thought maybe NZ had dragged its Rocnas and drifted down to the South Pole to be ever more encapsulated by ice (joining the ghost of Tristan Jones) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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The combatants have run out of steam and one maybe on shaky ground if the pissing contest kicks off again.

That is good, so everyone should get more useful information rather than dubious marketing comments.
 
We've had a Spade for five years and have been very pleased with it - never dragged.

Last week it set first time in a very windy Canna - a weedy place where most people take at least two goes. It was however well deployed and bedded in with adequate scope. It held us for three nights in gusts up to F8 and we slept soundly.

We watched a lot of bad anchoring techniques and a few boats dragged. I was also on board a friend's boat - a 28ft Twister that was anchored using a 15Kg CQR with 36m of chain out in 6m (HW) water depth. They had been securely anchored in the same weather for two days, but on the third day the wind veered through 45 degrees or so and they suddenly dragged maybe 40m before the anchor reset. A couple of other boats dragged at this point. We didn't, and we have had a similar experience before in Ireland - watching other boats drag when there was a big wind shift in gusty conditions.

I don't doubt it is possible to get a CQR well set in most bottoms by the use of proper anchoring techniques, and equally it may be impossible to get anything to set if you chuck the anchor over the bow while still going forward at four knots, throw out a random amount of chain then reverse hard onto it and shock-load it at four or five knots in reverse. Honesty is also required. Are you really dug in? If you are expecting a F6 or more and are scared to go full astern on it then you are fooling yourself. (And if you can't be bothered cleaning the big ball of kelp off when you fail to set the first time then you can't really expect much sympathy for repeated failures either, can you . . . )

I believe that modern HHP anchors are easier to set, probably more forgiving of bad anchoring techniques and reset quicker and more certainly when the boat swings. They are more idiot -proof, and so I would recommend them highly to those anchoring idiots I see out there who threaten to drag down on me. I see that most charter companies go for the Delta, because I suspect it is the best compromise between HHP, idiot-proofness and price, but if I was chartering a boat out I would put a big Spade or Rocna on it. I am sure they are equally good, and of course the spats between Alain and Craig are hilarious . . .

- W
 
You watch the Delta market get seriously bashed over the next wee while. It'll be interesting to see how much Deltas drop in price and possibly how much Lewmar has been shafting everyone for so long.

They are off patent now and the copies are flooding in. Quality wise they 'shouldn't' be that bad as Delta is an easy anchor to make. Don't get excited about china knocking off Deltas, the Delta is made there now. The chinese also are now making Spade and Supreme copies also.

I have some delta knock-offs coming and if they are like the demo they sent me they will be of equal too delta quality (which hasn't been that flash of late) and they will cost me only 9.6% of a Delta cost. That sticker on the side of a Delta must be horrendously expensive to produce /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I've recently seen an appalling Delta copy...looked like something home-made in back yard, roughly cast in the kiddies' sandpit!! But this was for SALE in a chandlers...it really worries me. Lots of new boaters out there that don't really know what it is they're buying. Glad I kept the original tags off mine (though I suppose they can be easily "forged" as well). I have to say I'd always thought the real Delta offered reasonable value for money, but you might be right...
 
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I've recently seen an appalling Delta copy...looked like something home-made in back yard, roughly cast in the kiddies' sandpit!!

[/ QUOTE ] Same here, our recently purchased Lewmar Delta has a much better finish than the cheap copy which I am not sure I would trust. Looked at the Rocna but its over two and a half times the price of the same sized Delta, is it really that much better? I don't know, but its a lot of money for a few pieces of steel dipped in Zinc.

Pete
 
Find a Supreme if you want to go new gen style, probably cheaper than a rocna and work just the same.
 
Replaced Danforth and CQR with Delta this year.

By comparison the Delta sets at once and is more tolerant of weed etc. Compared with Danforth in particular it is much easier to break out. The corollary is that it doesn't tolerate an excessively short scope as well in the crowded anchorage scenario. Overall am very pleased.
 
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