AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
I was thinking about this and realized that an anchor being dropped freely will rapidly reach its terminal velocity - an anchor has a very high surface area relative to its weight. There's also the drag on the chain. So actually, I guess that a freely dropped anchor won't actually go down very fast compared to the speed with which it would fall in air. Even the Titanic probably only hit the bottom at 30mph; an anchor is much less streamlined than she was, so I wouldn't be surprised if the velocity is only 15mph, no matter what the depth.It’s nothing to do with whether you free drop or not. (I know Geem is addicted to ‘free dropping’ his anchor). It’s simply a matter of not allowing the boat to plough the anchor backwards and snag loads of weed before it’s had a chance to dig in. How you pay the chain out is irrelevant.
Wasn't there an anchor that was designed with hydrodynamic properties to allow it to "fly" to a particular location with respect to the boat? Just found it - the Flook: Flook Flying Anchors for Sale | Boat Accessories | Boats Online | New South Wales (NSW) - Sydney Region Greenwich NSW
The point is that anchors freely dropped don't hit the bottom with any great speed.