Raya Anchor - opinions or experience?

[Windway]

I am looking at a possible relpacement for my aging CQR and came across this Raya Anchor.

The blurb says - From the designer of the Spade and Sword Anchors, the Raya anchor is the latest of what could be considered the new generation of anchors. By concentrating most of the weight of the anchor at the tip, the Raya anchor significantly increases penetration and by increasing the surface area of the fluke, once set, the Raya anchor has a significant increase in holding power compared to other anchors of similar weight, designed to meet the needs for extreme mooring conditions of the Antarctic, Patagonia channels and Tierra del Fuego, as well as the heavenly conditions of Bahia de Todos los Santos, the “high security ”anchor Raya will ensure you quiet nights at anchor, whatever the grounds or the weather conditions.

Does anyone know this anchor, its reputation, holding power etc?

 

[sailorman]

 

[michael_w]

I had my aging CQR re-galvanized last week, like new for what I thought was a very reasonable cost; 50m of 3/8' chain and 35lb CQR re-galvanized for a shade over £200.

 

[macd]

Plenty of reference to the Raya via Google, mostly on boating forums. It looks very much like a Spade and if it performs like one, it'll be good. However, I came across one reference to their having gone out of business, but have no idea if this is/was true.

The oddest thing is a link on this page:
http://www.sail-world.com/CruisingA...=50989&SRCID=0&ntid=0&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0

It states: "For more detailed information about the RAYA, and to find how to purchase, go to their WEBSITE"
'WEBSITE' is a link, which takes you to...wait for it...oh no, it can't be true...
http://www.petersmith.net.nz/

 

[vyv_cox]

Unfortunately Alain Poiraud, designer of both the Spade and Raya, died unexpectedly. He was producing the Raya in Brazil (Argentina?) and presumably nobody was able/prepared to take on production after his death. Alain was a contributor here under the name 'Hylas': his endless heated arguments with Craig Smith were one of the causes of anchor thread notoriety.

There was a good deal of discussion here when Peter Smith took over his website. Yet another example of the questionability of the man's ethics.

I had some discussion with Alain about the anchor, if it is available I think it would be an excellent purchase. He designed it to be manufactured more simply=cheaper than the Spade and at the time it was very competitive on price, with what appeared to be excellent performance. He claimed to have done much of his pre-production testing in the Magellan Strait.

 

[prv]

I read a report on it which said it was an attempt to get Spade performance without the manufacturing cost. The reason the Spade is expensive is because the shank is hollow and it has lead ballast, both designed to put maximum weight behind the tip to penetrate hard bottoms and weed. The Raya tries to achieve that by putting the shank weight over the tip instead, hence its strange forward placement.

The report wasn't terribly complimentary about its performance compared to the original Spade. Perhaps there was further work to be done that was interrupted by the designer's death?

Pete

 

[puddock]

I think Silkie of these parts speaks very highly of the Raya .......

 

[BERT T]

http://www.petersmith.net.nz/[/url]

I'm surprised that the ink stays on the paper when you look at some of the sh-te which that NZ ethical moron throws at it.

 

[Neeves]

On Spade's website, or Sea tech and Fun, they have an anchor called a Sword that looks like a Raya. I've obviously never seen one but vaguely recall that Voile et Voileurs possibly included it in their last review 1-2 years ago.

Manson's Boss has similarities, but is extraordinary for the complete absence of any user feed back.

It would obviously be of value to have any information on either.

Jonathan

 

[webcraft]

.
There's a thread here: http://www.bluemoment.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4821

and another here: http://www.bluemoment.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4768

- W

 

[doug748]

".......the Raya anchor is the latest of what could be considered the new generation of anchors......"


Ideal.

Just what we all need, a new generation of new generation anchors.