Spade A80

I have the Aluminium 100 as a kedge and the steel 100 as a main.
Haven't had to use the ally one much but when I have it's easy to deploy, being light. Even on an all rope rode I can pull on it with my sheet winches and it doesn't budge. Trouble with any anchor is that when it does 'let go' it will always be at the worst possible time!
 
I know of two that have suffered galvanic corrosion between the aluminium and the lead after about five years. There is a picture of one on my website. Spade stated that measures had been taken with the second one to prevent any future occurrence but it clearly did not work as there were several perforations right through the aluminium.
 
I know it's not quite what you asked, but it will at least bump the thread up :)

I could not be happier with my steel S100. It sets first time, every time, and has never dragged. I have a 30hp engine and a big 3-bladed prop and full power astern will not shift it even a little. (It will make it a bugger to break out though, having to use the bobbing of the bow on the waves to slowly pull it up through the mud.)

The shape is eager to set in a way I've never experienced with CQRs, Danforths or Bruce. When I first got it home it was sitting on the living room floor, and I tried to pull it round to get a better look. The damn thing tried to dig its way into the carpet!

Pete
 
The Steel Spade is a great anchor, but unfortunately the aluminium version does not work as well in harder substrates. It is still an OK anchor, but not as good as the steel Spade or other top notch anchors.

They did increase the amount of lead in the aluminium anchor, to try and combat the problem, but it seems to have made little impact.
 
A bit late, but have had excellent experience in the Med over the last three years with the Alu 80, 7 kg, on a sadler 29. Am totally confident overnite when it is sand, less so in sea weed, but this may be just a mental reservation. I use it as main anchor in the height of summer when i prefer to anchor away from the crowd in deeper water, and the delta 10 kilo the rest of the time. I am happy to juggle to put off the decision to acquire an electric winch.
 
I would agree with noelex's comments.

We had an aluminium spade as primary anchor on a 45 footer. It was great in soft bottoms, and obviously the light weight nature of it on the bow is a good thing for a sailing boat.

However, in weed or hard bottoms, it simply seemed to lack the weight needed to penetrate the surface. It was an absolute nightmare quite honestly.

We recently swapped to a stainless steel Ultra anchor and have zero regrets.
 
Vonasi said:
All this talk of different metals. It does seem odd to me that people take an aluminium anchor that has a lump of lead in the middle of it and then shackle it to a mild steel zinc galvanized chain probably using a stainless steel shackle or swivel and then chuck the whole lot in salt water for a few days at a time!
Click to expand...

There is no doubt that there has been some corrosion problems with the Spade, but the problem is not insurmountable. If the lead can be contained in a sealed balast chamber it will not cause any problems. It seems Spade have not managed to do this at least in the early models. Galvanised chain, or shakles will not be a problem as they are less noble than the aluminium and therefore will corrode first. With the large mass of the chain and small mass of alumnium the effect on the chain will be minimal. Stainless shackles would be a poor choice, but these are easily avoided.

One very important factor not mentioned is the grade of aluminium used. There is a great temptation to use the stronger grades of aluminium as these have similar properties to steel. This means the anchor design can be very similar to the steel version. Unfortunately these grades of aluminium have poor corrosion resistance. There are even cases where manufacturers have used some of the 7 series of aluminium alloys in their anchors.

Spade do not specify what grade of aluminium is used, nor do Fortress (although the latter is widely rumoured to be 6061 which is OK)

What is needed is for a manufacturer to design an anchor for aluminium. The lower density combined with some sensible ballast and higher strength to weight ratio presents the possibility of developing an anchor with a much better tip weight and overall COG. Such an anchor could be designed around the 5 series aluminium alloys. Unfortunately what Spade have done is the simple approach and taken an existing steel anchor design and simply reproduced it in aluminium. They even caution against using the aluminium anchor in strong conditions as a primary anchor.

A bespoke aluminium design offers the possibility of better performance, lighter weight and freedom from regalvanlising problems. Come on manufacturers there is a gap in the market here.
 
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Ended up doing a deal with Greg Kutsen for a 25lb galvanised Mantus. Just the right size for the boat, a very reasonable price, and despatch within 24-hrs from 1st enquiry. A delight to deal with them.
Whether I'll be able to climb over that enormous roll-bar is now the question - suspect you, Noelex, assembled yours on the roller.
Apparently the roll-bar needs to be in use to ensure product insurance cover, though Greg used his for a season without it.
From your experiences I've little doubt about the anchor's efficiency. Perhaps I'll even consider anchoring in weed. I don't expect the galvanising on any anchor to last more than 3 years if it's in frequent use.
The only aluminium anchor to be anodised (as far as I know) is the Fortress, a definite benefit, that I wouldn't expect Vonasi to understand, but which Vyv will recognise.
Sadly only a one direction-pull anchor.
 
noelex said:
There is no doubt that there has been some corrosion problems with the Spade, but the problem is not insurmountable. If the lead can be contained in a sealed balast chamber it will not cause any problems. It seems Spade have not managed to do this at least in the early models. Galvanised chain, or shakles will not be a problem as they are less noble than the aluminium and therefore will corrode first. With the large mass of the chain and small mass of alumnium the effect on the chain will be minimal. Stainless shackles would be a poor choice, but these are easily avoided.

One very important factor not mentioned is the grade of aluminium used. There is a great temptation to use the stronger grades of aluminium as these have similar properties to steel. This means the anchor design can be very similar to the steel version. Unfortunately these grades of aluminium have poor corrosion resistance. There are even cases where manufacturers have used some of the 7 series of aluminium alloys in their anchors.

Spade do not specify what grade of aluminium is used, nor do Fortress (although the latter is widely rumoured to be 6061 which is OK)

What is needed is for a manufacturer to design an anchor for aluminium. The lower density combined with some sensible ballast and higher strength to weight ratio presents the possibility of developing an anchor with a much better tip weight and overall COG. Such an anchor could be designed around the 5 series aluminium alloys. Unfortunately what Spade have done is the simple approach and taken an existing steel anchor design and simply reproduced it in aluminium. They even caution against using the aluminium anchor in strong conditions as a primary anchor.

A bespoke aluminium design offers the possibility of better performance, lighter weight and freedom from regalvanlising problems. Come on manufacturers there is a gap in the market here.
Click to expand...

Has anybody tried the Tandem anchor yet?

http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/...03852&SRCID=0&ntid=39&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0
 
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