What's the worst anchor?

[Cariadco]

Though the photography is stunning I do not believe that this is typical. Good and opportunistic photography does not a bad anchor make. There are members here and respected members (so that excludes me - especially as my exposure to the Deltas is limited) who have used a Delta with complete success. It has endured since its inception in the 1980's and if the above photographic 'evidence' was typical, every day and common place it would have died the same death as the Hydrobubble and the Fluke. It would also never have achieved High Holding Power from Lloyds. All anchors can have a bad day - probably caused by newbie sailors or difficult seabeds - but Delta has endured because people did manage to engender success. Delta is not the lemon implied. It has been replaced - but that does not suddenly mean it was waste of time - Delta was state of the art but fortunately fo us technology does advance.

The anchor was developed in the late 1980s to counter the success of the Bruce anchor (that was eating into Simpson Lawrence sales) and the CQR, Bruce and Delta (+ copies of all 3) were the anchors of choice till the West Marine/YM anchor test reported in 2006 - when Rocna and Supreme (and the Hydro-bubble etc) were introduced. Fortress is of a similar vintage to Delta and Spade was introduced (at least in France)a bit later in the 1990s. The Delta design as been much copied, especially the shank - copied for Spade, Rocna, Excel, Vulcan etc and many others - its legacy lives on.

Jonathan

Although Mine's a little large for my Boat (the next size up), it works brilliantly and hasn't dragged (yet). It's the Lewmar one.

 

[Neeves]

Although Mine's a little large for my Boat (the next size up), it works brilliantly and hasn't dragged (yet). It's the Lewmar one.

In the 1980s we needed an anchor for our X-99 for local racing in HK and bought a, small, genuine, Lewmar) CQR, later for offshore racing we had to buy a second anchor (and bought a CQR clone, made by Hent). Once we set the CQR it was never a problem, my wife and I used the anchor to overnight on weekends when there was no racing. We also had to leave our X-99 at San Fernando for 6 weeks, at anchor (inside the reef) without issues (waiting for a sleeve to repair our mast)

When we moved to Oz the CQRs (original and copy) were too small for our catamaran and the anchor suppled was another CQR clone from Manson - it would reliably drag, it was consistent - we upgraded to a steel Excel and when I became a weight fanatic we used an aluminium Excel (and an aluminium Spade). The Excel and Spade were totally reliable - but if you don't try different anchors you don't know (which are reliable and which are not, which need patience to set and which are drop and, almost, forget.

Jonathan

 

[vyv_cox]

But a Delta not setting is much more news worthy than a Delta anchor that is boringly well set and consistently reliable.

Bad news travels, good news...... simply is under the radar.

Jonathan

Exactly. Against that one failure and another one in soft mud, 50 knot winds, I can offer about 25 years of utter reliability.

 

[doug748]

Exactly. Against that one failure and another one in soft mud, 50 knot winds, I can offer about 25 years of utter reliability.

The other thing worth repeating loud and often is that a Delta can be four to six times cheaper than some alternatives.

.

 

[noelex]

Noelex,

You obviously have time on your hands - maybe you would like to comment on the contradictions of one of your other questionable posts.

Lewmar Epsilon

Jonathan

What contradiction ?

 

[Neeves]

What contradiction ?

Lewmar Epsilon

Post 8

 

[Dogone]

The other thing worth repeating loud and often is that a Delta can be four to six times cheaper than some alternatives.

.

Tell me how much money you saved when you are bouncing off the rocks and I am just bouncing in the swell.

 

[noelex]

Lewmar Epsilon

Post 8

In post 8 of that thread you added an edit with "Maybe I misunderstand....."

You did misunderstand, but I will reply in the thread.

 

[doug748]

Tell me how much money you saved when you are bouncing off the rocks and I am just bouncing in the swell.

Could be the other way around and you could tell me how much money you have wasted.

.

 

[srm]

Anchoring is an act of faith. Even when we can see a nice clean sandy bottom there is no knowing what lies a few centimetres or deeper below it. That is why I carried two anchors of different designs each specified as main anchors and two rodes, one all chain, the second chain and rope. If I don't like the forecast I lay both out, and have at times seen one start to drag only for the boat to be safely checked by the second and the first to reset.

 

[NormanS]

Anchoring is an act of faith. Even when we can see a nice clean sandy bottom there is no knowing what lies a few centimetres or deeper below it. That is why I carried two anchors of different designs each specified as main anchors and two rodes, one all chain, the second chain and rope. If I don't like the forecast I lay both out, and have at times seen one start to drag only for the boat to be safely checked by the second and the first to reset.

 

[dunedin]

Some years back I crewed on a 33' trimaran and had the task of 'anchoring' in Oban Bay, awaiting our runners, at the start of the Scottish Islands Peaks Race. The bottom there was notoriously foul, so lowering a conventional anchor was imprudent. The alternative was to jill about hundreds of metres further out - which extended the rowing of the runners out from the shore rather a lot.

I found a couple-of-metres square tattered offcut of a fishing net discarded on the beach, 'borrowed' some boulders and wrapped them up in the netting, and - choosing our spot inshore close to the runners' embarcation-point - lowered this stone bundle to the seabed on a doubled warp. Once our runners and rower were aboard, it was a matter of moments to slip the doubled warp, leaving the boulders behind.... sailing away out of the bay before others had paddled even halfway to their boats.

So did you leave the fishing netting on the seabed, as a danger to aquatic life?

 

[NormanS]

Yes, it's an act of faith, and faith and experience can be increased by more anchoring. Even so, you never know quite how good a hold the anchor has, until to come to retrieve it. I just love it when the chain is vertical, and the bow starts to dip. Unless it's fouled under something.

 

[Dogone]

Could be the other way around and you could tell me how much money you have wasted.

.

Indeed. It is just like an insurance policy. You never will know how much you waste. It’s all about your feeling about risk and probability of disaster x the consequence of disaster.

For example if you anchor in the Med in August and have marinas everywhere you may want to avoid insurance and also go cheap on anchors. Otherwise most people think it a good idea, especially as anchors are very cheap insurance.

 

[PCUK]

I had a 65lb Danforth on my 12M steel cruiser displacing 14 tons. It never let me down, even in a gale anchored off Sheerness with the chain bar tight.

 

[noelex]

If I don't like the forecast I lay both out, and have at times seen one start to drag only for the boat to be safely checked by the second and the first to reset.

In my view, if you need to regularly use two anchors to prevent dragging then your primary anchor is a poor design and/or it is too small.

 

[Sea Change]

In my view, if you need to regularly use two anchors to prevent dragging then your primary anchor is a poor design and/or it is too small.

And in a crowded anchorage you may need to recover your ground tackle quickly and easily, is somebody else is dragging towards you.

 

[srm]

In my view, if you need to regularly use two anchors to prevent dragging then your primary anchor is a poor design and/or it is too small.

Who said regularly?
Have you ever spent a few hours at anchor with the masthead anemometer still hard against the 60kn stop when it feels as if the wind has eased off?

And in a crowded anchorage you may need to recover your ground tackle quickly and easily, is somebody else is dragging towards you.

Two boats would make the anchorages I used to frequent feel crowded. The only thing to windward of my storm anchoring positions was the shore, the closer the better.

My preference was a nylon line to windward secured to a strong point ashore. Rarely possible in the UK but normal practice on the west coat of Norway.

 

[zoidberg]

My preference was a nylon line to windward secured to a strong point ashore. Rarely possible in the UK....

I've tried that!

Years ago, on a bareboat Eastern Med charter hol - just she and me - we found a perfect little island with a perfect little bay.... which was quite steeply shelving.
So.... as advised on all the best forums, I approached bow-to, letting go the stern anchor about 150' out which brought us up short about 80-100' from the beach.

I had to manage the boat, of course, so I directed Milady to swim ashore, a bow warp in her teeth and, once there, to wrap it three times around a tree and hold on.
( she was nbg at knots. )

That let me adjust the stern warp appropriately, then take the dinghy ashore with a towel and my wallet.... and we strolled round the headland to the village and taverna.

 

[KevinV]

I've tried that!

Years ago, on a bareboat Eastern Med charter hol - just she and me - we found a perfect little island with a perfect little bay.... which was quite steeply shelving.
So.... as advised on all the best forums, I approached bow-to, letting go the stern anchor about 150' out which brought us up short about 80-100' from the beach.

I had to manage the boat, of course, so I directed Milady to swim ashore, a bow warp in her teeth and, once there, to wrap it three times around a tree and hold on.
( she was nbg at knots. )

That let me adjust the stern warp appropriately, then take the dinghy ashore with a towel and my wallet.... and we strolled round the headland to the village and taverna.

Could you pm me her number please? She sounds quite useful