Which main anchor?

[Carmel2]

Hi all,

At the mo I have a 16KG Fob with 10 mil chain ( it came with the yacht ) The anchorages I use are sand and weed around Corsica and Sardinia. I have never dragged badly but I have to reset a lot as it does not set every time ( 5 times out of 10), What would you use?

http://www.corsicanholidays.com

 

[charles_reed]

What size/weight of boat?

 

[snowleopard]

beware- this topic always generates more heat than light. criticising someone's choice of anchor comes just below insulting his boat and well above insulting his wife!

whats a 'fob'?

if there's a lot of weed around it's best to avoid danforth-style anchors (fortress, bulldog, brittany etc. plough types generally work well in sand and light weed (cqr, delta, spade).

what technique do you use when setting the anchor? often poor setting isn't the fault of the anchor but the way it is deployed. if you let the load come on the anchor too fast it will skip across the bottom without biting. the worst thing you can do is try to make it set on a short scope then let out more later. i have learned the hard way to let out 3-5 times the depth of water (min 25 metres), let the boat drift back without using the engines, have a cup of tea then power set it, gradually building up to full astern

 

[mainshiptom]

I use a cqr ! and always used cqr good on sand and mud ! Also have all chain and let it all or as much as poss out !

Tom

ps length of boat 44ft weight of anchor 25kg.

 

[Carmel2]

It's Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37.......weight 6 100kg

http://www.corsicanholidays.com

 

[Carmel2]

"often poor setting isn't the fault of the anchor but the way it is deployed. if you let the load come on the anchor too fast it will skip across the bottom without biting"

That's me!! shame /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Carmel2]

A fob is one of these http://www.fob.fr/menu.lasso?locate=fobthp

 

[scarlett]

I agree with all the other comments. I would sell your Fob as I would expect it to fail in sand and weed. Also do not be tempted into buying a copy of a CQR or other anchor that actually works.

Just get a quality anchor at least one size larger than the manufacturer says and sufficient chain and nylon to give you the possibility of deep water anchoring.

 

[snowleopard]

ah! now i see your problem. that is one of the danforth-type group i was talking about. they gather weed like it's going out of fashion and they can skim over a packed sand bottom like a stingray.

 

[Carmel2]

Thanks for all this,

So it looks like a CQR is the right way to go! I have limited availability where I live, but think I can get the Delta make. Is that the best of the bunch?

 

[snowleopard]

bear in mind what i said in my first reply. if you go for a CQR it must be the genuine article, not an imitation as copies don't work as well and some break easily. the CQR is fairly old technology and you will get more holding power for a given weight with a delta or spade. the spade is said to be better in sand but less good in mud.

 

[hylass]

On every anchor tests, the FOB has always been of the "bad side" .. its main and only advantage is its low price, and this is why all Beneteau and Jeanneau boats are equiped with this anchor..

ALL flat (or fluke) anchors (danforth-style anchors) are working nearly on the same way:
- they first lye flat on the sea bottom, with a "penetrating" angle like a razor.. wich, as you probably know, is conceived to NOT penetrate.. :0)

- if they meet a soft bottom or a small stone or.. then the tips penetrate and the anchor lift itself until the angle is like a chisel.. and then they penetrate..

- on hard sand (or Coral) or weed, they can slide without penetrating at all..

But their worse characteristic, wich is commun to ALL "fluke" anchors, is that, under heavy loads, there is always one of the fluke wich dig in more deeply than the other and then the anchor start to corckscrew and break free.. always at the worse period of time..

I will not suggest any of the danforth-style anchors as a main anchor..

 

[Carmel2]

Localy I can buy a 16kg Delta but not a CRQ, I can get a crq online but it will cost a packet, would I be making a big compromise?

 

[DaveNTL]

Of course you can have problems with any anchor if you don't set them correctly so, the Delta is a good anchor, and, if it's all you can get locally, I would go for it. The size you state is correct for your boat. Use at least 5m of chain. I think Simpson Lawrence recommend chain / nylon line combination.

Then it's down to you to make sure you anchor correctly, with the right scope etc.

Perhaps keep the fob (i've never heard of that either) as a second or for bahamian mooring unless it's too big to keep.

In the West Marine comments some say they 'couldn't set their Delta X number of times out of Y' and 'I'm very experienced' blah blah blah, others say it's great.

I read the threads on here and buyers comments on the West Marine site and, like Snowleopard says, it's a subject that raises hackles so you have to read between all that and make yer choice.

I'm going through a similar process. I'm just moving onto my new boat and it has a CQR with a Fortress hanging on the pushpit that was used for bahamian mooring. I want a second main anchor.

I'm going for a Delta with chain / nylon rope combo. I will then compare how this performs against the all chain CQR in varying conditions and use whichever is most appropriate once I'm experienced.

I might have gone for a Bruce as the second anchor but they are wider and it would have clattered against the CQR.

 

[Carmel2]

Cheers one and all! Delta it is. I have 30 meters of 10 mil chain and 30 meters of nylon. Anyone want to buy a 16kg Fob??????????? humm thought not.

 

[DaveNTL]

nah! you are now officially fobbed off /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

good luck with the delta and fair winds!

 

[scarlett]

No one has mentioned the Bungelanka [sic]. The only anchor I have ever seen that has not had to be reset. The Delta is better than the CQR but does 'skid ' across hard surfaces sometimes.

I have an Oceane which works most of the time but is not fool proof. [Which is why I have to reset it sometimes!]

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
No one has mentioned the Bungelanka [sic]. The only anchor I have ever seen that has not had to be reset.

[/ QUOTE ]I've never heard of it and it doesn't show in Google.

 

[wagenaar]

He probably means the BUGELANKER, a rather recent typ of anchor of german design. I have read very positive reports about this anchor. It has a kind of plough-form and a bow-type bar on the other side. I remember googling "Bugelanker" and it showed up.

 

[BrendanS]

Wasi bugelanker
see here
http://www.sunshinemaritime.co.uk/WASI%20Index.htm