Would you trust a lighter anchor?

As well as Spade and Rocna have a look at Brake anchors - another new generation one and the one that came out best in recent "Voile" Magazine tests.

They did a series of tests looking at :
- holding on 3:1 scope
- holding on 6:1 scope
- ability to reset after breaking out.

They also did similar tests on light anchors.

PLOUGH ANCHORS
Spade Océane 15 kg : 1100kg holding at 6:1 275€ (French retail price with VAT @ 19.6%)
Plastimo Kobra 16kg : 1000kg at 6:1 153€
Wasi 15kg : 1200kg at both 3:1 and 6:1 540€ Scandinavian - good for tight anchorages.
MPI Brake 16kg : 800kg at 3:1 and 2200kg at 6:1 (same result after 180° shift) 375€ (Their recommendation)
Fobrock 16kg : 3:1 doesn't hold 6:1 1200kg 239€
Delta 10kg : 500kg 280€

LIGHT ANCHORS
Fortress FX23 6.8kg : 1100kg on heavy sand but thereafter would not reset. Still, their recommended light anchor for fair weather mooring. 272€ - 390€ depending on ability to adjust settings.
Spade Alu 4.5kg : 1000kg drags thereafter slowly but uniformly 353€
Foblight 7.6kg : held to 600kg then sudden break-out. 285€

FLAT ANCHORS
Plastimo Brittany 14kg : 700kg but has tendancy to turn on its side above this weight. 99€
Fob HP 12kg : 1000kg before turning on side and not resetting. 97€

Personally I would like to see tests between Spade, Brake and Rocna anchors. I am tending towards the Rocna to replace a CQR. With a capstan who needs light anchors?

John
 
The 10 is what is recommended, and it is a conservative recommendation. Our sizing equates roughly to a rating of 50 knots wind, associated surge, and only moderate holding.

The 35lb CQR is massively over-sized. I wouldn't feel the need for this kind of weight unless I planned on routinely anchoring through major winter storms - or (more seriously) if I knew I needed to anchor at low scope.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm guessing he must be on holiday or something, as he hasnt been here for a while, and I'm sure this is a thread he would have been onto like a shot.

[/ QUOTE ]Oh I'm around /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
There are those on this forum who advocate massive weight for anchoring. There are those for whom the CQR is the only anchor to consider.

They tend to be the same people.

(The CQR is also the most popular anchor on British boats according to a poll on this forum so I fully expect to get flamed here!)
 
Only if I was feeling lazy, weak, p****d or whatever - my present has performed very well apart from my private canal !! but that has heavy weed at bottom making it difficult for any anchor to hold.
 
CQr ... or Holdfast - basically same style ...

Maybe because when it came out - it was a revolution against what was available then. Many boaters tend to be conservative and go with what they see / proven etc. around them. The CQR is not so difficult to stow, not so difficult to handle and generally performs as required. Yes I dare say there are better designs and better set-ups ... I use CQR + all chain on bow ... Fishermans with 3m chain + heavy rope for kedge. My boat weighs 3.5ton and I had no trouble in Swedish Islands with the Fishermans ... the CQR stayed on deck as standby.

The only consideration I have is - whether to change the fisherman for a more manageable design at stern ...
 
Re: CQr ... or Holdfast - basically same style ...

Nigel,

How heavy is your CQR ... as a kind of comparison for john with a Contessa, which i am guessing has a weight of less than 4 tonnes.
 
If you have difficulty with a rocna - look also at the Manson Supreme which is very similiar here

It appears that both Manson and Rocna think that 25 pounds is fine for the contessa. Manson quotes 35pounds for their CQR look alike. They believe the anchor is much more efficiant - which it is, so go for the 25pound - unless you can accomodate the one up.

This is my first year with a Manson after chucking my CQR, and I am very pleased with results so far. Manson /Rocna - the manson looks less like a one off fabrication than the Rocna - which looks a little home made. Manson is a large anchor manufacturuer in its own right and has very high standards of testing. I cannot comment on Rocna - but past posts by Roacna had to be pulled because of naughty statements.

Up to you - each works a treat! Don't worry too much about heavier chain - I cannot see what you have at the moment.
 
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(The CQR is also the most popular anchor on British boats according to a poll on this forum so I fully expect to get flamed here!)

[/ QUOTE ]

Was it the most popular, in that it was the anchor desired by most people, or was it the most popular, in that it was the anchor possessed by most people, (i.e. the most common)?

I have a Plough, but it wasnt my choice, nor was it the previous owners choice, and I'm guessing it came with the boat in 1995.

I would imagine, that most peoples' anchors come to them that way and, as most people just anchor for lunch, or dont anchor at all, whatever they have on the bow when they buy the boat services them well.

I'm never absolutely confident that my anchor will dig in, although it has performed well in sand, mud and clay. However, give it so much as a sniff of weed, and it's sliding along the bottom like a good 'un.

So a plough is what I've got, but my desire is for a Rocna or a Spade.... and my answers would have to be different to the different questions.

Cheers

Richard
 
I have a very similar boat to yours, and have been a CQR-devotee for forty years. Early this year I ordered a Rocna but before it could be delivered my local chandlery received a consignment of Manson Supremes. The 25lb fitted my bow just perfectly, so I cancelled the Rocna. (Performance-wise I doubt if there is much to choose between them.)
I have used the Manson in sixty anchorages in north-west Scotland this season and it has been impressive. It has set instantly and held solid in every kind of bottom except soft mud, where it is no better or worse than the CQR. I even tried it on stones-and-weed, which I would not previously have considered anchorable ground: it penetrated and held like it was bolted-in. It has significantly extended our list of desirable anchorages!
I have also deliberately veered it in the ground through 180 degrees under high load: its buoy, on a short trip-line, did not twitch.
The hardest test was when anchored on sand behind the causeway to Berneray to sit out a severe blow with spume flying thick. It never budged.
Having said that, we do treat our anchors kindly by using our twin-vee riding sail,
which does significantly reduce the loading and allows us to use 25lb anchors with total confidence.
My foredeck crew summed it up: ''It is ugly and a bit awkward (after the CQR), but it has won me over!''
 
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a 7.5 Kg Bruce worked on my Co 32 + 30 m 8 m/m chain /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

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Just to add to this - I had a 7.5 kg copy of a Bruce on 8 mm chain and it was hopeless! (on a 25 footer)! I think I've seen comments to the effect that copies of Bruce are not as good as the (now no longer made) real thing.
 
Re: CQr ... or Holdfast - basically same style ...

25lb - standard Holdfast............ I think !! I know its next size up from usual one seen on many boats of my size ... (I'm a 25ft Motor-sailer .... design weight just under 3 ton ... actual 3.5+). I do have full chain for normal anchoring I do ... up to 10m depth ... with rope backing up should I go deeper.

The Fisherman is a 15lb job that is not so bad to handle and chuck of the back-end.
 
[ QUOTE ]
This is my first year with a Manson after chucking my CQR, and I am very pleased with results so far. Manson /Rocna - the manson looks less like a one off fabrication than the Rocna - which looks a little home made. Manson is a large anchor manufacturuer in its own right and has very high standards of testing.

[/ QUOTE ]The Supreme is a cheap copy of the Rocna.

[ QUOTE ]
I cannot comment on Rocna - but past posts by Roacna had to be pulled because of naughty statements.

[/ QUOTE ]Perhaps you are referring to the seriously libellous posts made by the Manson rep a little while ago which were immediately pulled by Keith & co following our complaint? Not to start on Chris but please get your facts straight. I have never had a post pulled from this forum and do not engage in "naughty statements".
 
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