Do you have a bent anchor? Practical Sailor, a US publication, is looking for photos of anchors with bent shafts for an upcoming edition.

Here is the prelude to the article... http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/-11005-1.html?ET=practicalsailor:e8002:125771a:&st=email

Vice Commodore, OCC 

Before going to the Deep South, I exchanged my 60lb (27kg) CQR for an oversized 40kg Rocna (this for a 20 ton 49 ft yacht). It changed my life. With the CQR I had to re-lay about 1 in 4 times and, except in settled and windless conditions, I didn 't sleep too well having had the CQR drag on several occasions (and by most standards I use a lot of scope when room allows).
I must have layed the Rocna over 200 times and have only had to re-lay on about 3 occasions. I have anchored in kelp, on rock and in soft, soft mud. Even in winds in excess of 55 knots (www.blog.mailasail.com/mina2/277) it has not dragged once (yet).

There are drawbacks however:
1. You have to motor back on to it to set it GENTLY. The Rocna digs in so quickly and abruptly that otherwise you are in danger of pulling the windlass out of the deck.
2. You need a really powerful windlass to bring it up as it often reappears with an additional 40kg of mud attached to it (for which the best solution is an ordinary gardeners dutch hoe on a stick, which is also the best tool, if sharpened, for slicing kelp off the anchor chain).

Tim Barker, S/Y Mina2

Hi Daria and Alex,
I just bumped into your aforementioned article and very much enjoyed hearing some of the history of anchors, their evolution over time and the cast of characters that spent time (and probably lots of it) evolving them.
Thanks, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Please see the Rocna discussion (in this forum) for a warning about accumulating evidence that Rocna anchors have trouble re-setting in a significant wind shift.
Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Dick
If I am not mistaken, that thread is being driven by an individual, who is by his own admission sponsored by a different scoop type anchor manufacturer.
Whereas some of the things he professes are valid, others are pure conjecture.

The bottom line is that the Rocna, Ultra, Spade, Supreme, Mantus, and the other scoop type anchors, with and without roll bars, have been proven time and time again in properly conducted impartial tests, to set, hold and veer exceptionally well. Our own experience with them has borne this out. Yes, we have received free anchors from several manufacturers to take out cruising, and yes we have found slight variations in their performance, but we cannot state that this is not a result of how we deploy them. And no, we have not been sponsored by any manufacturer.

In our opinion, every serious cruiser would be advised to carry a scoop type anchor as their primary (bower).

Hi Alex,
My take on your comments pertaining to the individual who is primary on the ACC site, OCC member John Harries, is that any relationship with Spade anchors plays no part in the concerns he writes about. I have followed his writings for years and have never found his judgments to be influenced in the way you describe and I find the implication of personal bias and implied vendetta (“driven” rather than he is responding to accumulated data) uncomfortable to hear, especially as it reflects on me as having brought it to the membership’s attention.
The anecdotal concerns were brought to a head by the Panope video I cited and he referred to. Alex, have you read the thread I referred to on ACC where these concerns are addressed and responded to by a large number of experienced cruisers and where first hand reports of re-setting failures by Rocna are described? Or looked at the videos compiled over the years by the Panope site? You did not report doing so in your recent comments I would be interested in your take as you are quite experienced in this area and far better read on the various tests conducted. Most tests I am familiar with have so many limitations as to make them almost useless (or misleading): the Panope videos being the exception as they show the anchors in action.
I report this to the membership as a warning that is documented in places I trust: not to start a disagreement. Everyone should evaluate all the data available in their choice of anchors. I agree with you as I also believe that cruisers should have one of the new generation anchors. They are just far superior. A Rocna, even with this emerging proclivity, is still far better anchor than a CQR or Delta or Bruce. But there is accumulating evidence that, for some new generation anchors, that re-setting is compromised in just the way that Steve/Panope has documented so well on his videos of anchors and their actual behavior on the seabed as well as the ACC site.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

I thought I had posted it here but it must have been somewhere else. I can report that we encountered this same re-setting problem with our Manson Sumpreme this summer in extreme conditions. The point being that the issue is not confined to the Rocna but, as one would expect, common to other scoop designs.
Simon

Hi Simon,
Thanks for your report. I am sorry you had a re-set problem, although it sounds isolated and under extreme conditions. Still unsettling though.
There appears to be some conjecture at this early-days attempt at understanding, that the scoop aspects of the new generation anchors accumulates seabed which unbalances the anchor so as to make it more difficult for the tip to penetrate when re-setting in a significant wind shift. Those of us with new gen anchors are aware of how much seabed comes up with the anchor when weighed and how stuck this seabed becomes (and how much work it is to clean). When the anchor goes down clean, these anchors are a marvel.
The Spade anchor seems to be less compromised by this tendency, probably as it has a far higher weight in the tip in the form of a lead insert and therefore is less susceptible to the unbalancing caused by a build-up of mud weight.
My best to all, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

I can add another report: A couple of weeks ago, I dragged my Rocna anchor, in light winds but at the turn of the tide (in the Irish Sea, noted for its big tides). The bottom was sticky mud, and I 'm used to my Rocna coming up with a big clod of such sea bottom attached. I 'd never have thought of this as the reason for the unreliable reset, and I 'm very grateful for having it explained and demonstrated so well by Steve, SV Panope.

Hi David, Thanks for your report and sorry you had a re-set problem. Those on the Attainable Adventures web site who have Rocna 's report the intention of raising anchor and cleaning their anchor to ensure a good stick after a wind shift. Please see the web site (20$/year, but very valuable for a wealth of issues and info from seasoned cruisers) for discussions/comments from Rocna owners. And, yes, Steve deserves a big round of applause for his creative evaluation of anchors.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy