By simoncurrin - 19 Apr 2012
Daria and I are conducting a survey of how OCC members anchor and what they use to connect themselves to the sea bed. Please take a minute or two to complete the survey. We will publish the results on the Forum and on the website when we have had enough responses to form a meaningful picture.
Click here to complete this 2 minute anonymous survey.
Simon
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By RobbieW - 20 Apr 2012
Hi Simon,
Good survey, they are not easy things to put together if you want usable results. Something about anchor weight might be another useful indicator but without being very specific and adding much complexity it difficult to see how to add that. Possibly simply asking if respondents consider thier main bower to be about right, significantly over or some what under weight. Or just add a box asking for the main bower weight.
I stayed with the same weight when I changed a 60lb CQR for a 60lb Spade in the hope that superior holding improves the safety factor :unsure:
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By simoncurrin - 22 Apr 2012
Please see the attached PDF to view the results of this Survey of anchors and anchoring.
updated 23/4/12
Comments welcome.
[attachment=18]OCCAnchorSurveyversion2.pdf[/attachment]
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By DariaBlackwell - 22 Apr 2012
Hi Robbie,
The quandary with asking the weight question is that there are too many factors that affect the interpretation of what 's right for a given boat and situation. It 's really not about weight so much anymore, but rather about anchor design and load. A Fortress weighs significantly less than a Rocna for the same size boat. Two 40 foot boats may need different size anchors because of their configurations that affect load -- beam, number of masts, freeboard, sails on or off, and so on.
That said, a bigger anchor of the same type will always provide better holding than a smaller one. B) Steve Dashew proposes that instead of carrying two anchors, we should just carry one that is twice the recommended weight. You have to be able to manage that monster though. :woohoo:
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By RobbieW - 22 Apr 2012
Hi Daria,
I know design now plays a large part in the holding power of an anchor, incidentally Voile have recently published a set of test results - theres a summary here. One of the few objective measures we have to compare one with another however is weight, I 'm not aware of any published figures that compare the holding power of a range of sizes in the same design or a comparative study of holding powers.
With the Voile survey data above, I ran up a quick spreadsheet to compare measured holding power against anchor weight. Given that all the 'Ploughs ' were steel I thought this was fair comparison - the range goes from 177:1 down to 42:1 which is quite a range.
I think the results you have garnered show a high take up of 2nd and especially 3rd generation designs, much more so than would be found walking around the average UK marina. I 'm sure that reflects the type of sailing OCC members do, and perhaps provides a pointer for a market differentiator. Perhaps the OCC could major on 'wild ' sailing? reliance on ones own gear more than on nights in marinas - just a thought.
Cheers ... Robbie
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By DariaBlackwell - 25 Apr 2012
This note from Andy & Sue aboard Spruce II:
Our experience with Spade is good. 350 days at anchor on last cruise aboard 38ft/9 Ton boat with 20Kg Spade anchor and 10mm Rode, 200 days at anchor so far this time aboard 42ft/17 Ton boat with 30Kg Spade and 10mm Rode. Very satisfied with performance in a variety of bottoms even through kelp into rock up in Gulf of St Lawrence with strong winds.
about an hour ago · Like
Spruce Ohlson For interest there is a short clip of film we loaded onto our blog showing ourselves at anchor in Newport RI in a gale with a couple mile fetch. The boat alongside (green stripe) was a Tayana 55 lying to 10mm rode and a 30Kg Spade, we were both fine. The other yacht 's 75lb CQR dragged dramatically, the cruise ship also dragged and needed help from tugs. http://www.sailblogs.com/member/littlegreenboat/?xjMsgID=146946
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By DariaBlackwell - 25 Apr 2012
Hi Robbie,
Great thought -- OCC members on the wild side.
There are many studies that have been published comparing different anchors and reporting holding power and we cover virtually all of them in our book, "Happy Hooking. The Art of Anchoring." I 'll try to share the most significant results here over time. A really good "scientific" review was published in PBO last year (2011). My favorite test series was done by West Marine and published by three magazines including SAIL.
Here 's a partial list of the sources:
Boote, Von Grundstucken und Haltungsnoten. October 2009.
Yachting Monthly, Which Anchor is Best? November 2009
Voiles et Voilliers, Jette l’ancre! Juillet 2009.
Yacht Skippers Magazin, Ankertest Vertrauensfrage. August 2009.
Vela, Ancore di nuova generazione. May 2009
Practical Sailor. Rock and Roll. PS takes heavy-duty roll-bar and Bruce-style anchors to the extreme. November 2008.
Practical Sailor, Three new anchors throw their weaight into the Practical Sailor Chronicles. January 2008.
MBM Club Pick the right hook. May 2007
Power and Motoryacht Anchors Aweigh February 2007
Sail Magazine, Holding Power. October 2006
Segeln 11 Anker IM Test. September 2006
Practical Sailor. Soft Mud Anchors for $200 or less. Part II. April 2006.
Practical Sailor, Anchor Reset Tests, January 2001
Practical Sailor, Anchor Tests: Soft Sand over Hard Sand http://www.practical-sailor.com/boatus/anchors/4rhod4598/03anchor.html
Yachting Monthly, Ultimate Holding Power. December 2006
Safety at Sea Studies. 1994 San Francisco Anchor Tests. http://offshore.ussailing.org/Assets/Offshore/SAS+Studies/1994+anchor+test.pdf
Safety at Sea Studies. 1995 Anchor Study. Puget Sound.
http://offshore.ussailing.org/Assets/Offshore/SAS+Studies/anchor+study.pdf
Safety at Sea Studies. 1990 Mud Anchor Tests. http://offshore.ussailing.org/SAS/General_Information/Safety_Studies/Safety_At_Sea_Studies_-_1990_Mud_Anchor_Tests.htm
Safety at Sea Studies. 1990 Sand Anchor Tests. http://offshore.ussailing.org/SAS/General_Information/Safety_Studies/Safety_At_Sea_Studies_-_1990_Sand_Anchor_Test.htm
Safety at Sea Studies. Portland Oregon Anchor Study. Robert A. Smith.
http://offshore.ussailing.org/SAS/General_Information/Safety_Studies/Safety_At_Sea_Studies_-_Portland__Oregon_Anchor_Study.htm
Safety at Sea Studies. Rope to Chain Splice Test. 1994.
http://offshore.ussailing.org/SAS/General_Information/Safety_Studies/Safety_At_Sea_Studies_-_Rope_to_Chain_Splice_Test.htm
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By DariaBlackwell - 25 Apr 2012
Preliminary observations 25-04-12:
- newest generation scoop-type anchors are gaining momentum in popularity
- fewer cruisers now carry a spare anchor at the bow
- Fortress is the choice for stowing below and kedging (it 's the only one that wouldn 't sink our dinghy, that 's for certain)
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By simoncurrin - 25 Apr 2012
Daria,
The very large amount of chain carried seems to be a characteristic of the OCCers in the survey. Belt and braces for go anywhere sailors?
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By bbalme - 25 Apr 2012
Simon, I was actually a bit surprised that your maximum rode length was 100M - we use 250ft of 5/16 chain and 300ft of 3/4 rope as our rode (165M)
Hope to never have to use it - but I have already had rope out...
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By simoncurrin - 29 Apr 2012
Responses to the OCC anchor survey continue to trickle in.and below is the link to view the results.
[attachment=21]OCCAnchorSurveyversion3.pdf[/attachment]
If you would still like to contribute to this survey then please click here to go to the survey.
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By DariaBlackwell - 3 May 2012
This in from Tom and Vicky aboard Sunstone:
I began answering your anchor survey, but unfortunately found it impossible to answer most of the questions as our anchor practice appears to differ a good deal from 'standard '. As there was no option for comments or explanations, I gave up.
For what it 's worth, you can make of the following what you can:
On extended cruise we carry the following:
2 x 45lb CQR (neither ever on the bow roller, one below and one in chocks on the foredeck)
1 x FX37 Fortress (lashed to the pushpit - used as kedge, stern anchor or for bahamian moor)
1 x 70lb Luke (in the bilge - never used in 120,000 miles)
55 metres 3/8 high test chain
40 metres 5/16 high test chain
10 metres 3/8 chain
8 metres 1/2 chain
4 metres 1/2 chain
200 metres 16mm nylon double braid (on a reel on the coach roof)
120 metres 16mm nylon double braid
Our chain locker and anchor windlass are on the starboard side deck about 1 metre forward of the mast, keeping weight out of the bow and giving good 'drop ' for the chain as the locker is quite deep and narrow.
Though it isn 't covered by your survey, we often use a bahamian moor in difficult anchoring situations. Our version of this uses a very large snatch block to bring the two rodes together. This is described in detail on our website ()and in an article we did a couple of years ago for FF. We have found this to be most useful in a wide variety of situations.
As a comment on the movement away from CQRs, we think that many cruisers have difficulty properly setting CQRs. In some cases this is because they try to reverse too quickly and too soon, before the anchor has had a chance to 'find itself ' on the bottom. The other major issue is the weight of chain. CQRs do seem to need solid weight and a good catenary. The tendency, paticularly among American cruisers, to use 5/16 high test even for quite large boats doesn 't help in this regard. When we are cruising in areas where there is lots of weed or kelp, as well as volatile weather, we add 4 metres of 1/2 inch chain immediately behind the anchor to give it more bite. This also helps to cut through weed and kelp. Though we have occasionally had to reset our CQR on first anchoring, we have never seriously dragged it once set. However, this may be because we would usually set a bahamian moor if the weather looked really wicked. We were interested to see that in the French test published by Yachting Monthly a few years ago, the CQR was second to the Spade for holding in firm ground and first in broken ground.
Hope this all of some use to you,
Tom and Vicky Jackson, Sunstone
And in follow up...
Yes, we haven 't so far found any need for the Luke in 15 years - at least not enough to justify the difficulty in launching and retrieving it. We have been impressed with the holding power of the Fortress in firm ground. Our loyalty to the CQR may be as much a matter of habit and miserliness as anything! But we can 't see the point in changing so long as it works, despite the plaudits for the Spade and its relations. We were interested to see the problems with Chinese manufacture of the once proud Rocna.
Thanks Tom and Vicky!
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By simoncurrin - 12 May 2012
After Dick Guckel 's electronic newsletter we had a surge of responses to the Anchor Survey. Responses continue to trickle but I think we now have a good picture of how OCC Members connect themselves to the seabed.
I have, as a result of this survey, already removed the stainless steel swivel from our anchor and I hope others find the results useful.
[attachment=25]OCCAnchorSurveyversion4.pdf[/attachment]
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By freyaofclyde - 14 May 2012
Some comments on the anchoring survey:
1. The CQR certainly appeared to be one of the more popular anchors. In view of all these new style anchors appearing on the market it would be interesting to know from those members who have CQR 's - is their CQR an addition to the boat, or has it always been on the boat?
2. In terms of chain, you made no mention of high test chain, maybe it 's not all that important.
3. Now that the hardware survey has been done, it would be interesting to know members ' views on how well their anchors have worked on a variety of seabeds.
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By simoncurrin - 14 May 2012
Yes I wonder how many of those buying a new anchor these days would opt for a CQR? I suspect the ones in the survey have been on the bow roller for many years.
We had a poorer response to the chain type survey but, for what it 's worth, posted below are the results.
[attachment=26]Chaintypesurvey.pdf[/attachment]
As for seabed type all I can say for sure is that our Manson really doesn 't like rock but then again perhaps I shouldn 't have been trying to anchor on rock! It 's pretty bomb proof in most other situations apart from thick kelp when it scoops it up by the truck load.
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By DariaBlackwell - 14 May 2012
Well it 's interesting that after the flurry of activity we still see a definite trend toward adoption of the new generation of anchors. If you add up the Rocna, Manson Supreme, Spade, and Ultra, the total outweighs (pun intended) the CQR number by more than 2:1.
Our CQR was onboard when we bought the boat and now lives ashore after several incidents in which it dragged. We have heard that people have had luck selling their used CQRs, so there may be a resale market, but I cannot say for certain.
Our Rocna has never dragged once set. It only failed to set once, in the outer anchorage in Cuttyhunk where we brought up a ton of weed.
Our Ultra has set on first try every time and has never dragged in a year of sailing around the Atlantic regardless of the bottom type.
Our Fortress tends to be a bit more difficult to set and can take several attempts. We use it for stern anchoring (bow and stern deployment) and med mooring when we have to deploy from the dinghy. But once it sets, it holds very well in soft bottoms. It 's not as effective in hard bottoms which is why we also carry a Delta for kedging and deploying from the dinghy.
We have found that our experience is paralleling the recent reports in major sailing magazines. I have previously posted a listing of references for anyone interested in seeing the independent surveys.
What is your experience with your anchors?
Happy Hooking!
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