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

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:

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]

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:

Vice Commodore, OCC 

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

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

Vice Commodore, OCC 

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

Vice Commodore, OCC 

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)

Vice Commodore, OCC 

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?

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...

Bill Balme