The 'New Generation' in Anchors

by Des Ryan on 13 Jan 2008 'It's very confusing!' was the understated comment of a cruising friend who recently started to compare anchors in order to make a new purchase. If you had to choose ONE piece of equipment which was the most important for safety, the anchor would be up there without much challenge. It protects you when you are most vulnerable – close to land, and is the one which will give you a good night's sleep – or not.

The experienced cruiser, will of course carry more than one anchor, sometimes up to five, for a variety of reasons. The most common reason is in case of loss of the primary anchor, or, in severe conditions, the desire to set an additional bow anchor. Often these secondary anchors are the older style of anchor, often a previous primary anchor or an anchor from a previous boat. These other anchors will also serve as anchors for a variety of conditions according to their individual merits, eg. a Bruce, a CQR and a Danforth being good examples. A Danforth or a Fortress are also ideal as stern anchors. The Fortress is particularly good because its good holding power, ease of storage and lightness make it simple to transport and launch from a dinghy.

It needs to be said here that choosing the anchor, while important, is only one element of safe anchoring. The best anchor in the world won't keep you safe unless you lay it properly and that good night's sleep will only come when ALL the elements of good anchoring are observed.

Here we are only considering which primary bow anchor to use. On our boat, we finally voted with our dollars ( a lot of them) and purchased a Spade anchor. We've never been sorry. With that said, how did we come to the decision? And what did other cruisers say, good and bad, about their anchors? Certainly there's the 'new generation' in anchors these days, with reputations to go with them, that perform better than the traditional plough or fluke, such as CQR, Bruce or Danforth. So it's these new anchors we are comparing - five of them: the Bugel, Spade, Rocna, Supreme and Sword.

First of all, what are the criteria for a good anchor?

1.It always positions itself correctly - if it falls upside down, it automatically turns over under natural conditions
2. It turns with the wind and tide without pulling free.
3. It offers good holding power and will not pull out.
4. It will hold in rocky and hard packed areas if at all possible.

Holding power is a result of anchor form, pulling angle and surface area. It therefore follows that an anchor with more of its weight in surface area can offer greater holding power once penetrated than one which has weight in lead ballast. However this holding power is of little use if the anchor has not penetrated properly. Also an anchor with too greater surface area for a given boat size will fail to penetrate properly in the first place leaving it vulnerable to sudden shocks. It is therefore right to choose an anchor with the right surface area.


So let's compare these 'new generation' and best reputed anchors around

The Bugel

This 'new' anchor has been around for some time. German made, it is wonderfully simple design with a huge following.
It is formed of a flat metal plate, with a triangular shape. One angled end of the triangle forms the tip of the anchor. There is provided along the side of the plate opposed to the tip an arc (bugel). A linear shank is welded to the plate. The arc ensures that the anchor rotates when it impacts on the sea ground, so that the anchor lies on its side, with the tip, the rear of the plate and the end of the shank touching the sea ground. The drawback of this type of anchor is that the arc at the rear part of the fluke adds weight, at a location that will not contribute to the burying of the anchor into the sea ground. In addition, since the fluke is formed of a flat metal plate, it needs to be thick to keep its shape when used. This increases the costs of the anchor and the unnecessary weight. The Bugel does not penetrate without assistance from the pull of the boat.

For
· Simple Design – Cheap and easy to manufacture.
· Excellent Performance in a wide range of Bottoms.

Against
· Roll bar and blade shape takes weight away from the tip.
· Flat blade does not offer maximum holding power.
· Flat bottom can slide on very slippery seabeds.
· Assisted penetration only

Many cheap copies on the market that are not strong enough

Spade Anchor
This anchor is a manufactured in Tunisia. A triangular, truly convex blade, coupled with a wedge shaped ballast chamber. The chamber not only ensures that the anchor adopts the right angle for penetration, but positions a massive 50% of the anchors total weight over the tip. A hollow triangular box section is used in the removable shank, to ensure high strength without compromising weight distribution
the Spade uses weight distribution and an angled ballast chamber to ensure the optimum angle for penetration even before any force is applied. This not only maximises chance of penetration but means the anchor does not have a chance to gather weed before it penetrates. The Spade will normally penetrate within its own length. The reason why some of the Spade’s have not been replicated by other manufacturers is that they are still protected under patent.

Holding Power isn’t any good if the anchor can’t penetrate.

Spade anchor guidelines have proved extremely accurate. Please do not be misled by anchor tests that show that ballast-free anchors have greater holding power than the Spade as they also have poorer penetrating ability in difficult seabeds and the Spade’s surface area is always enough for the boat for which it is recommended.


For
· Best Penetrating ability in a wide range of seabeds.
· Passive penetration
· 'Ears' to prevent edge penetration
· Very high holding power.
· Extremely strong.
· Fits most conventional bow rollers.
· Dismantleable for easy stowage
· Proven to be the best all round anchor on the market.
Against
· Expensive to manufacture, therefore high retail price.
· Smaller surface area for a given weight than some other new generation anchors due to ballast chamber.

The Rocna
A New Zealand anchor, the Rocna at first glance seems to be a strange combination of a Delta shank, Bugel roll bar and a Sarca reversed blade. This is however a clever combination, ensuring that not only does the anchor adopt the right angle for penetration, but the chined concave blade give Spade like holding power.

For
· Concave shaped Blade
· Reasonable surface area
· Standard Shank Profile
· Ears to prevent edge penetration
· Well made

Against
· Roll bar gives poorer weight distribution
· Assisted penetration only

The Manson Supreme
Another New Zealand anchor, that makes no secret of its Spade-like properties. Very similar to the ROCNA but with the superficial inclusion of a slot for tripping the anchor in rock. The advantages of this are questionable as it could be argued that it weakens the shank. This is very similar to the ROCNA although some tests have shown it not to perform as well.

For
· Concave shaped Blade
· Reasonable surface area
· Standard Shank Profile
· Ears to prevent edge penetration
· Slot for tripping anchor
· Sharpened tip

Against
· Roll bar gives poorer weight distribution
· Assisted penetration only

The SWORD