What Anchors Do The Experts Use?

 

This article looks at five experienced sailors from the yachting media. The type of anchors they use, and why. 

You might be surprised to learn that older style anchors are still a popular choice. 

Tom Cunliffe and his Bruce anchor. 

In a recent video Anchoring with Total Security Tom Cunliffe shares his anchoring technique and know-how. Tom reveals he uses an original 30kg Bruce as his main anchor and 75 metres of 10mm chain.

His rationale? 

"Well, where I'm doing most of my cruising at the moment,  it's usually a mud bottom.  I don't think there's anything like a Bruce for getting a claw full of mud and hanging on. I'm absolutely delighted with it. I've never known it drag and I've had this anchor for about 11 years on this boat and it's not dragged yet so I'm quite happy with it."

A Bruce copy

Tom's not averse to modern anchors. 

'Depending on where you're going, many ocean cruisers prefer Rocners or ploughs, and these have the ability to pierce into the bottom. They're probably better in sand than the Bruce, but do a bit of homework for where you are, and where you're anchoring, and find out what's best for you and settle for that.'

Ken Endean and Vye Cox, the Delta anchor.

Ken Endean mentions owning a Delta anchor in his book, 'Channel Havens', printed in 2003. 

We have been using the Delta for the last two seasons and it has been very effective in most types of seabed. When the Delta is buried it resists becoming fouled under a reversal of load, because it will usually turn while remaining buried. 

Fast forward to 2021 and a recent article in Yachting Monthly, ‘Storm tactics at anchor: Surviving gales in Scilly’ and Ken recounts his experience on Scilly during storm Everett.

We learn that Ken still favours the Delta anchor and now has two, a bower and a kedge.

Ken writes of his recent experience, anchoring in Green Bay on Bryher during the storm.

'The depth at HW would be 3.5m and we initially laid one Delta anchor on 20m of chain, but the wind backing to SSE threatened to push us over a patch of rubble, so we laid our second Delta out to port as a temporary wing anchor, on only 16m of warp with a 7½kg chum weight but no chain".

'The wind direction changed only gradually, and we actually lay to this second anchor while the strength increased to Force 8.'

Much is written about the need for lots of chain on the bottom but I reckon it is even more important to ensure that the anchor has connected properly to the seabed'.

Ken also shares his thoughts on the overall design.

If it were redesigned with a tidier junction between shank and fluke, so that it was less likely to catch its own chain, it would be even better. 

Vye Cox gives us his honest appraisal of the Delta.

'My Delta once dragged badly in soft mud, admittedly in extreme gusting winds. Yachting Monthly’s 2006 anchor test is widely held to be one of the most realistic. It placed new-generation anchors firmly at the top for holding, Delta in the middle, CQR and Bruce firmly at the bottom.'

So why are the latter two so popular? Vye suggests that:

Almost all tests compare 25lb (11kg) anchors, whereas world-girdling yachts carry CQRs of 55lb (25kg) or more. Anchors whose tip loading is not maximised need lots of weight to set. The CQR’s tip loading is 12-16% of total weight. Deltas (and presumably the very similar Kobra II) have good tip loading, about 28%, helping them to set easily but ultimately dragging at high loads

New generation anchors 

Steve Hollaway from Sailing Fair Isle uses an Ultra Anchor on his Hans Christian 48t

'The Ultra anchor remains completely reliable, anchoring every night with no problems. We have had one instance of dragging which was completely my fault, missing the spot that I wanted to anchor on and ending up on a steep underwater slope. The anchor came free when the wind picked up. I was waiting for it to happen, so no problem'.

'Resetting has been the most impressive thing, always staying down deep in the sea bed and it has reset in every sea bed'.

In a Yachting Monthly anchor test, Theo Stocker noted that…

While our normal 10kg Bruce anchor can struggle in soft sand and weed, the Ultra anchor buried itself almost completely and refused to drag. On bare rock, the anchor slid across a flat piece of rock until the tip met a crevice and brought the boat up sharply.

As the tide changed, the anchor stayed lodged where it was and held the boat, even under astern power.

Long time world cruiser, Jamie Furlong from followtheboat.com suggests in his YouTube video 'How to Anchor A Sailboat-Tips and Advice that:

'The anchor is possibly the single most important piece of equipment on your boat. It is going to give you peace of mind. It is worth spending the money on'.

New generation anchors can set quicker and they hold better.

I know,  because we started with a plough, a CQR, for 2 years, it dragged a few times and it takes a long time to set. And didn't really give us 100% confidence. The day we put the Rocner on, our lives changed".

Final thoughts. 

 Choose the anchor that suits your cruising needs 

Ignore the hype and choose an anchor that suits your cruising ground and your budget. There's simply no point buying an expensive new generation anchor if you're mainly cruising in the river, on mud.

That said, if you do have the budget, always buy the best you can, as writer and sailor Libby Purves writes." Never try to save money on anchor or chain".