Submitted by keith.barton on
Original forum:
- Member Discussions:General Discussion
Anchors
Hi all, having just bought ‘Star’ and looked at the Fortress FX7 anchor supplied with the boat was amazed that it only weighs 1.8kg. I know the chain does most of the work. My question is: would we be better with a 4kg Rocna Vulcan which sets first time nearly every time and, according to test results holds really well. I would be considering the 4kg due to the potential difficulty of getting up back up! I think the recommended size for the length of a Mac is 9kg, but would I ever get it back without a windlass?
14 Comments
Hi Keith
Submitted by john.pompei on
Hi Keith
I think I have the same anchor as you it’s made of Aluminium.
I have not used mine so also would be interested to hear from anyone who has.
The review of this version of the Fortress are good.
Regards
John
ASHANTI 2008M
Submitted by dave.newton on
I have a 7kg Manson Supreme rigged to deploy from the cockpit. Never had any trouble getting it back (so far).
I also have the original 1.9kg Fortress as a kedge. I've only ever used that as a beach hook having dropped the Manson and rigged as a running mooring. The Rocna and Manson style anchors do work very well.
The recommended anchor sizes are often a bit on the cautious side. Depends a lot if you intend to anchor during a storm or just for a few hours over lunch. You can get holding force figures from anchor suppliers but they will include a significant weight of chain. As a guide here are the loading figures for a Mac based on various scope lengths and wind speeds:
Dave.
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner
Hi Keith
Submitted by rick.jones on
Hi Keith
Could you add the details of your new boat to your account please? Click on My Account on the right, and see the instructions on this page in the user guide. There's also information on the Edit Boat page that the instructions take you to.
Thanks
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
If we are in relatively
Submitted by mike.clarke on
If we are in relatively shallow water and not staying overnight we use a trip line on our anchor which makes breaking it out easy even in heavy thick mud. I just rig a lightish line to a bouy (fender) with about 1.5 x the depth of water. It works great with our fortress anchor (FX11 I think as it just fits the deck locker) and about 6 -8 meters of relatively heavy 8mm chain. If overnight I would make sure that the trip line cant snag anything including the anchor line when the tide changes. I like the fortress anchor and short chain rig as it stores easily in the bow locker of our 26M without adding a load of weight at the bow and is easy to handle. I also have a one size down Fortress (FX7)as a kedge without a chain as it can be thrown quite a long way (or rowed out with a tender) to pull us off if lightly grounded (should the need arise).
If you have a good sized motor it's usually quite easy to take up the slack then motor over the anchor and break it free - make life a lot easier especially if single handed.
Hope this helps.
Mike C -Tarka 26M
Hi Dave,
Submitted by john.pompei on
Hi Dave,
As I mostly sail singlehanded can you advise how you have arranged your anchor from the cockpit system.
Thanks
John
ASHANTI2008M
Very brave asking about
Submitted by chris.harnan on
Very brave asking about anchors as always a controversial subject!
I had a 10t steel gaffer which I sailed for 6 years in the Med. I used to use a CQR but was 'sold' a Rocna based on all the tests.
In reality, the Rocna was no better than the CQR, possibly worse. I used both on 50m 8mm chain.
On entering a harbour in Greece it suddenly blew up at about 40 knots and the stone wall jetty was completely beam onto the wind. I only had a 14 hp diesel inboard and was not going to risk stopping the boat at the jetty. I also had a Fortress which I used to anchor from the stern with classic Med moors against a jetty. I stood off about 30m and put out the Fortress over the side (it had 8m of 8 mm chain and then a rope rode). The Fortress held us off and I drifted slowly into the jetty, beam on.
Next day, with no wind, I tried to pull the Fortress in and it would not move. Out of interest, I rigged a snatchblock and tried to pull it out using the windlass. It would not move which was amazing.
Conclusion is that the Fortress holds as well as much heavier anchors. The downside is that in very strong wind and changing tide, the stocks can bend. I do not think this is a problem with a Mac as they are not heavy enough to inflict such punishment.
In conclusion, for a Mac, I think the Fortress is just perfect. Rig it with about 10m of 8mm chain to avoid chafe on rocks and give it some weight.
As for the question of rigging for single handing, just rig the anchor through the bow roller in normal fashion and then bring the chain and anchor back to the cockpit ready to release. The same goes for picking up a buoy. Bring a line from the bow and put this through the eye of the buoy from the cockpit as the deck is much lower there than at the bow.
Regards
Chris Harnan
Thanks to all who have
Submitted by keith.barton on
Thanks to all who have responded. As usual great info from all of you and with the info from Chris added you’ve all convinced me to spend our money on other equipment as I believe Star has been a bit neglected over the last few years.
thanks
Ann & Keith
Star
I also have the stock anchor.
Submitted by david.claassen on
I also have the stock anchor. It has drug a couple of times in mud, so I need to do something. I am a big fan of using an anchor ball, though. It breaks the anchor loose and makes raising anchor very simple and easy.
David Claassen
"Logan's Run"
2006 26M
I have a painter attached at
Submitted by dave.newton on
I have a painter attached at the bow and run outside the guard rails. It's tied to each stanchion with a piece of (biodegradable) wool. This stays in place all the time. In the cockpit, under the helm seat, I have a crate with the rode, chain and anchor flaked in. This gets removed and stowed when ashore. On the end of the rode is a pickup buoy incase I want to use the anchor as a marker (or so I don't lose my anchor if I forget to attach the painter).
To deploy I just drop the anchor and chain over the side and the wool snaps leaving the ground tackle rigged as normal from the bow. I have 50m of nylon rode and 8m of chain plus about 8m of painter. This lets me have 6:1 scope in up to 10m of water (66m : 10m water +1m freeboard). The thicker short painter takes any chafe and is easily replaced when it suffers UV damage. Make the painter just too short to reach your prop but remember to bring the end in under the rail before making fast to the rode. The pick up buoy also acts as a snubber and reduces a little of the anchor snatch as it is repeatedly pulled under with each wave.
The main advantage is the ability to anchor in just a few seconds if things start to go wrong.
You also have a backup bow spring that you can grab from mids or stern when coming alongside (one side only).
Any suggested improvements gratefully received.
Dave.
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner
Hi Chris
Submitted by john.pompei on
Hi Chris
Thanks for your advice re deploying from the cockpit, what concerns me is the length of chain from the bow roller back to the cockpit.
Has anyone tried covering the chain with say heat shrink plastic tube to make less likely to scuff the top sides? I guess the plastic would have to be quite flexible to allow it to be easily stowed in the anchor well, although if it were kept permanently rigged to the cockpit this wouldn’t be an issue.
Would having the chain enclosed in plastic affect its holding ability?
I have found a website offering heat shrink tube at quite low prices so I may buy some and experiment.
Regards
John
ASHANTI 2008M
Hi,
Submitted by mike.clarke on
Hi,
I would not advise using shrink sleeve on chain - it makes the chain into a stiff rod because the links can't move. Shrink sleeve once shrunk is much stiffer than the original unshrunk version and is not intended to be very flexible. When I tried placing chain inside a normal plastic tube for a bike lock it just held the water in place so even the galvanised chain started to corrode within a short time (guess it would be OK with stainless chain but that's expensive). If the chain can't move freely it might also start to have a small negative effect on the holding power as the links are always held together so do not move with the rise and fall of the boat in the same way.
Mike C - Tarka 26M
John,
Submitted by dave.newton on
John,
I wouldn't use all chain on an anchor for a Mac. It's too light a boat to warrant such a heavy duty ground tackle.
50m of 8mm chain would weigh 72kg !!!
I have a 14mm Polyester rope as the painter from the bow to cockpit.
As a guide a length of chain around 1x to 2x the LOA of the boat should be sufficient. The function of the chain is simply to provide enough weight to keep the load on the anchor near to horizontal. As a Mac is light for her size I opted for 8m of 8mm chain.
When weighing anchor I flake it straight back into the crate so the chain never gets to touch any GRP.
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner
Hi Dave
Submitted by john.pompei on
Hi Dave
i have just seen your post which makes perfect sense
I have been thinking about how to use the space under the seat and this seems ideal - I have the winter to sort out a box and rig it up
I also like the idea of having the anchor at hand as a safety feature when singlehanding
Thanks
John
ASHANTI 200&M
Submitted by dave.newton on
A few more random thoughts:
Just make sure you deploy it through the same stanchion gap the painter comes in or you would end up anchored beam to!
Also a short length of line tied to any pick up buoy as a loop makes it much easier to get with a boat hook.
If you chain splice the rode to the chain it will be more durable and easier to pull over a roller than a thimble, shackle or eye splice.
A screwgate carabineer allows a quick but secure attachment for the rode to the painter.
With the pickup buoy you can recover the anchor without needing to go forward.
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner