Those that can will require that you use a rope-to-chain splice, which can be more vulnerable to chafe when not maintained/checked seasonally. Be aware that with a rope/chain rode, only certain windlasses can bring in rope and chain on the same gypsy. One to two boat lengths of chain is sufficient for most purposes, although more is always better. Avoid using polypropylene line for this reason. Polyester line is about 15% stronger and more resistant to chafe but doesn't absorb shock as well. Three-strand nylon line has the most stretch. Nylon line gets its shock-absorbing properties from stretch rather than through catenary action, and it's this property, along with its lighter weight and strength, that makes it a good rode. Unless you have a larger boat, or you're going cruising, an optimal rode is composed of a length of relatively heavy chafe-resistant chain attached to the anchor, then a lightweight, strong, stretchy line attached to the chain - the best of both worlds. It took between 10 and 20 feet of dragging for most anchors to reach 300 pounds of holding power, a bare minimum to consider for an anchor of this size.Ĭatenary comes from weight, but unfortunately, weight is often the last thing you want aboard, and too much of it in the bow can adversely affect a boat's handling.
Almost all had one trial where the anchor didn't seem to engage the bottom at all, reinforcing the need to take your time when anchoring, letting the anchor settle before backing down on it. Like real life, most anchors had one good set that far exceeded the rest.The Fortress FX-37 at the 45-degree fluke angle was the overall holding power winner with three sets holding over 1,000 pounds and two sets exceeding 2,000 pounds.Mantus and ULTRA were the only new-gen anchors that exceeded 700 pounds of tension on three of five sets."New generation" anchors performed no better than older designs.The Danforth and Fortress with their long, wide flukes outperformed the claw and plow anchors in holding power in soft mud.Few anchors exceeded 700 pounds of holding power, the American Boat and Yacht Council's calculated load in high winds for a 30-foot boat 5 of the 11 anchors only reached 700 pounds once.The anchors that set the quickest and hardest were usually the ones with the sharpest flukes.The test vessel was a position-stabilized research vessel from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Several years ago, Fortress Marine Anchors sponsored an in-water test of 11 different anchors to determine the holding power of each in a typical soft mud bottom. Which One Is Best? Results Of A Head-To-Head Anchor Test