T&T: Anchor Size Recommendations

[Richard Tomkinson]

> Of course the vendors had an ulterior motive with the small 
> recommendations.
> They were trying to show that their smaller anchors were good for a bigger
> boat, and therefore not lose the sale to a competitor!

Not only does the Fortress site properly bring all anchor effects to a 
common value = force, it does this for several wind speeds from 15 to 60 
knots, and further presents a table of backing down force typical of boats 
of three categories and several lengths. Then when selecting an anchor, one 
can use the 'force' factor to choose.

The other info presented in the site, answers many of the questions debated 
here in the current thread and in the one about a month ago.

http://www.fortressanchors.com/safe_anchoring.html

What I have found most interesting is the many (majority) of posters with 
Rocna anchors have suggested that a good bit of the bottom comes up with the 
anchor, to the point that a wash down system is needed. This characteristic 
seems so general that it should be factored into the cost of an anchor 
system. It is not necessary with a Fortress in my experience, partly because 
so little chain is required.

Also, it seems that the Rocna recommendations are for substantially heavier 
(X2+?) anchors than the Fortress. For any one with a back problem or risk of 
lifting awkward objects on deck.
Consider the difference in lift recovering an anchor from  50 feet and 7:1 
scope.
A Rocna would have a 50 lb anchor plus 50 feet of chain (say 50 lbs) plus a 
load of mud vs 25lb plus 20 lbs of chain with a Fortress. Reasonable to 
manually lift in the case of a winch failure.
IMHO the rush to Rocna needs careful thought of factors beyond set, reset, 
and size.
Richard