Thanks for that great work. Came in a Knick of time as I am in the process of buying a 33kg Mantis in prep for a cruise from Europe to Australia. It seems the best twin anchor combination to have aboard includes a Fortress.
Steve, Very useful information once again, thanks, I am anchor buying this spring and hoping that Lewmar send you an Epsilon for testing before I have to make the purchase decision. Robert
Hello Steve What a great job ! I am wondering if you are planing to test the new Lewmar Epsilon as it looks a very interesting design and good value for money . Costas Corfu , Greece
After having watched many of your videos, it seems that Spade might be quite reliable anchor for general purpose (main bower) use. Nice if testing in loose sand will be included in future testing schedule. Spade and Excel seem to priced quite similarly in the USA and Canada, but does Excel have a distributor in Northern Europe?
Mikko, I am unaware of an Excel distributor in Europe. However, I believe the manufacturer (ANCHOR RIGHT AUSTRALIA) will ship direct to individuals anywhere in the world.
Are there compelling reasons you wouldn’t test a fortress that is of a similar weight as the other ⚓️anchors? And thank you for exploring the various seabed’s and updating your protocols ...looking forward to #100 .... maybe a ‘greatest hits compilation ‘...
Douglas, Fortress (and the original Danforth) anchors are marketed as having very high holding power per unit weight. For example, The Fortress Anchor Company recommends the 10 pound FX16 anchor for boats up to 38 feet, while the Spade Anchor Company recommends the 21 pound S60 anchor for boats up to 24 feet. Given that, one could argue that I should test the 10 pound Fortress against 33 or even 45 pound "normal" anchors......and indeed I sometimes do. As to the topic for #100, your guess is spot-on. The next video will be an accumulation of data from large swaths of my testing.
The fortress is made out of aluminium to reduce the required weight. It would be unfair to the steel anchor to compare a similar weight but massive humongous sized fortress, in my humble opinion.
Steve. I had a thought about the clumping/sticking of the seabed on the fluke. I tried this experiment in my prop after two season's ago season's "furry" prop. In the pre-season, every time I went to work on my boat, I sprayed Teflon on the prop. I ended up putting on about four coatings. After pulling the boat, the prop was clean. I thought of this when the Teflon spray keeps the snow from sticking to a shovel. Do you think a few coatings of Teflon would help the seabed from sticking and preventing the anchor from diving? I may give this a try and see if my Rocna comes up with less mud on it!
Can you test the fortress in the difference fluke angle? My fortress only allows it to sit in the roller in the 45 degree setting. The 32 degree setting the flukes contact my pulpit. I am worried the 45 degree setting might not be the best for sand where I usually anchor
Your worries are valid. I have tested the Fortress at the 45 degree setting in a "somewhat soft" mud seabed and the anchor failed to set. Apparently, the 45 degree setting is for extremely soft, soupy type mud. My feeling is that the 45 degree setting should be avoided at all costs unless you are certain that you will be in a soupy soft mud seabed.
Forgive me if this question is answered elsewhere - this is the first of your vids I have watched so far - but where can I put the Lbs of thrust into context compared to a boat in the wind? i.e. what would 500lbs of thrust compare to? A 40ft yacht in a certain wind strength for eg?
That is a tough question to answer, given the many unknow variables. I'll take a stab at it and guess about 25 kts (my 34footer had 300lb peak load in 20 knots of wind). See this video: ua-cam.com/video/yyelkzylBFg/v-deo.html
@@flygoodwin appreciate the quick reply, and thanks for the info. That puts it in context nicely. I have a 52ft 18ton yacht so would expect some fairly higher numbers no doubt, but at least this give my mind a benchmark to work from while watching your vids.
Nice, a new seabed! That’s almost of the same kind we’ve here in the Mediterranean, so far really interesting. Regarding Rocna it’s quite embarrassing it didn’t perform well on any seabed you’ve tested and what scares me is that it’s one of the most used anchors worldwide. That formation you’ve encountered seems more like calcium or a thin layer of concrete, shouldn’t foam float?
Roberto, In my "Soft Mud" testing the Rocna performed quite well. As I expand to other testing areas, there may be other seabed types that the Rocna does even better. For example, I have yet to conduct tests in HARD SAND. Stay tuned.......
I have had sponges that if you squeeze all the air out of them and let them absorb the water then the sponge sinks in the bath. Not exactly amazingly scientific haha, but I think certain plastics can sink once all air pockets have been squeezed or absorbed out.
In the past, I had conducted.simple setting tests on a 100lb. Fisherman (set fine) and a 45lb. Luke Copy (failed to Set). Also, I have recently conducted more thorough testing on a 60 Fisherman but the results have not yet been published. Look out for that video in the coming weeks.
@@flygoodwin many thanks. From ancient times, my youth 55 years ago, the Luke always had the reputation of being the best of the type by far . Also, being a breakdown type, a 90 to 110 lb. anchor could be kept secured in the bilge and brought on deck and assembled by a normal person. They were INCREDIBLY expensive.
I think all anchors will fail if the pull is up, not horizontal. Scope and rode WEIGHT is important. Here is a test I would like to see. Attach an all rope rode to a the base of tree and the other end to a backhoe or maybe a crane. Discover how much force it takes to "lift" a certain length of rode with a certain scope off of the ground completely so the pull is now somewhat up and not entirely horizontal. Do the same with rope and 20' of chain. Then all chain. Vary the length of rode, composition (rope/chain) and scope. I'd be very interested to learn of the results.
You can't see the length of the chain you're using anywhere🤔 1-2 m 🔗which you use will mean nothing, and the ship is anchored from the entrance to the bay towards the land. My Danfort 10 kg at 8 m⛵+ 20m🔗 or 30m 🔗🔗buried in the sand during one dive we didn't find it, 50 knots of wind blew that night, we stayed put. In the morning, many sailboats with various plows were on the rocks. The plow (Bruce, CQR...) is an anchor for 🚜🚜🚜 and agriculture.
This channel is great ... it will force all anchor manufacturers to up their game!
Thanks for that great work. Came in a Knick of time as I am in the process of buying a 33kg Mantis in prep for a cruise from Europe to Australia. It seems the best twin anchor combination to have aboard includes a Fortress.
Great videos. And a great service to the boating community.
My boat anchor choices is the Fortress for sand and kedge with the Excel for everything else.
Steve,
Very useful information once again, thanks, I am anchor buying this spring and hoping that Lewmar send you an Epsilon for testing before I have to make the purchase decision.
Robert
Robert,
This morning I messaged Lewmar (via their website message tool) with a request for an Epsilon test anchor.
@@flygoodwin Steve, great news, I hope that they have the foresight to send you a test anchor. If not I’ll be buying a Spade.
Hello Steve
What a great job !
I am wondering if you are planing to test the new Lewmar Epsilon as it looks a very interesting design and good value for money .
Costas
Corfu , Greece
Thanks kostas, I agree, the Epsilon could be a performer and at a very good price. I will test as soon as one becomes available to me.
After having watched many of your videos, it seems that Spade might be quite reliable anchor for general purpose (main bower) use. Nice if testing in loose sand will be included in future testing schedule. Spade and Excel seem to priced quite similarly in the USA and Canada, but does Excel have a distributor in Northern Europe?
Mikko, I am unaware of an Excel distributor in Europe. However, I believe the manufacturer (ANCHOR RIGHT AUSTRALIA) will ship direct to individuals anywhere in the world.
@@flygoodwin Thanks, i will contact them for a quotation with shipping :)
The seashell fouling; wonder if there’s merit in maintaining a sharp edge (like an axe) on the anchor tip?
The Spade anchor is impressive. I would like to see tests of spade type anchors like Mantis M2
@@TheAncasterHandymanHamilton As I type this, two Mantus M2 anchors (17lb. and 45 lb.) are being shipped to me by the Mantus Company.
@@flygoodwin wow, great, that will be an interesting test :-)
Are there compelling reasons you wouldn’t test a fortress that is of a similar weight as the other ⚓️anchors?
And thank you for exploring the various seabed’s and updating your protocols ...looking forward to #100 ....
maybe a ‘greatest hits compilation ‘...
Douglas, Fortress (and the original Danforth) anchors are marketed as having very high holding power per unit weight. For example, The Fortress Anchor Company recommends the 10 pound FX16 anchor for boats up to 38 feet, while the Spade Anchor Company recommends the 21 pound S60 anchor for boats up to 24 feet. Given that, one could argue that I should test the 10 pound Fortress against 33 or even 45 pound "normal" anchors......and indeed I sometimes do. As to the topic for #100, your guess is spot-on. The next video will be an accumulation of data from large swaths of my testing.
The fortress is made out of aluminium to reduce the required weight. It would be unfair to the steel anchor to compare a similar weight but massive humongous sized fortress, in my humble opinion.
Steve. I had a thought about the clumping/sticking of the seabed on the fluke. I tried this experiment in my prop after two season's ago season's "furry" prop. In the pre-season, every time I went to work on my boat, I sprayed Teflon on the prop. I ended up putting on about four coatings. After pulling the boat, the prop was clean. I thought of this when the Teflon spray keeps the snow from sticking to a shovel. Do you think a few coatings of Teflon would help the seabed from sticking and preventing the anchor from diving? I may give this a try and see if my Rocna comes up with less mud on it!
A non stick coating is certainly worth trying. I'll be giving it a test soon.
Can you test the fortress in the difference fluke angle? My fortress only allows it to sit in the roller in the 45 degree setting. The 32 degree setting the flukes contact my pulpit. I am worried the 45 degree setting might not be the best for sand where I usually anchor
Your worries are valid. I have tested the Fortress at the 45 degree setting in a "somewhat soft" mud seabed and the anchor failed to set. Apparently, the 45 degree setting is for extremely soft, soupy type mud. My feeling is that the 45 degree setting should be avoided at all costs unless you are certain that you will be in a soupy soft mud seabed.
Forgive me if this question is answered elsewhere - this is the first of your vids I have watched so far - but where can I put the Lbs of thrust into context compared to a boat in the wind? i.e. what would 500lbs of thrust compare to? A 40ft yacht in a certain wind strength for eg?
That is a tough question to answer, given the many unknow variables. I'll take a stab at it and guess about 25 kts (my 34footer had 300lb peak load in 20 knots of wind). See this video: ua-cam.com/video/yyelkzylBFg/v-deo.html
@@flygoodwin appreciate the quick reply, and thanks for the info. That puts it in context nicely. I have a 52ft 18ton yacht so would expect some fairly higher numbers no doubt, but at least this give my mind a benchmark to work from while watching your vids.
Nice, a new seabed! That’s almost of the same kind we’ve here in the Mediterranean, so far really interesting. Regarding Rocna it’s quite embarrassing it didn’t perform well on any seabed you’ve tested and what scares me is that it’s one of the most used anchors worldwide. That formation you’ve encountered seems more like calcium or a thin layer of concrete, shouldn’t foam float?
Roberto, In my "Soft Mud" testing the Rocna performed quite well. As I expand to other testing areas, there may be other seabed types that the Rocna does even better. For example, I have yet to conduct tests in HARD SAND. Stay tuned.......
The "formation" seems (to me) to be similar so "open cell" foam similar to what would be used in a cushion or sleeping pad.
I have had sponges that if you squeeze all the air out of them and let them absorb the water then the sponge sinks in the bath. Not exactly amazingly scientific haha, but I think certain plastics can sink once all air pockets have been squeezed or absorbed out.
Can you or have you ever tested a large fisherman anchor as a storm anchor, say a 90lb Luke?
In the past, I had conducted.simple setting tests on a 100lb. Fisherman (set fine) and a 45lb. Luke Copy (failed to Set). Also, I have recently conducted more thorough testing on a 60 Fisherman but the results have not yet been published. Look out for that video in the coming weeks.
@@flygoodwin many thanks. From ancient times, my youth 55 years ago, the Luke always had the reputation of being the best of the type by far . Also, being a breakdown type, a 90 to 110 lb. anchor could be kept secured in the bilge and brought on deck and assembled by a normal person. They were INCREDIBLY expensive.
I think all anchors will fail if the pull is up, not horizontal. Scope and rode WEIGHT is important. Here is a test I would like to see. Attach an all rope rode to a the base of tree and the other end to a backhoe or maybe a crane. Discover how much force it takes to "lift" a certain length of rode with a certain scope off of the ground completely so the pull is now somewhat up and not entirely horizontal. Do the same with rope and 20' of chain. Then all chain. Vary the length of rode, composition (rope/chain) and scope. I'd be very interested to learn of the results.
Would it be possible for you to get the mantus m2?
Yes. Mantus M2 anchors are being sent to me as I write this. Stay tuned....
@@flygoodwin Nice! We are eagerly waiting! 😄
Don't forget the soft mud test, we live in Sweden and it is the most common bottom condition here.
@@reinonellerup The M2 (and any other new test specimens) will get the full treatment.
Can we buy Excel in the states?
The North America distributor for the Excel is GROUND TACKLE MARINE of Victoria B.C..
@@flygoodwin, thanks!
You can't see the length of the chain you're using anywhere🤔 1-2 m 🔗which you use will mean nothing, and the ship is anchored from the entrance to the bay towards the land. My Danfort 10 kg at 8 m⛵+ 20m🔗 or 30m 🔗🔗buried in the sand during one dive we didn't find it, 50 knots of wind blew that night, we stayed put. In the morning, many sailboats with various plows were on the rocks. The plow (Bruce, CQR...) is an anchor for 🚜🚜🚜 and agriculture.