I have anew Delta thanks to Hopkins Carter and Parks.
Compared to my CQR, so far, there is no comparison, the Delta sets like my CQR only dreamed of.
I can't really see how a Ronca or other anchor that cost three times more can be that much better.
Richard, you summed it up well. The answer is no - it is not 3 times better, no where near. In fact the Delta is, in my view, about the best of the rest, with some of the newer types better in some situations only. The secret was the doing away with that wretched hinged shank. It was one of those things that just 'seemed like a good idea at the time', to counter tidal shifts. It wasn't - period. The hinged shank is what allows it to bounce along firm or weedy bottoms and fail to set unless great skill and patience is exercised.
Once set, the plow shaped fluke is good. It digs in deep and the sharp point deals well with weed, just as long as the thing digs deep enough to reach the firm substrate before it fills with weed and gets blocked. That's where the speed of set becomes more crucial. The longer it has to be dragged along the bottom to get it to dig in the more time to gouge out large amounts of weed etc. Hence the points mentioned re the relative performances of several different types by our first time poster above, (and yes, Colwyn, welcome to the forum - some good info there).
The advantage the newer type have is in having that quicker more reliable first set, and deeper dig and holding power at the extremes in most bottoms.
The Sarca Excel, Moonstruck referred to is quite similar to the Delta in many ways - subtly different is others, but in many bottoms, probably performs about the same. It shares the concept of the convex, as opposed to concave, fluke shape, thereby less likely to fill with gouged material, be it mud or weed, and it sets quickly.
Hopcar said....Seventy posts and we're no closer to knowing The Worlds Best Anchor than when we started.
I beg to respectfully differ...
In the opinion of many, (myself included),it (the Sarca Excel), is thought to currently be the worlds best anchor…there….I've said it…time alone will tell. Hey, sometime someone has to stick their neck out...