Righting swivel for Rocna anchor

caltexflanc said:

Or go deluxe. These things work great, as they should for the price!

ULTRA Flip Swivel – Ultra Marine West / Quickline

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Yep. The only swivel I know of that is stronger than the chain. Turns the anchor perfectly every time.

I can not speak to the item in the original post. I have never seen it nor seen one in operation. However, a long-term Super MAX owner who lives aboard with his spouse (authored a book on anchoring and is active on another list-serve) sent me this a few months ago about the Mantus Swivel:
"I checked their swivels out at TrawlerFest. I like them, primarily because they are stamped for their WLL when side-loaded, sized to match the chain to which they are used with- PC, BBB, or HT, or so they claim.".
He went on to share that it was one of the strongest designs in swivels that he has seen. Although he does not use a swivel (and has never had an issue to warrant one, even after weeks of anchoring) if he were to add one, he would consider this model. I trust this person's opinion. I ordered one to check it out.

Steve Bedford
Super MAX Anchors

Delfin said:

Yep. The only swivel I know of that is stronger than the chain. Turns the anchor perfectly every time.

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For what it worth I have tried all sorts of devices and methods of ensuring a smooth reliable rotation of the anchor when it arrives at the bow and I can say that the Ultra Flip is as good as it gets in my experience.

We have a 150lb Manson Boss that was a pig for anyone to flip when it came up wrong way round especially the Admiral. Since we swallowed deeply and paid for the Ultra could not be happier.

Big advantage for us was we have little space between end of pick shank and windlass. The Ultra is compact compared to other solutions and it really works.

twistedtree said:

Some people I know just lost their anchor in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands due to a swivel failure.

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I know it happens... but without all the details, it's hard to know whether if failed because it was a swivel in the system... or because it was undersized... or corroded... or installed incorrectly... or of a design that exacerbates effects of side-loading... etc etc etc.

I can picture lots of swivels that might have failed... for all those various reasons. And then I can picture swivels that like (IMO) would not have failed... beuase all those various reasons were addressed by design or construction or installation or technique or... etc etc etc.

-Chris

I'm not a fan of swivels. Too many reports of failures and lost anchors and besides, I don't see a need for one. In our case our 90lb Delta Fast Set only comes up backwards once in a while and it's not too hard to turn it. Bigger anchors that are hard to turn can often be turned by putting a loop of line over a fluke, then tie off to the oposite side and lower a bit. Not as simple as a swivel but no strength is needed and the weakest link has been eliminated.

andrewf said:

For what it worth I have tried all sorts of devices and methods of ensuring a smooth reliable rotation of the anchor when it arrives at the bow and I can say that the Ultra Flip is as good as it gets in my experience.

We have a 150lb Manson Boss that was a pig for anyone to flip when it came up wrong way round especially the Admiral. Since we swallowed deeply and paid for the Ultra could not be happier.

Big advantage for us was we have little space between end of pick shank and windlass. The Ultra is compact compared to other solutions and it really works.

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And, if the tests are to be believed, correctly sized the swivel is stronger than the chain, so the weakest link argument doesn't really apply.

Delfin said:

And, if the tests are to be believed, correctly sized the swivel is stronger than the chain, so the weakest link argument doesn't really apply.

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This issues of being the weakest link is when the swivel is asked to handle side and lateral loads. As long as the swivel is allowed to swivel with no or minimal side/lateral loads applied, you can feel confident in the WLL of a product from a reputable company. The swivel will perform as expected. The problems typically occur when the installation allows undo side/lateral force on the swivel pin.

Steve Bedford
Super MAX Anchors

Steve Bedford said:

This issues of being the weakest link is when the swivel is asked to handle side and lateral loads. As long as the swivel is allowed to swivel with no or minimal side/lateral loads applied, you can feel confident in the WLL of a product from a reputable company. The swivel will perform as expected. The problems typically occur when the installation allows undo side/lateral force on the swivel pin.

Steve Bedford
Super MAX Anchors

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The Ultra test results were with side load calculations, and it is still stronger than the chain whether in side load or straight pull. The ball in socket approach Ultra uses (like a couple others) creates significantly less side load than other connection methods.

Another thing I like about the ultra swivel is that my anchor Manson Boss has that slot arrangement that I am not really sure about, so its design prevents the attachment point from sliding up the slot which I prefer in an area of strong tidal runs when it changes.

When you rest the chain side of the swivel on the bowroller it just smoothly allows the pick to rotate to the right side up and bingo she comes aboard.

As far as strength goes it sure appears to be a beautifully made peice of kit...priced accordingly!

andrewf said:

Another thing I like about the ultra swivel is that my anchor Manson Boss has that slot arrangement that I am not really sure about, so its design prevents the attachment point from sliding up the slot which I prefer in an area of strong tidal runs when it changes.

When you rest the chain side of the swivel on the bowroller it just smoothly allows the pick to rotate to the right side up and bingo she comes aboard.

As far as strength goes it sure appears to be a beautifully made peice of kit...priced accordingly!

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Perhaps the design of the anchor determines the likelihood of the anchor coming up bass ackwards. Beats me, but my Ultra comes up crooked most of the time, with about 25% of those instances being severe enough to require leaning over the bow with a boat hook and simultaneously swinging the anchor while raising it. By myself that is a pretty tough operation. I tried adjusting the chain and every other fiddle I could think of. The Ultra swivel solved that problem. If I remember, I'll post video of it in action and maybe someone can suggest a better alternative.

Buy the right swivel and it is stronger than the chain and rig it right and it not subject to any side loading.

They don't have to be a weak point at all and do make it easier on some vessel pulpits to retrieve a large anchor.

Reckon i'll be getting rid of this swivel and s/s shackles and putting on a single decent tested one.
New anchor needs the extra couple of hundred mm.
Rollers are grooved, so hoping that helps.

nwboater said:

Can anyone tell me where I can locate a vendor for a so-called "righting swivel"? It looks like this:

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Think maybe that "righting" shape could be designed right into the shank ?