Thread: Too much anchor
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Old 02-23-2012, 10:34 AM   #74
Marin
Scraping Paint
 
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
Too much anchor

Quote:
Rex wrote:

You state you have read much about the downside of slotted shanks from comments in forums, I wont argue with you there, but you should research just who and where those comments came from...
The comments came from individuals in a wide variety of locations, mostly in the US, on a variety of forums.* I have also read about the downside of a slot in reviews of slotted anchors, plus the fellow I met locally.* As I recall the comments were all directed at the Manson since that was at the time the only slotted anchor available in the US.

Every manufacturer says their product is the best in the world and will promote and defend to the hilt whatever features and attributes their product has.* My own company does this only with jetliners instead of anchors.

I have long since learned to take manufacturers' claims with a grain of salt.* A really big grain of salt.* Prior to my life in aerospace I had another life in commercial advertising.* So I know firsthand how to spin a product deficiency into a positive attribute because I used to do it.

Which is why I give almost zero credibility to any claims made by a manufacturer.* They provide great spec information and details about how their product works.* But for a true picture of a product's worth I look to owner or operator reviews.

While there are certainly people like Peter who declare they have never had a problem with a slotted anchor I have seen too many comments from people who have described an unset problem with a slotted anchor to want any part of one.* Not the anchor part of the anchor, the slot part of the anchor.

Obviously, you don't have to use the slot and Manson has provided a means to bypass it.* But the tall shank a slotted anchor requires can present stowage problems on some boats or require the fabrication of a new, taller anchor bail on the pulpit.

When you add in the fact there are other anchor designs that, by user testimonials, are just as effective as a SARCA in terms of setting and holding but don't have the over-tall shank to accomodate a slot, there is no reason to buy an anchor with what I think is a less-than-desirable feature.

I also don't believe a convex fluke is as resistant to pull as a concave fluke.* If it was, we'd all be using the backsides of our shovels :-)* But that's another topic altogether.

From testimonials I have read about the SARCA with regards to its setting and holding, you've got a very good anchor.* Offer a version without that potentially troublesome slot and a less-tall shank and you might have a great anchor.

But were we in the market for an anchor today, the SARCA would not be on our short list of candidates even though I could get one in here if I wanted to.


-- Edited by Marin on Thursday 23rd of February 2012 12:36:16 PM
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