Twisted,
Those numbers are'nt even "minimum". Ther'e just numbers some manufacturer pulled out of his head as far as I know. The numbers may be of help for people that know absolutely nothing about anchoring boats. Many do make an attempt to qualify their numbers by more hypothetical numbers about displacement and wind speed. One would think if an anchor had double the performance of another anchor they could/should/would recommend a size half as large as the "other" anchor but I've seen no evidence of that. I anchored in a 50 knot gale once w a 13lb high performance anchor where a 30 to 40 lb anchor would usually be recommended. I've been trying/doing anchoring w high performance anchors so I could keep anchoring by hand and avoid the cost and weight penalty of winches and big anchors. I've earned a lot but am still not sure what is really necessary. I see here in LaConner lots and lots of boats w pitifully small anchors and I'm quite sure they only have them because somebody told them anchors were a safety item or ... "it came w the boat". A lot of boaters use anchors about as much as their fire extinguishers ... and have them in the same category.
As far as my own anchoring I may have been marginal in Alaska but here in Washington I feel quite well equiped.
The sharp edges on the Fortress are noth'in compared to the saw teeth on the sides of the flukes on an XYZ. See a pic on post #64 on the thread "Bye Bye XYZ". In a survival situation I could use my anchor for a saw.
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