Discard everything with a poor rating on something (other than cobblestone which I just flat ignore for my purposes), and you are left with just 5 to consider, ranked by the average of soft and sandy mud
Viking - 4.9
Vulcan - 4.5
M1 - 4.5
Excel - 3.9
Ultra - 3.8
So from that short list one can look at fit, build quality, price, etc. That will throw out the Viking and M1 on build. Leaving Vulcan, Excel, and Ultra to look at fit and price.
Until the next batch of tests which scramble the ratings yet again.
I think it's a reasonable way to proceed with analysis... for a given situation.
Given almost all anchors seem to be OK in almost everything BUT soft mud -- slime, ooze, soup -- I've even begun to ignore almost all that other stuff too... focusing only on soft much info, at least for the first level.
And then I've been binging on Steve's video tests... including a re-watch of the Vulcan test. Looks to me like the rode needs to be at least horizontal with the shank, to get the fluke point started. His test boat has preety locw freeboard, at least compared to ours. I think our bow is probably 6' or maybe 7' off the water... and I'd think that would make it more difficult for us to get the rode to pull right at Steve's typical 3.5:1 scope. Not a huge problem maybe; more scope while setting isn't necessarily horrible...
Then some subjectivity creeps in. I'm not attracted to roll bar anchors. Except for SuperMAX and Fortress, I'm not attracted to anchors that have separable and/or moving parts. IOW, I always though the Delta was a pretty good idea, except it ain't great in soupy mud. (Worked fine when we lived in Florida, works OK here in the Chesapeake sometimes... except when it doesn't...)
But then anyway, my third level analysis begins to focus on which actual anchor is recommended (40/88 Vulcan or 36/79 Excel #7, for example -- to replace our existing 25/55 Delta) and how those might fit on our existing roller.
Of course everyone measures differently, so from vendor pictures and numbers it's like comparing apples to pears to diesels to thermometers...
But it looks like the 40/88 Vulcan wouldn't really ride all that nicely on our existing roller. The Excel #7 looks like its very similar in shape and some of the Delta dimensions, at least from roller pocket to shank connection. Primarily longer and heavier, possibly in dimensions that run the other direction from our windlass. I can't yet perfectly visualize how it can be 7" longer
all ahead of the bow roller, and being almost 25 lbs heavier is equally difficult for me to see.
Still, if it turns out the SuperMAX won't fit, maybe an Excel can be OK.
Oh. A stainless Excel for our size is even more $$$$ than a stainless Ultra. I wasn't all that attracted to stainless anyway, but did do some analysis with an Ultra in the picture. Then compared prices. Woof!
And for folks elsewhere, when I say soft mud aka slime, ooze, soup, I mead mud you can SWIM through. Mud where you can go waist deep and haven't found a "bottom" yet.
-Chris