ST44 chain length

Hi all, we are thinking about replacing the 150’ of anchor chain on our ST44 with 250’ so we can anchor in deeper spots. Has anyone done this? Does it change the performance, speed, attitude on plane, etc of the boat?
Thanks!

saraml said:

Hi all, we are thinking about replacing the 150’ of anchor chain on our ST44 with 250’ so we can anchor in deeper spots. Has anyone done this? Does it change the performance, speed, attitude on plane, etc of the boat?
Thanks!

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What are the depths you will be anchoring in?

What anchor will you have? (I recommend going two sizes up from recommended size if you anchor overnight). Mantus anchors are great.

If anything it will level out the boat better since Beneteau put the water tanks and cockpit storage so far back but if you run empty water and don't store anything then you got to try the weight up front.

You can only answer that with your own setup and balance. Grab a barrel or two and fill it with water to add the weight to see if it affects you.

How deep do you want to anchor? With 150' you are limited to 30', give or take. 250' Would get you up to 50' depth. That's much better, but still pretty limiting from what I've seen. Maybe others with ~45' boats in the PNW can comment?

twistedtree said:

How deep do you want to anchor? With 150' you are limited to 30', give or take. 250' Would get you up to 50' depth. That's much better, but still pretty limiting from what I've seen. Maybe others with ~45' boats in the PNW can comment?

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A lot of variables. Height from pulpit to water line on the ST44 is 6' IIRC

Then if all chain you can usually get away with a lessor scope than if line, especially if you have a huge anchor

Are you anchoring overnight? Just during day when you are at boat and can keep watch? In calm conditions? Or storms?

Scope could be anywhere from 3 to 5 to 7.

250' is not enough for 50' depth if you are doing 5 scope. You would need 280 feet I think? 50 + 6 = 56 * 5 = 280 plus some extra to get from pulpit to windlass to anchor locker where the end gets tied, thats another 10', so you'd need 290 on the ST44 for a 5 scope and 50 feet of water.

boater3 said:

A lot of variables. Height from pulpit to water line on the ST44 is 6' IIRC

Then if all chain you can usually get away with a lessor scope than if line, especially if you have a huge anchor

Are you anchoring overnight? Just during day when you are at boat and can keep watch? In calm conditions? Or storms?

Scope could be anywhere from 3 to 5 to 7.

250' is not enough for 50' depth if you are doing 5 scope. You would need 280 feet I think? 50 + 6 = 56 * 5 = 280 plus some extra to get from pulpit to windlass to anchor locker where the end gets tied, thats another 10', so you'd need 290 on the ST44 for a 5 scope and 50 feet of water.

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Those from the East Coast often anchor in 10' water. There, anchoring with 5 x depth is not excessive.

Here in SW BC, and in PNW, where our tidal range is above that 10', it is exceptionally rare to anchor in water as shallow as 10' at low tide. Here though, anchoring with more than 3 x depth at high water is rare. In my experience, scope of more than 3x high water depth occurs only when the wind is forecast to pick up and there is swinging room. With good planning, that combination doesn't occur often.
For most conditions, 250' of chain is rarely all going to be out. If you back it up with 200' of rope, you will have more than most.

Extending your existing 150' with an additional 200' of rope is a viable option. That largely avoids the weight penalty.