A Guide to distinct Styles of Anchors

A Brief overview of the Types of Anchors Available

Many have likened one's option of anchor to a religious denomination: there's dinky rational behind their option of anchor but they'll hold their decision with all things they have. Production things more complicated, a amount of new religions, ahem, anchors, have hit the shop in recent years. Each, of course, claims to be the best.

Fluke

In reality, its difficult to pinpoint one singular best anchor. Most styles of anchors have their own strengths and weaknesses according to your boat size, anchoring conditions, budget, and so on. We'll try to give a brief low-down on the most popular anchors here.

Bruce/Claw Style

The Bruce/Claw style anchor was industrialized in the 70's by the Bruce Anchor Group as an alternative to what was, at the time, the only general puporse anchor available, the Cqr/Plow style anchor. Since then, the Bruce Anchor Group has stopped offering anchors to the general public.

The main selling point of the Claw is that it is an exquisite all round anchor. It will hold well in most bottoms, although it performs less well in sand and mud. It is also easy to set and to retrieve and has a credit for not breaking out while wind/tide changes. On the downside, its awkward one piece found can make it difficult to stow. It also has a low retention power to weight ratio, meaning you'll likely wish a heavier Claw anchor than you would wish for other styles of anchor.

Cqr/Plow/Delta/Wing

Of the most popular styles of anchors offered today, the Cqr/Plow is legitimately the oldest, dating back to 1933. It competes with the Claw and Fluke styles of anchor as being the most popular anchor amongst recreational boaters.

Like the Claw, Plow anchors are known for performing well in most bottoms, although it does not excel in any one bottom. The hinged shank means the anchor turns with wind/tide changes rather than breaking out.

The most needful drawback is the old mantra of boaters "Any Plow under 25 lbs is useless". Because of this, for smaller boats under 30' or so, you'll need a much larger plow than you will for other styles of anchors.

The Delta/Wing anchor is essentially a one-piece plow anchor. It has the benefit of having slightly higher retention force because of the one piece found but at the same time, it also loses some of its potential to resist breaking out while wind/tide changes.

Danforth/Fluke

Every boat I have ever purchased pre-owned has come with a Danforth/Fluke anchor. My only conclusion for why this is, is because they are the most affordable anchor around today, although this affordability is coming into demand as more anchor patents expire.

The Fluke anchor performs quite well in mud and sand. When set correctly, the flukes can drill the lowest with a lot of force, resulting in exquisite retention power. The downside is that covering of mud and sand, the Fluke has very dinky retention potential in bottoms such as kelp, rock, coral, etc.. When being set in mud or sand, these anchors do have a credit for occasionally dragging along the bottom.

For day boaters or to use as a secondary anchor, the Fluke anchor is a favorable choice. For whatever boating overnight where an unset anchor has more dire consequences, another option of anchor style should be considered.

Mushroom/Grapnel and Other Small Craft Anchors

There are a amount of anchors on the shop today designed for small craft such as dinghies, canoes, kayaks, and so forth. These anchors are usually small and covenant to allow for easy stowage and have no sharp points to avoid puncturing an inflatable. The two most popular styles of these anchors are the Mushroom and Folding grapnel type anchors.

Most of these types of anchors achieve well for what they are designed to do. The folding grapnel anchor has the benefit of being very covenant when folded and it can also have weighty retention power when it hooks into something. That's also one of its biggest flaws: once it is hooked it can be a challenge to retrieve the anchor.

The New Generation

There's been a relative surge of new anchors hitting the shop in recent years. Some of the most tasteless of these anchors are the French Spade, the New Zealand Rocna, and the Bulwagga. These anchors are designed to set fast and generate high retention power. Some of them, such as the Rocna, have a roll bar at the back which is supposed to ensure the anchor does not land on its back when trying to set it.

Many of these anchors have performed very well in third party tests. The biggest downside to these anchors is they can be very expensive (up to 10x the cost of other anchors: you're paying for their R&D costs) and they have dinky reputation, good or bad.

A Guide to distinct Styles of Anchors

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