Practical Sailor are in and
despite the conclusions reached by their testers and editorial staff,
the actual
winners are the Super Max Pivoting Arm anchor and the XYZ anchor!
Here is why. The test was ended for each anchor when 500 pounds
holding was
reached. That basically means that this series of tests is a non-test.
As was seen,
most of the anchors tested could reach 500 pounds. They had a 4,000
pound test
rated winch pulling the anchor rodes. Why they limited their tests to
only 500 pounds
leads one to believe they were trying to make the mediocre anchors
appear better
than they actually are.
Next, the testers found that the lightest weight anchors set and then
held the
same or close to the same load as the set. The heaviest anchors in the
tests
were the Super Max anchors. They set immediately according to the
testers
and went to the designated 500 pounds, then the load fell off to 400-425
pounds.
The testers assumed that the laws of physics do not apply to anchors
when they
judge holding power. The lightweight anchors have virtually no momentum.
The
heavy weight anchors have momentum. When the pull is stopped, the
anchor's
weight will carry the anchor forward at least one or two inches which
serves to
relieve the tension on the anchor rode, thus decreasing the load on the
anchor
rode. This whole test scenario benefited the lightweights while
penalizing the
heavyweights unfairly. If the tester's anchor winch had been engaged
again to
increase the pulling pressure, obviously the anchor would have gone back
first
to the 500 pounds it previously had held and then gone on to greater
attained
pressures. Making conclusions based on false information no matter how
gained
leads the consumer to buy inferior products which could ultimately cause
deaths
or injuries and loss of property.
Among the lightweight anchors that were tested, we concur that the
XYZ was the
best or
as PBR/PS said, their "top pick". The Super Max anchors were discounted
for being the heaviest and
the most
costly. The tests were supposed to be for boats
from 32 to 35 feet in
length. These
boats would normally weigh in at 20 to 25,000
pounds. Our model 16's are
for that
displacement, and the reason for that is that
these are anchors that
will hold boats
of that weight in hurricane winds by themselves!
They are storm anchors!
The flukes
have more square inches of holding power than
any of the other anchors
tested.
Ultimately, that is the basis for how much an anchor
can hold. The
greater the area
of steel set against the bottom strata, the greater the
holding power.
Witness the Max 17's that held a Slocum 43 weighing in at 38,000
pounds in
Hurricane Opal by itself with winds clocked at 147 knots, and the 17
that held a
Kadey Krogen 42 in Hurricane Ivan with winds clocked at 146 knots by
itself. The
loads on these anchors were from 9,000 pounds up to 15,000 pounds! Or
the smaller
15HD that held four boats by itself in Galveston Bay in winds up to or
exceeding 60 knots!
The cost of the Super Max anchors was another reason to downgrade
them according
to PBR/PS testers and editors. It costs a lot of money to produce a
