Mike: Thank you! 
John - the owner of the poor little Nonsuch 26 #046 adorned with a lowly CQR anchor at Bath, ON.
Mark, if you watch SV Panope’s videos you will see that he had that problem with Rocna but not with Mantus with its wider roll bar. In one of his Rocna sessions it set immediately on the first try but after breaking it out it repeatedly failed because of mud plugged in the roll bar.
Hi John (and all other readers/participants of this thread),
Several seasons ago I upgraded from the original 25lb CQR to a Rocna Vulcan 15kg (33lbs) - the Vulcan doesn’t have the roll-bar, but has an added weight on the underside of the plow to make sure it hits bottom in the proper orientation to dig in.
After doing my research I decided on the Rocna and they had recently brought the non-roll-bar model to market. It had excellent reviews in many of the sailing journals.
My bowsprit has a similar ‘U’ to yours, though my anchor rollers are adjustable in height - for ‘storage mode’ I raised the port-side roller to the upper position which allows for the Rocna Vulcan to be snugged up to the underside of the bowsprit ‘U’ and secured to the Sampson post.
I am very happy with the Rocna Vulcan - it digs in quickly, bites hard, and stays put. We have anchored in some heavy winds overnight several times (gusts around 35kts) and have had no issues. Only once or twice did it not set on the first attempt (once in a harbor that had a seashell bottom, and the other time was in an area I had anchored several times previously) which I contribute to my being impatient, and not the anchor’s fault.
I only have 30’ of 5/16" G4 HT chain (the minimum recommended and may increase to 60’…) and 220’ of 8 plait 5/8" line - this has worked very well for us to date.
If you zoom in on the photo, you should be able to see the Rocna Vulcan in place, though it is usually snugged up a bit more to keep it from clunking against the underside of the bowsprit
Peter Grabow
S/V CAKE WALK III
1987 30U 430
Jersey City, NJ
Here’s a picture of how the anchor is set up on our 26. The chain runs from the windlass to a pad eye snap, then over a “shockle” bungie that keeps somee tension on the anchor so it’s not clanging around. Unfortunately the location of the mast means we only have a 1/4 throw on the lever, but it does not make that much of a difference.
I’ll add to the conversation on my setup, although you will need to adjust size to your vessel. I own a 36, I have a Lewmar V2 vertical windlass, my bower consists of 200" of 3/8 chain and 100’ of 5/8 3 strand nylon rode shackled to a 44# Spade which fits our paperclip style bowsprit perfectly. I use 2, 1/2" nylon snubbers attached to the chain with a large soft shackle that I made up for this purpose as I am normally on all chain at anchor. This setup has not dragged (yet) for me, with the weighted tip it sets very quickly and resets as quickly with 180 shift. If there is a weakness to this setup it is in very soupy mud. So I keep a 37# Danforth HT rigged with 100’ of 3/8 chain and 200’ of 5/8 nylon rode mounted on my bow pulpit for this. Although if the conditions allow by letting the spade settle for about 10 minutes before backing down the spade holds pretty well. I carry a 60# Manson below (similar to the rockna with a roll bar) for very severe conditions but it is not rigged, nor have I needed to use it.
The video came out after I bought the Rocna. fortunately I have not run into that problem (yet).
Mark Powers
FWIW here’s what seems to be a pretty well written anchor comparison.
https://refit.guide/anchor?fbclid=IwAR3SdincI0pGvxvYCijQy9kAVDnCn3hmwFRPfbX7hOLn5m-LZ0KDpIAnmPo
Paul M
NS30U #211, Sandpiper
Cowichan Bay, B.C.
Here is an article that attempts to analyze anchor tests.
https://www.petersmith.net.nz/boat-anchors/independent-performance-testing.php
I can’t tell if the report that Paul attached reviewed the Vulcan, Ultra and the Mantus 2 designs. In some tests the Vulcan is rated highly in others it did not preform as well. When the salesman told me he could give me a $400 discount on an Ultra anchor I said too rich for my blood.
Mark Powers
When I attached the link to the article I had not realized that the author, Peter Smith was the designer of both thE Rocna and Vulcan anchors. A friend pointed it out to me off line. I think he did it off line to spare me some public embarrassment. Good of him to do so but a little public humble pie does me some good.
It is possible that Mr. Smith’s analysis of the methodology in some of the tests could have been influenced by the rating given to his designs.
Mark
Hi Mark - thanks for the admission - no problem in my books in admitting further info. It’s another data point.
For quite a while I did some supporting/testing/implementing work on technical standards, such as the original internet domain name server stuff, W3C, and ISO graphics stuff. When someone says “Well, it’s OBVIOUS that this is the way this should be done” my ears prick up, as more than once, what was “obviously” the correct way was because that’s how they, or one of their employees coded something, and they did not want to spend the time fixing a glaring issue and hoped to sluff it off without any discussion.
I hear this on our national radio interviews - “… obviously, it’s cheaper to grow fruit locally than shipping it from California…” when a local farmer at the local farmers market last summer said the opposite. Who to believe? The truth is , as is often the case, probably somewhere in the middle.
So, thank you for the interesting link; keep them coming!
JohnS NS26C 046 procrastinating in Ottawa as the snow silently falls and the snow shovel beacons.
Anchors are a great topic, no lack of opinions. The poor old much malined CQR was the anchor of choice of no less than Lin and Larry Pardy and I suspect it had as much to do with their prodiguous skill as the anchor…
But my Admiral recommends Bruce so you should all pay heed.
When you listen to Thor’s Admiral, just remember thy use a 33 pound genuine Bruce, not a 20 pound Bruce Knockoff. The genuine Bruce is forged and the tips are much sharper than the tips of the cast knockoffs. The genuine Bruce is a good anchor but they have not been produced for years so are difficult to find. For a small fee I can direct you to one hanging on the bow of a 26 Nonsuch.
Mark Powers