I don’t recommend anchors but I do recommend anyone about to spend the money check out Steve Goodwins YouTube channel SV Panope. He has done the most extensive anchor testing out there, unbiased, and honest.
You may change your mind. You may not.
…but you will be informed.
Thank you, I will be sure to check out the channel.
I cut off the outer hoop of the roller gizmo so the anchor could be removed. Otherwise it’s stuck in the hoop. My anchor (Rocna, seems to work fine but I’ve been very happy with Bruce’s in the past) is stowed by the mast not dangling over the bow.
RonB.
My boat has a 12 kg Vulcan anchor, came with the boat. I’ve only used it a few times, but I believe PO anchored quite a bit on west coast of BC, Canada.
And, I agree, the Youtube video guy others mentioned from Seattle area has a great review of anchors. Sorry, forgot his name, but I watched them about 2 years ago.
Cheers Don 
Hi Richard,
When built in 1987 my 30U came with a CQR. Worked fine but my father (original owner) put fear into me that it dragged occassionally (and not in bad weather) - may have been how he was setting it. I never had a problem with it after I bought the boat from him and I anchored much more frequently than he did…
However, with that fear always in my head, I upgraded many years ago to the Rocna Vulcan 15KG/33LB anchor. The Vulcan does NOT have the roll-bar so it fits well under the bowsprit on a Nonsuch. It has a weight on the underside that helps it maintain the proper position as it is being lowered to the bottom. We use only 30ft of chain with 150ft of line.
My experience with the Rocna Vulcan has been excellent! It sets well and quickly - but like with all anchors you need to understand how to properly set an anchor (I will be presenting a short discussion on this at the Nonsuch 2026 Rendezvous in Greenport, NY).
Case in point - this past July 4th weekend we were anchored in Oyster Bay, NY. Friday we got hit by two storm cells, the more powerful with winds estimated at 35-40kts… anchor didn’t budge.
Sat, July 4th, the two additional storms cells were not supposed to be as intense, so we stayed anchored… so much for accurate forecasting these days… the 2nd cell, at about 10:30PM arrived with lots of lightning and very heavy winds - clocked locally at over 55kts! These winds were generating whitecaps and swells of over 2ft in a very small harbor… anchor didn’t budge! We have an anchor sail that works very well to help keep the boat from swinging excessively and pointed into the wind, so that is also very helpful. We had two anchor points marked on the navigation and we stayed between them thru the entire storm that raged for about an hour and a half.
When we departed on Sunday, the anchor came up easily, as it always does.
We carry the original CQR in the boat as a backup - just in case.
Peter
Another Rocna Vulcan here. This one is 20kg and it’s on the most forward roller of the pulpit of my N36. I use the forward roller because my windlass is set up that way, but I think the anchor would also fit on the inner roller.
On a side note: I also like to mention the redesigned railing on the pulpit: it consists of a left and a right section and is open at the front. Furthermore, the railing extends further aft to the first stanchion base. This way, there is good access at the front and more handholds on the foredeck.
Mark H
Based on that channel and the recommendation of a friend who is a far more experienced sailor, we went with the galvanized Spade 80 (and 75’ of chain). It has been flawless. The boat did come with a CQR, but I never used it, nor have I used a Rocna. Good luck with your quest.
We’ve anchored extensively over the past 20 years. Yup Rocna and a few others get good reviews.
We’ve got a 35 lb Bruce and it has never let us down and we’ve been in some incredibly nasty situations.
When you look at cruising boats that are out there you will see a lot of Bruce hanging off the bow
I vote for Bruce. We went on a 2 week cruse back in the day and the first night on the hook got blown down to almost crashing into another boat. Luckily the wife woke and discovered the predicament and awoke me. We motored to a less windy spot and in the morning sailed back to home port and went looking for a better anchor. We found a Bruce in a second hand store a few miles away. It didn’t let us down.
Brian
General question for those weighing in (sorry, pun unintentional, but I’m not going to remove it)…
My impression is that the major choices are all better in some anchoring conditions and worse in others. Any comments on what kind of holding ground yours have worked or failed in?
-- Bob
I switched from a Bruce to a 33lb Rocna after a friend with a NS26 raved about his, and after watching a lot of anchor review videos. Depends on what kind of bottom ground you anchor in, but Rocna seemed generally good for Puget Sound. So far it has been great.
… Bruce sounds better then Rocna
I wish I still had my Bruce.
Coming to this late but have a few useful opinions (I hope). Been messing around on sailboats for more than 50 years and have anchored for thousands of nights. For the first 35 years I used various CQR, Bruce, and Danforth anchors. For the most part they worked but could drag if you got a significant wind or current switch. Starting in 2009 we did a circumnavigation on a Bristol 45.5. We used a Manson Supreme which was pretty much a knockoff of a Rocna. At the time Rocnas were made in New Zealand as were Mansons but were more expensive. We never had a drag with the Manson and that included anchoring in the open sea next to places like Easter Island and St Helena. We even met Peter Smith the inventor of the Rocna in Namibia of all places. He had the prototype of the Vulcan onboard his lovely 53’ custom, aluminum cutter but wouldn’t show me. We now have a Vulcan and have only used it perhaps 30 nights with no issues. There are a number of these ‘new generation’ anchors and I think they are step up on the older designs.
Tossing in two cents
We also use a Vulcan on Aloki. I don’t recall the size but I ‘upsized ‘ to the next weight based on a 30 ft sailboat .
We carry 100’ of upsized chain (for a 40’ sailboat) as well and I believe 150’ of a braided line found on Swan Yachts. Our Maxwell windless handles it all in stride .
Based on depths we anchor in we generally have most or all the chain down with either a chain hook and short line to the bollard or some of that 150’ braided line down. In calm to 15k wind conditions we find a 5:1 scope / all chain will hold very well. We’ve sat out some impressive blows and major wind shifts with 7:1 with no issues whatsoever. Easy to retrieve as well.
