The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/riggingdoctor07211

Rigging doctor: Plow anchors are the worst. Me: My dad's old mushroom anchor would like to enter the competition. :-)

Honestly, I thought you were going to talk about a Delta anchor. I’ve using a CQR just because it came with my boat, but it really impressed me over the years. Delta is quite common where I cruise and they are always dragging around me.... for some reason the CQR knockoffs are really bad. I’ll give you that..

Since you made a video about THE WORST ANCHOR, are there any plans to make a video about THE BEST ANCHOR?

A reference to SV Panope who does standardized test on numerous anchors. He gives the data on his tests and not his opinion on which is the best anchor for given situation. Will be surprised that Rocna has some failure points. No anchor is the “best” anchor. Probably a strong predictor of anchoring success has to do with the proper anchor selection for the bottom, proper setting, sufficient scope and snubber usage.

Thanks for the info Herb. Take care on the ICW my friend

This is such a timely video! I was just at a local consignment shop and there was twenty of these things out front for sale. It just so happened that a guy pulled up to drop off stuff to sell.... and he had a plow anchor. I respectfully asked why he's getting rid of it and he just said he didnt need it anymore! Thanks for clearing this up!

I so love your informative videos. Oh yes and your Skillshare videos are just hilarious. I just may have to go over there and take a look.

Great tutorial video, once again!

If you're gonna make sailing videos with a parrot on your shoulder, you HAVE to have an eye patch!

LOL that is very funny with the birds!

FACT: I really like your channel and your alternative systems. FACT: I have been using a CQR anchor on my 36 foot 13 ton Bermudan Sloop for 25 years and never once, has it let me down. My usage has taken me all around the UK and down the European Atlantic coast into the Med and EVERY island within, and now is in Greek waters. Now, I prefer to anchor, being on a dodgy pontoon or a harbour wall in 50 knots plus of wind, is no joke. When this happens, and it's happening more frequently in Greece, I get away and lay at anchor. My CQR has never failed !! I agree, the the latest Rocna type anchors, are brilliant. but I have on two occasions, whilst in Greece, seen them fail. But let us be honest here, it's not the anchors, but the operator that sets them. Anchoring is an artform, and you can tell if someone deploying an anchor knows their stuff. I have a favourite anchorage, where I anchor in 12metres on sand/mud/grit. In calm conditions I put out 30m of chain. But I have seen out a 4 day blow of 40-60 kts with 60m of chain plus a 15m snubber rope, which allows more chain to lay on the seabed. Apart from the noise, all was well. My library took a bashing during this time I can tell you. Kind Regards, Barnacle Bern SY Cadbri UK.

Great video and good job for getting your point across. I'm hoping and looking forward to you explaining the pros and cons of good anchors and which ones they are. I have a application for sand and mud.

I'm kinda with you on this one. Although I've never had a plough (I have a Rocna) all the reviews/reports I read had the Rocna in the top three - usually at #1. That was good enough for me. Two days ago I anchored in kelp in 20kts+ wind. The good old Rocna skipped once through the kelp then bit hard. I had 7:1 scope of 10mm chain and didn't budge an inch. Another guy came in an hour later with a CQR and made three attempts before succeeding. Nuff said

I have a bowsprit, so I am forced to use a non-rollbar type... I have my eye on the Mantus v2 as I've heard Spade have galvanization issues. Although right now, I am guilty as charged. 45lb CQR (Original). :D That being said --> This video is like kicking a fire ant hill, bashing a hornet's nest, and poking a bear at the same time! great video :)

Damn, this triggered me a bit, I admit, haha! I loved my 45lb CQR for my whole Caribbean trip. Many many anchorages and no dragging. BUT I will admit I have thought the same thing, a plow is designed to run through the ground slowly, surely a spade must be better at stopping you in a hard blow. I'll think about it for my next boat.

The original patented CQR is very good when used properly.

💡 info. 👍 On my 31'@ wl, I use a 35lb. CQR w/200ft. of 1/2" high stength stainless steel chain with 300ft. of 3/8" rope rode with no problem for years. The bottom is sand & solid rock patches. Mud & silt was a NO NO BRUCE & ROCK⚓anchors were sparsely used. But still used. Only saw👀 the rope when inspected bi-weekly. Still very good info. 👍

Wish you could have seen my face when you said CQR! I love my anchor, a 35 pounder which is oddly enough on lawn jokey duty, LoL. I've never anchored in anything but mud where this thing never gave an inch even in a gale on Morrow Bay. Believe me you'd know if you were plowing on Morrow Bay, no room at all. One day I'll find another boat to put this anchor on. For now, land lubbing.

You don't seem to know the way a farmplow works but hey, you aren't alone. All farm plows are adjustable for depth, if you look where the plow attaches to the tractor you will see an attaching device with several holes, one on top of the other. This is how you set the depth. In an anchor, if the pull is along the sea bed almost horizontal, the anchor will just keep digging in. The reason the CQR is so popular is because such giants in the early sailing days like Hal Roth, used them and bragged about how well they worked. Just remember this was a guy with a 14,000 pound boat, using scopes of seven to one or longer, and his chain size was a massive 3/8. Very heavy for his boat. And lastly, the very worst anchor is not the CQR, it is the Bruce or it's copies. S/V panope has tested dozens of anchors and the Bruce won't hold in any ground no matter what scope or speed you try to set it. And they are very popular also.

Herb, 100% spot on. I have an original 45lb CQR anchor and it is a terrible anchor particularly in soft Cheseapeake mud. I call it "The Plow Queen". Very reliably plows, plowing faster in higher winds or currents and slower in less.

Presently have that as my primary. To leave the boat at harbor (watched) barrowing a 100# rusty chained additionally to my chain. I have had it plow at gale wind slowly towards shore till less than 3' depth under the keel. 1.7' tried to motor forward against the wind, not enough power. Fully survived event. Many things to improve.

My boat came with CQR as a 2nd anchor. I used it as a stern anchor in soft mud and dropped it 50 metres behind my boat, I then pulled in the line and pulled the CQR by hand all the way back to the boat and it didnt set! That anchor was removed from my boat and replaced with a Fortress.

I have my old CQR that came with the boat in my attic. Now have a standard Mantus M1. I tell everyone I know with a CQR; "You must be crazy get that thing off your boat!"

I'm not a religious person, not even when it comes to anchors. My boat was factory fitted with a CQR 25 years ago... I've just bought this boat, and I've used this anchor a bit. It has not let me down so far. But dont get me wrong if anyone wants to buy me a new better anchor I'll gladly accept the replacement. But until then I'll be one of the CQR dudes plowing the ocean floor at night and the ocean itself during the day. Best regards form Jarle

Thank you very much for your opinion on the plow anchor. I have seen your birds and other videos. Do they travel with you? If so do you keep them Below in cages?

Herby seems to be well anchored on the subject!😃

My Bruce has been incredibly secure anchoring hundreds of times in the Pacific Northwest

I replaced my anchor with a plough because that's what was on the boat. We had some problems setting and we would drag. About a year later, we bought a Mantus M2. Rocna was not in stock. We'll what a bloody difference, sets great, holds great. Some places it's like I have tied up to a pylon, boat just stops dead when setting. I just bought a big f-off mix of rocna and mantus anchor as a storm/mooring anchor. Can't wait to test it. Poor windlass is going to hate me.

As an amateur radio operator, aka Ham, I first thought of the very large and heavy transmitters of generations past that are affectionally known as "boat anchors".

Is a spade anchor (as Rocna, Manta) a "plow anchor"? So what is the best anchor for a 34 foot sloop?

Oh crap I have a CQR but haven’t used it much…I’ll take your word for it and make a change

Hi guys In times like this an eye patch would give more authority A big black beard could also help Anchors away scoundrels

Ultra.....only one needed. PERIOD.....OnWard....

CQR anchors seem to rank last when comparison tested. The Danforth / Fortress style anchor has always been fantastic in sand and mud bottoms. In one situation I had too little scope (5:1) because of depth, lots of southerly wind and swell action off Santa Barbara island and imy Danforth still held fast. Haven't seen a comparison test of it in rocky bottoms though.

I really dislike the Bruce, they are popular here (the PNW and alaska) for their versatility. The issue I have is that they either drag, or they hook into a rock. I anchor up everyday, with a Bruce rigged with a breakaway for fishing. I think you still need to have specific anchors for different bottoms even in this day and age.

Agree, cqr is not the choice any longer, I still liked danforths better when cqr was first “cool”

Once again your knowledge and experience serve to make me a better sailor!! Thank you!

I never had any trouble whatsoever with my plough type Manson anchor. Most people who have trouble with them just use too light an anchor, or use it where ANY anchor would not have held well.

You are not making my job of unloading my crappy plow anchor any easier.

yeah hang that cqr off the bow, fit in with all the other blow boaters but for the love of your boat and crew store your danforth in an easily accessible storage locker. 35yrs commercial fishing in the Dry Tortugas everytime a sailboat dragged through the hafbor and many occasions into me, they pulled up a cqr.

Might want to watch the video of Skip Novak using his CQR to anchor in 50+ kts Wind off of Cape Horn.

There is a rather old video from Skip Novak for Yachting Monthly on anchoring in heavy weather…guess what…he had a CQR. I guess he uses something better now. One thing is most CQR you see are probably copies, and not as good as the original. Of course you can get away with a much lighter anchor with a modern design. Sure most of you folk have seen the SV Panoply test.

I recently replaced the Bruce with a Rokna that cost $900 a plough would have cost just over $100 and that's why they are popular. " The Bruce was good though it didn't like weed and would scoop up large rocks"

Sorry but strongly disagree with you there are several anchors that are much worse. An aside I have a CQR in my anchoring kit . Have most types ready or near ready to deploy. All work good when properly deployed. The only ones I have not had fail are my fortress and my CQR.

The CQR is far from the worst anchor. The Delta is so much worse than any other modern anchor it's unreal. I have been cruising since 1984, around 200,000 miles. I have many happy nights on a CQR. I would not buy one now though - the new generation anchors are much better, except the Delta. Also...buy one very big anchor and stick it on your bow as your main AND storm anchor. I have an 80kg anchor up front. I sleep very well.

Anchors are great they even made a movie about them called Anchors Away. We enjoy all you videos but it’s getting to be to many commercials. We will see numerous commercials during the video plus embedded commercials during the video and as far as Skillshare is concerned after watching a number of videos in one evening we will see many Skillshare videos it is getting the point of excess. We do absolutely love the sailing videos that you people produce.

the scope of this commentary is tightly set.

Please check the perches for the macaws. The tailfeathers look completely chewed up. Thats most of the time because a perch is to low, to sharp and abrasive cage bars or the parrot has to walk everywhere. In which case look up some free flight training on youtube. In todays time nobody has to clip the parrots wings. There is much great information out there to teach all parrots (even old ones that have been clipped all their life) to atleast recall and indoor fly. If you wanna have them outdoors you just have to put the work in and free flight train them or put a flight harness on. PS the idea and proven thought is that a healthy clipped parrot can very much fly away, just very badly. If your clipped parrot never flies, its usually because of health issues and diet issues (obese), not because you clipped him. Look up moulting wild crow pictures. They often lose 50% of the primary feathers every year and still fly very much. Please give it some thought and watch some youtube videos of the "birdtricks" channel or someone else. You are an educated man (dentist I believe?), please educate yourself. Thanks. Anyways, the sailing content is great :)

What is the best all around anchor?

We replaced our 45lb CQR with a 65lb Mantus M2....absolutely love the M2. A bit oversized for our Westsail 32 but eh. The CQR did seem to hold well in mud, but anything else it absolutely sucks. So true what you are saying here. Cheers

I think you made it pretty clear that the plot anchor is on your naughty list.

Yeah, CQR is pretty bad, but in my experience, the very worst anchor is the Bruce (claw) - I've dragged many times on one, and promptly replaced it with a Delta, which has never given me any trouble.

What would you prefer if you have no other choices. Bruce or CQR?

With the lead and a scope the CQR digs in different than a plough in the field. I have ploughed many a field and if the plough was at the same angle as the CQR your tractor would be doing a wheel stand in the field!!! I have had my CQR for years and it has never let me down!!!! A rocna is basically a plough with a roll bar!!! So I am going to have to disagree with you this time!!!!

For the video Blah..Blah.. Blah... Plow Anchors are bad ... Blah ,Blah, Blah, Pic of plow anchor Blah...blah...blah ..and no pic of good/better anchors ... blah, blah, blah ............ Then skill share advert and still no pic of good anchors. End of video. I really enjoy your video's but this ............. A video showing how the good anchors work vs the plow in the near future ???????? thankee kindly ........... enjoy

CQR!

I pay extra not to have to sit through ads on the Tube now this ? Usually love your videos but not this one.

I agree with the way it swivels it is totally useless

What about recommended anchors by name.

Rocna best anchor 🔱

That talk about plows is not true. An anchor like Delta or similar do actually dig in, and hold - not until the pulling gets toos strong, it then moves. BUT ALSO stays embedded in the bottom. Also the plow Delta like is NOT tend to collect sticky sandy/mud that makes the anchor roll over, like Rocna and others actually can do. Keep to facts that you can test yourself next time.

I’m a bird and I just pooped. 😂😂😂🐒

The modern anchors which are just different version a plow do set faster an in more situations but the CQR is still a very reliable anchor wen set right. Check out the well know artic expedition sailor Skip Novack. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qL-Wos6am9y7XYE.html

Nope. The slip ring "Danforth" type clone is way worse. We towed several boats off beaches that had that anchor in common.

CQR is decent so long as you use one that's way too big, with way too much chain.

Yep. Here's some factoid stuff. For 1100 years Europeans use a board as a plow blade. They'd end up with 2-4 oxen pulling that thing. Meanwhile, all that time, over in China... they were using a plow -which looked exactly like a plow anchor. No one in China or anywhere else in Asia ever used more than one (maybe two) water buffalo to pull that plow. (The top soil in Guangdong province, Pearl River Delta? It is 8 feet thick! Black as my pirate's heart and rich as the best chocolate cake. This is in one farming village my family is from that's been there for at least 600 years. ) Why is this plow so good? Less friction, it efficiently cuts and lifts the soil rather than just pushes through it- as you say not a good thing for an anchor. Probably like the difference between the resistance of a Bayliner hull and a half-submerged VW bus. Clearly you want your boat to be more like the Bayliner - but not your anchor). And are anchors really technology? All the newer amazing anchors could've existed at any time since the bronze age. Like the better Chinese plow. Clearly Marco Polo and Matteo Ricci weren't interested in farming - they also weren't sailors. So maybe there's a piece of metal hanging off a squid boat in China that's a brilliant anchor design that's never made it over here. In my sailing course I had to learn about anchors. The new good ones like the Rocne are 2-3x more money than the old plows - for two reasons. Some of these designs are still patented, but more importantly: they're better anchors.

I really enjoy your videos but this one has so much repetition in it - skip the repetition, cut the length in half and then add a segment about what the alternatives are (in your opinion). BTW - even a fisherman’s anchor can hold well in the right conditions with the right set, likewise the plough, the mushroom etc. Anchoring is not just about the ‘hook’ but about the entire rig and set.

It looks like Charlie has heard as much as he needs to know about plough anchors....Just saying..... -)

No To Skillshare, no to your CQR opinion.Happy your patreons will allow you to play with your own experience. atb

Pretty useless drivel Herbie. What is the best anchor? What works best in all bottoms? What works best in sand? What works best in the Bahamas? What works best on the East coast? Get my point? We have all seen dragging boats. Some even admit to dragging. What is the best anchor is like asking where to invest for guaranteed growth. I bought a CQR, real one, brand new in 1996. Then it was THE anchor to have. Looking forward for your video of "this is the worlds best anchor and you must buy one". Keep up the good work. Enjoy the videos.

We are here to learn. So get to the point. You repeated yourself several times about how bad the plow is but never spent time on what is better and why. Your bird is a distraction and not an advantage.

So your saying you don't like it?

The worst anchor you ca use, is an undersized anchor.

:)

You are not informed. Have you actually tested a CQR? It isn't as good as a 3rd Gen anchor but it is far from worst.

Right. A field for agriculture and the machinery to do it are totally comparable to sea bottoms and securing a vessel? And what’s with the petulant teenage voice and approach?

DO you want to know what I think about you using an electric motor for propulsion ? It causes me to question your opinion

That was excruciatingly repetitive.

So you went off on a rant, without ever saying what anchors you think are better than crappy plough anchors. What was the point of your video? Just to diss CQR owners and have a bit if a tantrum about them? And then you have the nerve to have a full 30% of your video as an ad?

i disagree. what a. total bs

Not helpful at all, just a vehicle to market your sponsors.

You really need to do your research before you dis an anchor. Your comments are not based on any trials that you have done or comparisons. Your video is not based on evidence. Sorry dude, losing cred now. 👎