Anyone Using an 'Ultra' Anchor?

[theonecalledtom]

Ultra Anchors

If so what results have you had?

[Beausoleil]

Oh boy! Sit back and watch the fireworks!!!

(especially after anyone goes and watches the videos of the Ultra being "tested" against conventional anchors...)

[Steve Pope]

Whose first, Craig of Rocna? At least Craig / Gmacs video is on a beach near the water and not in a tub. I wonder what their patent No is? just thinking aloud, I feel the storm a coming, will need to be well anchored for this one.

[colemj]

That's funny! I actually think that anchor is probably a good design worth considering, but you can actually see the person in the video pulling it around on a string and it gives you the only indication of scale (stop reading now if you don't want the ending ruined)...


...The anchors are only the size of a paperback book and the testing area is a toy sandbox! I'm not an engineer, but I suspect that there are some scaling issues being overlooked there.

Mark

[theonecalledtom]

Having lurked without posting for some time I wanted to start with a bang

The fullsize anchors defo looked more useful than that used in the demo - though I used to have a RC boat that might have been a good fit... The CG is very low and the real thing did a good job of rolling upright with wieght on the nose while pushed around the floor. The flukes look like an interesting way to get them to keep biting with rotational forces being applied

Question is has anyone who doesn't work for the company used one in real world conditions?

[Hud3]

Hmmmm. I don't think my Delta ever took that long to set in sand. Three to four feet max.

[High Cotton]

WOW.........
Look at the "scope" of each pull, they're different depending on the anchor, and of course the ULTRA has the BEST SCOPE for that anchor !!!!!!

[Seeratlas]

YouTube - Parachute Crash Compilation - Funny

I used to think these things looked like fun heheh

(sorry, but I thought you guys might enjoy the diversion)

I did.

seer

Ok, the relevant part,

the ultra looks interesting. it has the hoop connector but not for rollerover, i guess the added weight down low handles that, but rather to strengthen the wings of the fluke. Looks like the sharks are in the water for the rocna. Wonder what the prices of this variant will be.

[GMac]

Alain 'Mr Spade' must be pretty happy his idea has cloned so many derivatives. The Ultra, Rocna, Supreme, that other one whose name I can't remember and wait for it...... 2 more going public in the next month or so.

I wonder how much popcorn we'll need to store up

[Rod Lambert]

I was skeptical too, but at the boat show in Oakland, my wife asked if she could buy an anchor. When you are lucky enough to have a wife who is a willing best friend in all matters including cruising, you do not say no. I was going to buy a Spade anyway. What have we found? Our boat is a Swan 41 and with all of our gear weighs 27,000 lbs. We put a 60 lb. Ultra on, and we have all chain (10 mm). Our plans are to head west for So. Pac. next season, so thus far, we have only anchored in San Francisco Bay where you can stay put with just about anything. That being said, the Ultra has been setting instantly with minimal scope, and GPS tracking has showed no movement even though we have had consistent wind 15 to 20 kts throughout a few nights. Obviously, this is not enough data, and we too, are curious what results people are having. We must report though at this stage, the Ultra has been making us very happy, and is clearly superior to our old CQR. An unexpected benefit is that although the chain brings alot of mud that we spray off, the anchor comes up clean - way to go stainless! It stores perfectly on our bow - better fit than the CQR (also a 60 lb.). Our friends tease us a bit for buying the pretty Turkish boat jewelry, but it is working very well, and we are quite used to being the outcasts who buck tradition- we even chose a Volvo-Penta over Yanmar when we re-engined, and our boat proudly remains a Jimmy Buffett free zone! Hope this helps and best to you!

[s/v 'Faith']

Looks litk a Manson Supreme with a weighted tip... or a non-articulated CQR.... promising.

Of course I am still very happy with my Manson... (Had to through that in)...

[cantxsailor]

It seems to me the most important thing to this seller is "presentation". I believe this is snobspeak for "bling". It has a tubular shank which kinda scares me and according to the chart needs to be over a third heavier than the anchor I use now to do the same job. So much for high tech. It WILL however look very pretty on the bow of your "yacht"........martin

[Rod Lambert]

You Americans are so funny. Someone on your forum asks for input from anyone using an Ultra. Then come the responses "I'm not, but, bla, bla, bla". None of which has anything to do with the original question. Finally, someone offers relevant experience in response to the original question, and then you feel the need to call them names and distort what they had to offer. How very sad, and I doubt that we shall post here again. Regardless, we wish you the best.

[GMac]

Rod, you used a key word that always and I mean 'always' is one that sparks up many comments be they good bad or just ugly. That word being 'anchor'. Don't know what it is but it aways happens everywhere. This or any forum and yacht club bar. Sadly it's the nature of the beast sort of a thing. Don't take it personal, it's just the way anchor related threads always go.

I had a look at a Ultra just last week. A mix of new and old thoughts, looked sexy in stainless, stows well and should work well. I would liked to have seen a bit more blade area in the load zone but I can't see any reason it shouldn't work very well. I then had a look at the specifications and they spec the old school big sizing which was a bit of a surprise. Had to giggle at some of the 'unique' features that just aren't but much anchor marketing is what many would call, what's the technical word?, 'bull pooh' but Ultra are far from alone in that one. 'Wild claims by manufacturers' are another common anchor related issue.

One thing I have noticed and has me wondering a bit - Rod you mention 'GPS tracking has showed no movement even though we have had consistent wind 15 to 20 kts' and the Ultra site has the comment 'in 35 - 45 knot winds. Although my bridle parted; losing my thimble causing our Catamaran to swing wildly, the Ultra Anchor never moved'. May I add those comments should have nothing to do specifically with the Ultra, I've seen similar with other anchor users.

Surely people don't expect to drag in winds that low. There is zero way any decent anchoring system should slide in winds like that.

Rod, you have a 60lber on all 10mm chain on a 41fter of average weight. That's a pretty healthy sized set-up even using old school anchors. You should be able to happily snore through winds far far in excess of 20kts. I'd say you may want to stay away from that 'minimum scope' though, that may bite you. Otherwise you have far from a lite weight system so should be fine up to real big winds.

[Cheechako]

They always seem to treat a wind shift as secondary. Nearly every anchor problem I've had was in a strong wind shift. (100's of anchorings in Puget Sound and FL/Carribean) My Experieces:
Delta- fast setting and holds good until major wind shift, then watch out. Still like it though now that I know it's limitations.
CQR- Harder to set than Delta, but handles the shift better.
Bruce- Constantly moves through the sand in strong winds. Great for rocks.
Fortress- literally saved my boat in 70mph when thrown over with 20 ft of chain.
Danforth- bends in rocks but once in sand seems very good. Watch your hands.
WHAT'S OBVIOUS IS THE STATE OF ANCHORS NEEDS TO IMPROVE. HOPEFULLY SOME OF THE NEWCOMERS WILL DO THAT!