Sarca Excel

[Shoalcove]

So, is anyone selling these in North America yet?

[Kettlewell]

So, is anyone selling these in North America yet?

I don't believe so. I corresponded with the manufacturer last year and he was optimistic that he was going to find a North American distributor, but I haven't heard of anything yet.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

It's notable that the old Aussie (maybe the owner?) is very careful not to NAME the competition...just to describe them!

Interesting stuff.

Unlike ROCNA

[Kettlewell]

The company owner/manufacturer is very willing to discuss via email anything. It is worth it to contact him if you really want one--I wouldn't be surprised if he could help you out somehow. I don't know for anchors, but I was pleasantly surprised by how cheap it was to get something else sent from Australia to the USA. Shipping costs are very competitive these days.

[S/V Alchemy]

I'm not ready yet, not with my boat engineless on the hard, but I will be, and Sarca is in the running, you know, until I find out they're made of glued together Chinese sardine snack tins or something.

[Ozbullwinkle]

So, is anyone selling these in North America yet?

This should help.

This afternoon I phoned Rex Francis in Melbourne who is the CEO of Anchor Right Australia and the developer of the SARCA anchors to ask him if his anchors were available in the USA.

We had a really good discussion & he was very helpfull and I emailed him the link to this SARCA post in our forum. He has now kindly emailed me with a detailed reply for me to place on the forum which will give everyone an understanding of the current situation regarding the USA & Europe.

Here is his reply email in full:-

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your enquiry and kind words Re performance of the Super Sarca, it’s comments- results like yours that makes the many years of developing product worthwhile.

The link you sent me to the cruisers forum is most rewarding for our hard work and good to see it is starting to filter through, we have not exported other than a pallet load at a time to customers that simply organized it between themselves to reduce freight.

I am not all that interested in exporting and would prefer a reputable company to take on the manufacturing in the U.S. and distribution of the European market, yes we have had plenty put up their hand but have not had solid commitment backed with the passion our product’s need to properly service those markets.

Here in Australia –New Zealand the popularity of product range has just kept us so busy exporting was out of the question, however just prior to Christmas Seacor Environmental Products LLC in Seattle, Joe Smith is the man to contact, this company contacted us and committed themselves there and then ordering a good quantity of large Super Sarca anchors and assured us there would be more orders to come, so if ever the time was right anyone in the U.S. should give this company a ring and show an expression of interest to purchase.

However we do have some powerful interest at the moment from a company keen to manufacture our product range in the north of America, if this happens and is looking positive it could still be a way down the track, distribution will no longer be a problem throughout Europe, but in the interim give Seacor a ring.

If you have any questions, I notice someone raised the question on the forum as to where our products are made and wanted to find out if they were glued together, Unfortunately we haven’t been able to find a glue that is more efficient than welding, all product is made here in Australia using only quality steel.

Another comment was the old guy in Oz, steady it just wasn’t my best profile.

How do we know this steel is sufficient, field tested independently by recognized testing station and then proof testing to meet the require load to determine warranty of SUPER High Holding Power Anchors.

Our R&D gives you an insight as to how our field testing is achieved, many times testing has been witnessed by various bodies of the marine regulators such as Lloyds, officers from the N.M.S.C. National Marine Safety Committee and many other independents such as boat builders and product distributors.

If anyone is interested in the proof testing method, how and why it achieves anchor strengths results send me an email, we are more than happy to share any info you may want.

Steve I have probably given you more information than you intended, that is a problem when you have passion from what you do, regardless of all testing and technical jargon at the end of the day we need valuable feedback from people such as yourself to confirm we are going in the right direction.

Thank you once again, make sure you drop in at the Sydney boat show, I would certainly like to meet you.

Kind Regards.
Rex.
CEO of Anchor Right Australia.

[cwyckham]

Just sent an email to Joe at Seacor enquiring about a #5 Sarca Excel. jbhsmith at ckor dot com

[Ozbullwinkle]

Originally Posted by cwyckham

Just sent an email to Joe at Seacor enquiring about a #5 Sarca Excel. jbhsmith at ckor dot com

Good move - from what Rex told me I don't think they have all sizes - think they got size 8. But the more people that enquire about them then they will realise the demand and hopefully order more.

[cwyckham]

Joe has been super responsive. Sounds like he has a bunch of #8 Sarcas in stock now (not sure if they're already spoken for or if he'd let a few go). I'm looking for a #5 Sarca Excel, so I'm out of luck for the moment.

If enough of us contact him, maybe he'll special order a bunch of anchors for us. I'm not sure what the cost would be, but the only real competing anchors in my book are the Spade which is way too spendy in North America and the Manson Boss which isn't in production yet (can't really do a hoop with my bowsprit).

The Excel is also convex which I like, while the others are concave. Not going to bring up a ton of mud and can drive itself deep with no hoop attached. I wish there were more head to head independent comparisons, though.

[Shoalcove]

The #5 would be a good size for me as well. I wonder what the pricing will be. In reality, the shipping to the east coast probably makes it prohibitive but hopefully they'll get wider distribution in the future.

[ChrisPines]

I don't know why but I get the feeling that there are vested interests involved in anchor blogs that only makes it harder to choose a suitable anchor.

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by ChrisPines

I don't know why but I get the feeling that there are vested interests involved in anchor blogs that only makes it harder to choose a suitable anchor.

It isn't a blog, it's a forum. I see that this is your first post, so welcome. You certainly chose to make your first post a mysterious one, though.

Anchors are like religion around here. And there are plenty of cult-like parallels, I suppose. But most of us are just trying to figure out the truth about what will work best for our particular situation.

[Wayward Wind]

I will vouch for Rex's passion. I decided on a SARCA Excel, but the local chandleries did not have stock and gave me Rex's number in Melbourne. I called him and could not have been happier that I did. A truly great person to deal with, and very informative. On his recommendation, I ordered a 6 which he had delivered to me in Sydney. I haven't had a chance to really test the anchor.

[ClearHorizons]

We purchased an Super Sarca at the Sydney Boat Show. Although we haven't had it long or used it a lot as we generally pick up a mooring, we have found very good holding when we have used it. Once we were down Smiths Creek when a strong wind (say 35 knots) came through and we held well. One of other boat dragged quite a lot who had a different anchor.

I think we got the Ecxel Number 7 which weighs about 25 kg.

[sctpc]

Some info I posted on another thread maybe off interest.
Just When You Think You're Safe . . . CRASH !
Views: 7,982
Posted By sctpc
Re: Just When You Think You're Safe . . . CRASH !

Have you read Testing the new generation of anchors (Testing the new generation of anchors) They tested and pretty well came to the same conclusion as you.