Upsizing the Fortress for spare anchor

[Manateeman]

I carry four Fortress anchors none of which are my primary anchors. Two in the bilge are the FX 120 for hurricanes. On deck one FX 85 in the stern under my on deck 10’ Trinka. Not everyday use, but I like having it handy.On the stern, one FX 55. About as big a stern anchor as I want. I have a FX 37 to sell to anyone who has lost their anchor and needs one.
I use chain then braid on braid. I like Fortress, Bruce, Rocna, in the end I like big anchors. Which...depends on the bottom.
I use a real sounding lead to determine what’s down there.
Real old school. If you know the composition of the bottom, chances are, you will choose the correct anchor and set it correctly.
Not having or knowing the value of a sounding lead is in my opinion the number one reason people have problems. Number two? Too small for the job.
There are countless advice books, underwater videos, countless articles and thousands of posts. I’m not a Ken, Barbie and the cat blog. I don’t research anchors, video them, or write how to books...it’s all not necessary.
No one anchor is perfect no more than one sailboat design is perfect, nor one boatbuilder is perfect, nor one material is perfect, nor even the number of hulls are perfect. All this anchor “ science” is just, simply, not science at all.
This is what works for me.
Sounding lead. Pick correct big anchor. Dig it in.
Happy trails to you
Captain Mark and his manatee friends

[bgallinger]

I'm sailing a 34 Ft. Hunter with a 20kg Mantus and 150 ft. of chain. I keep the FX-23 Fortress as a spare. In 10 years we have never experienced any wind or sea to cause anchor dragging. We sleep at night!

[PineyWoodsPete]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Re. Everyone, this advice comes from Fortress.

No, it is not counter my anchor testing expereince. Chain does NOT help with the initial set if you feel it in properly. Heavy chain can prevent setting in very sowt mud by causing the flukes to point skywards.

From Fortress: https://fortressanchors.com/selection-guide/

"Use three-strand nylon rope, 6-12 ft (2-4 m) of chain and a minimum of 5:1 scope. Also, a minimum of 6 ft (2 m) of chain should be used for every 25 ft (8 m) of water depth. For storm conditions use an anchor one or two sizes larger."

I can't find any mention of "too much/too heavy chain" on their website, but yes, in a semi-liquid mud situation this could happen with any extra weight on the stock. In any other state, though, chain weight on the very light stock will keep it down with the catanary giving a force vector parallel to the bottom. With a naked nylon line, any force on the line will tend to lift the stock - unless you're lying on the bottom!

[noelex 77]

Chain helps with all anchors designs, especially in allowing the anchor to develop the crucial initial set. The only exceptions are the very rare cases using pivoting fluke anchors in an extremely soft substrate.

However, if the substrate is good, most anchors can still work reasonably without any chain.

This is of particular importance when using the Fortress. The major advantage, its very light weight, is largely lost if used with heavy chain. For a cruising boat the majority of the weight will be in the chain not the anchor. 100m (330 feet) of 10mm (3/8 inch) chain weighs over 200kg (450lb) so if using a Fortress with this rode the 20kg (45lb) saved on the anchor weight is not very significant.

However, if rowing out a kedge anchor to hold the bow into the swell using an all rope rode, the weight savings achieved by using a Fortress compared to a conventional steel anchor or even to other aluminium designs (such as the aluminium Spade) is very significant.

So don’t be afraid to use the Fortress without chain. It won’t work as well and you do have the added risk of chafe, but the anchor will still work. Without chain, try to set the anchor as slowly and progressively as possible, some advocate a pause to allow the substrate to consolidate before applying more force and this technique is worth a try (if practical) especially in softer substrates. I would also be reluctant to use the larger 45° fluke angle even if confident the substrate was very soft.

Here is a Fortress on all rope rode. The anchor is not brilliantly set at this stage, but is buried enough to have developed reasonable holding power:

[SV_Lusca]

Thanks to everyones input, I ordered the FX-23

[sck5]

Just a brief reality check: I spent years cruising the Bahamas and Eastern Carib in a 40 ft. sailboat and always had a Rocna for my primary.

I also always carried a huge Fortress disassembled for whenever I might need a stern anchor or a kedge.

I never once used it or even thought that I might if it were already assembled. Rocna's really do reset quite easily and most places in the Bahamas you see almost everyone using a single anchor - Using a stern anchor would mean you are not swinging with all the other boats.

Bottom line, it is good to have a spare but you may well never use it so there is no need to overthink it

[sck5]

another note - Fortresses are indeed very light. And that can be a pain right in the ass if you are trying to get it to sink to the bottom in any kind of current. They tend to "fly" under water. I had a mini fortress on my dink and this was a problem from time to time. Put enough chain on and it tends to solve the problem but then it isnt light any more.

[Mainstreet]

I used a Fortress #37 (21 lbs) on my Morgan 462 ketch as a backup since I had a 70 lb ROCNA and a 50 lb Bruce in the twin rollers. I lashed the #37 on to the outside of the pulpit with light cord so you could cut it away in an emergency I had 20’ of chain and a nylon rode attached and ready to go. You definitely need the chain to provide the added weight to keep the fortress at the right angle to bite, that said it did its job wonderfully during a session on the hook during Hurricane Matthew.

[sstj29]

I have a lagoon 410, heavy and high windage and use a 65 pound mantus as my main, a 55 pound rocna as my spare and have a FX 125 as my storm anchor, my boat is not boing anywhere, we slept very well at anchor with 45-50 k of wind

[captstu]

This happened on a 43' Voyage catamaran.

When Wilma was heading toward South Florida, I departed from my usual "stay with the boat" took shelter way inland because of m guess and their prediction that the storm could strengthen and head over my boat.

To prepare I set my usual 50 KG Bruce and shackled by FX-37 to the trip point on the Bruce, setting the two in tandem. I was set in about 8 feet (MLW) with about 125' of chain. The chain was bridled to the bows with 20' per leg of 3/4" nylon, protected with chaif protection where necessary. The bridle was attached with a Wichard chain hook.

A second bridel was attached with a rolling hitch about 6' outside of the chain hook.

The chain was over a windless and safety attached with a rolling hitch.

The storm went directly over the anchorage and the boat veered in the opposite direction.

The Bruce tripped - as observed when I dived it the next day. It did not reset because the Fortress, well burred in the mud bottom, held.

All 4 bridle strands parted - in the middle and well away from their chafe points.

The windless came out of its mount, ripping the mounts in two places where the bolts pulled thru, ripping the fiberglass mount and generally creating a mess. The chain stretched to the point that it would not feed on the windless when the mount was strengthened and repaired.

The Fortress turned into a potato chip, all flukes were destroyed, the chank bent back on itself, and the attachment point on the shank distorted.

The boat remained in place.

Nearly every other boat was blown on shore and destroyed.

Fortress replaced every part that was damaged under warranty.

So, I would trust the Fortress sizing recommendation. All 5 of my boat's attachment points failed. The chain was near failure.

No point having an anchor that is stronger than the chain or attachment points.

[FOP]

If upsizing to include potential use as a storm anchor. Would you be interested in a Fortress FX-37 stowaway complete anchor kit and 200' chain/3-strand rode? Yes, the bag is included.



This was garage kept and only used twice when deployed for storms in the central Chesapeake Bay. No wear/damage to bag, anchor, nor the rode.



If interested, PM me, it's also listed on Facebook marketplace.
Boat sold, but they didn't want the extras.
Looking at 40' cats, so I'm not desperate to sell.

[bclaude]

Originally Posted by captstu

This happened on a 43' Voyage catamaran.

When Wilma was heading toward South Florida, I departed from my usual "stay with the boat" took shelter way inland because of m guess and their prediction that the storm could strengthen and head over my boat.

To prepare I set my usual 50 KG Bruce and shackled by FX-37 to the trip point on the Bruce, setting the two in tandem. I was set in about 8 feet (MLW) with about 125' of chain. The chain was bridled to the bows with 20' per leg of 3/4" nylon, protected with chaif protection where necessary. The bridle was attached with a Wichard chain hook.

A second bridel was attached with a rolling hitch about 6' outside of the chain hook.

The chain was over a windless and safety attached with a rolling hitch.

The storm went directly over the anchorage and the boat veered in the opposite direction.

The Bruce tripped - as observed when I dived it the next day. It did not reset because the Fortress, well burred in the mud bottom, held.

All 4 bridle strands parted - in the middle and well away from their chafe points.

The windless came out of its mount, ripping the mounts in two places where the bolts pulled thru, ripping the fiberglass mount and generally creating a mess. The chain stretched to the point that it would not feed on the windless when the mount was strengthened and repaired.

The Fortress turned into a potato chip, all flukes were destroyed, the chank bent back on itself, and the attachment point on the shank distorted.

The boat remained in place.

Nearly every other boat was blown on shore and destroyed.

Fortress replaced every part that was damaged under warranty.

So, I would trust the Fortress sizing recommendation. All 5 of my boat's attachment points failed. The chain was near failure.

No point having an anchor that is stronger than the chain or attachment points.

Great thing your Fortress held and clearly you have done things right since your boat did not move. I am personally not in favour of using two anchors "in tandem" as you say (one anchor attached to the other) because the 2nd anchor if it sets/resets first prevents the primary anchor from setting/resetting properly which perhaps is what happened to your Bruce. All in all we have spent more that 10 years at anchor in all types of conditions. My personal preference is to rely on one (in my case a Spade) oversized primary anchor full stop. It is only in situations where my boat tacks heavily at anchor and in extreme wind conditions that I consider dropping a 2nd anchor (I have a spare Aluminium Spade and a Fortress) but then It has its own chain/rode and I place them in a V shaped configuration. In extreme situations I like the redundancy of two distinct rodes/chains and that it reduces tacking. That said in all these years, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I felt it was necessary to drop a second anchor. The conditions you describe do seem to warrant to anchors.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by Phyrcooler

To the OP, and maybe others - I guess I’m curious - why a fortress? And in answering, understand, I’m not trying to start an anchor wars discussion. It seems that most anchor tests consistently note that the “new generation” anchors are better. Yet, over and over I see that folks carry Fortress or Danforth style anchors as a stern or back-up anchor. Yet, I’ve not seen any reports that details that there are any situations where its a better anchor. So why? I used to think it was a storage issue. I actually had two Fortresses as backups (in storage!) on my Mainship 390 - bought by the PO. Never used either. But with anchors like the Mantus breaking down if storage is an issue - why go with fortress? Are there situations where you feel it’s better? Maybe lighter and able to dinghy out?

It’s an honest question, as I am looking for a new primary AND secondary/backup anchor for our new-to-us sailboat. Like most of us boaters, I’ve watched the tests, read the study’s, and read more than a few flaming anchor threads! Just curious on why the Fortress is the perceived “standard issue” for a backup anchor?

Thanks!

Well I have a Fortress 23 on my 40ft ketch which came with the boat.
In my opinion it's just a gloryfied Danforth Alu version so the advantage is IT IS LIGHT. On the other hand the Fortress can get bent just like any other Danforth.
Is it worth $800 ?
I have made a steel copy of a Danforth which including sandblasting and galvernising cost about $50 and a day of labour. So I have two, just in case.
My #1 is a Buegel anchor which, after 25000 ml, has draged only twice in heavy weed.
A 60lb 'new generation' cost about $1200+, one would have to pad lock the thing down so it's still on the bow in the morning.
All good