How Does The "navy" Style Anchor Compare

[Seafarer]

I recently picked up a large "Navy" style anchor, with the intention of making it my storm anchor.

Does anyone here use, or have experience with, these style of anchors?

How "oversized" an anchor should I need as a storm anchor for a 35' 15,000lb sailboat?

[Nausikaa]

A navy anchor, or stockless anchor as it also is known, is opne of the poorest holding anchors.

When NAUSIKAA came into my ownership there was a navy style anchor on board. It is still there and I keep it as one never knows when a bit of extra holding power will be needed but weight for weight the navy, stockless or admiralty pattern anchors are not so good.

Aye // Stephen

[Seafarer]

What about the Navy makes it such a poor performer? Is it a universal performance, or is there a certain bottom type that it is particular poor at? What bottom does it hold best in?

Would my 150lb Navy perform worse than a 45lb or 60lb plow?

[JeanneP]

Is this the anchor you're referring to?



An anchor's holding is dependent upon its being able to hold onto the bottom. *The weight of the anchor alone is not sufficient to hold the boat. *For mud or sand bottoms, you want the largest surface area possible to dig into the bottom, and you want the anchor to set quickly and reliably. *The Navy anchor pictured above might be good in a rock bottom, though getting it out might be problematic, but for mud or sand there just isn't a large enough fluke to hold onto the bottom without plowing a furrow in the sand or mud, and its shape will cause it to lever itself out of sand or mud as the boat moves around.

IMO, the navy anchor is useless for anything except a last-ditch effort to save your boat when everything else has been thrown at it, or when you are anchoring in a rocky bottom, or as a lunch hook in calm weather.*

[Nausikaa]

The photograph shows a fisherman's anchor. A naval anchor does not have a stock.

[MMNETSEA]

Depending on its size and weight the Navy anchor obviously has been in use for a long long time

- so I guess it must be good for holding in some strata. If one could find a navy anchor of a weight that could be lifted by a sailboats windlass - it might be useful. Over the years designs for sailboat anchors have produced anchors are specific for certain types of ground and a few that are multi-purpose.