As any of us out on the Lake know anchoring always seems to be an issue with some people. From BoatUS:
For as long as humans have been floating around on the water in vessels, they’ve also needed a way to hold those vessels in place when not underway. One suspects that, from the very beginning, they have also argued about the best way to do that. And for as long as humans have been doing anchor tests, you can bet they’ve been arguing about the results, as well as the methodology, the bottom, the conditions, and the validity of the whole darn enterprise.
Recently, the Seaworthy editors were invited to observe the most sophisticated and comprehensive testing of anchors to date. Fortress Marine Anchors, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, organized the event to test 11 different anchors to determine the holding power of each in a typical soft mud bottom. The huge amount of data gathered during the tests shed some light on how well different anchors work, but as good science tends to do, also produced many questions, along with some surprises. The testing confirmed what many of us already know: Anchoring tends to be as much art as science and — even in the most controlled of circumstances — can be unpredictable. Despite that, every anchor test adds to our knowledge, not just of holding power in specific bottoms and under specific circumstances, but also of the importance of technique and experience in anchoring success. You can read the rest of thae article and see all of the test results at BoatUS
