I just brought a vulcan 20 based on your testing. Good to have unbiased review rather than listening to the manufacturer pat themselves on the back. By far the best anchorman out there.
nice video! we just got a 55lb Vulcan for our Shannon 43, 13 ton sailboat. We're using it as the primary anchor from the bowsprit along with a back-up danforth up there as well. Can't wait to test it out. We found the same issue with the anchor moving around too much hanging from the bow roller so we're welding a short steel tube through the shank so we can insert a quick-release 1/2" diameter pin through the tube and holes on the side of the stainless bow roller to keep it from shaking. Hopefully that'll work! thx
Adding another "anchor" test video to your channel will increase the value of your channel by, say, maybe 3%, I'm guessing.....but adding another video that you do entitled "Everything I know about proper ANCHORING", would increase the value of your channel way more than that! You have the ability to make one of the most viewed "anchoring" (vs. "anchors") videos on all of youtube - because you are seen as the #1 expert on "anchors" themselves. See what I mean? I'd watch it!!!!
Been looking at the moment for my 40 ft cat, I was going to get a rocna but opted for the vulcan as it can be used with boats where the ancor roller is positioned under the bow . The rocknas bar over the top does not fit under my bow. now after watching this i am definatly choosing iy . thank you for all the work you put in so we can sit here and make informed desissions . Cheers Kai
I have a Vulcan 73 lb anchor on a Baltic 51. Very solid performance. It does like to swing in the roller and needs securing. It will self launch to an almost dangerous degree.
Thanks for all your helpful anchor work, Steve! And I just made a donation, too :) Ref the Vulcan: seems to me Peter Smith's video on the Rocna site suggests the shank buries itself just under the surface... and then the Vulcan drags along at that depth ever after. Apparently the tip is not ballasted, like a SPADE? If true, I'd have thought a ballasted tip would have been better, but Smith says he wanted to "avoid the blunt instrument of huge amounts of (dedicated) tip weight." Can't imagine why, unless there are fabrication issues... OTOH, if the fluke is a casting, I'd have guessed it'd be more work to create a hollow tip than it would have been to cast it solid. Also, I'd have thought a "droop snoot cutting toe" (Morgan Cloud's term for the Excel fluke tip) could have turned the Vulcan into more of a diving anchor. I guess I'm imagining a one-piece SPADE with fully encapsulated tip ballast and a diving tip... BTW, from comments I've read elsewhere, I', beginning to suspect your "soft mud" test area maybe isn't the same as the soup/slime/ooze we have in some places here on the Chesapeake Bay. Imagine being waist deep in mud, can't touch "bottom," and you have to "swim" to get out of it.
Steve you may have covered this in previous videos, but 5 to 1 scope isn't what i normally run. I usually go right out to 7 to 1, and if the wind is really strong 25+ knots i let out ten to one. Secondly, the weight of your chain is very important in keeping you in one place, I found three eights chain to be the best for my 32 foot Nicholson.
Your, “gun to head” comment is not insignificant in a rough sea state. I’ve been aboard a boat in 40 knot winds and 3.4 meter seas and the anchor literally launched itself from the roller back onto the deck and right through it lodging itself firm. The line that secured it had chafed right through. This was a 20kg delta. The good news it that it landed securely and not continuing to flail holing the hull at the waterline. I would think that a double roller would control that with the Vulcan…thoughts?
Good stuff. One point. The price/weight comparison looks to be very dodgy, at least for some markets. In the UK an Epsilon (scored 2) is just a little over half the price of a Vulcan (scored at 4). You could almost buy three Delta anchors (5) for the price of one Vulcan (4) - See Jimmy Green Marine.
Steve,
I just brought a vulcan 20 based on your testing. Good to have unbiased review rather than listening to the manufacturer pat themselves on the back. By far the best anchorman out there.
This video settled me on the Vulcan 15kg some months ago. Has'nt let me down yet. Thanks
Thanks for testing and sharing all your knowledge!
nice video! we just got a 55lb Vulcan for our Shannon 43, 13 ton sailboat. We're using it as the primary anchor from the bowsprit along with a back-up danforth up there as well. Can't wait to test it out. We found the same issue with the anchor moving around too much hanging from the bow roller so we're welding a short steel tube through the shank so we can insert a quick-release 1/2" diameter pin through the tube and holes on the side of the stainless bow roller to keep it from shaking. Hopefully that'll work! thx
I love you videos about the anchors, great stuff, thanks for your work!
The comparative charts are the best part of your videos. Good work.
Adding another "anchor" test video to your channel will increase the value of your channel by, say, maybe 3%, I'm guessing.....but adding another video that you do entitled "Everything I know about proper ANCHORING", would increase the value of your channel way more than that! You have the ability to make one of the most viewed "anchoring" (vs. "anchors") videos on all of youtube - because you are seen as the #1 expert on "anchors" themselves. See what I mean? I'd watch it!!!!
Excellent reviews mate
Been looking at the moment for my 40 ft cat, I was going to get a rocna but opted for the vulcan as it can be used with boats where the ancor roller is positioned under the bow . The rocknas bar over the top does not fit under my bow. now after watching this i am definatly choosing iy . thank you for all the work you put in so we can sit here and make informed desissions . Cheers Kai
Best anchor I ever had. Has never let me down not even once.
I have a Vulcan 73 lb anchor on a Baltic 51. Very solid performance. It does like to swing in the roller and needs securing. It will self launch to an almost dangerous degree.
It is indeed impressive, the Vulcan!
Thanks for all your helpful anchor work, Steve! And I just made a donation, too :) Ref the Vulcan: seems to me Peter Smith's video on the Rocna site suggests the shank buries itself just under the surface... and then the Vulcan drags along at that depth ever after. Apparently the tip is not ballasted, like a SPADE? If true, I'd have thought a ballasted tip would have been better, but Smith says he wanted to "avoid the blunt instrument of huge amounts of (dedicated) tip weight." Can't imagine why, unless there are fabrication issues... OTOH, if the fluke is a casting, I'd have guessed it'd be more work to create a hollow tip than it would have been to cast it solid. Also, I'd have thought a "droop snoot cutting toe" (Morgan Cloud's term for the Excel fluke tip) could have turned the Vulcan into more of a diving anchor. I guess I'm imagining a one-piece SPADE with fully encapsulated tip ballast and a diving tip... BTW, from comments I've read elsewhere, I', beginning to suspect your "soft mud" test area maybe isn't the same as the soup/slime/ooze we have in some places here on the Chesapeake Bay. Imagine being waist deep in mud, can't touch "bottom," and you have to "swim" to get out of it.
Great job as usual Steve and you
It might be useful to show the 20kg vs 25kg test results to show how size & weight impact holding for one anchor type.
Steve you may have covered this in previous videos, but 5 to 1 scope isn't what i normally run. I usually go right out to 7 to 1, and if the wind is really strong 25+ knots i let out ten to one. Secondly, the weight of your chain is very important in keeping you in one place, I found three eights chain to be the best for my 32 foot Nicholson.
Your, “gun to head” comment is not insignificant in a rough sea state. I’ve been aboard a boat in 40 knot winds and 3.4 meter seas and the anchor literally launched itself from the roller back onto the deck and right through it lodging itself firm. The line that secured it had chafed right through. This was a 20kg delta. The good news it that it landed securely and not continuing to flail holing the hull at the waterline. I would think that a double roller would control that with the Vulcan…thoughts?
Have 45lbs Vulcan. No complaints
Good stuff. One point. The price/weight comparison looks to be very dodgy, at least for some markets. In the UK an Epsilon (scored 2) is just a little over half the price of a Vulcan (scored at 4). You could almost buy three Delta anchors (5) for the price of one Vulcan (4) - See Jimmy Green Marine.