YACHT RACING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22922, 28 December 1937, Page 12

YACHT RACING

GROUND TACKLE ANCHORS AND CABLES . -SI attention of owners BY SPINDRIFT

"Out of sight, out of mind"—that can lie the only explanation for so many owners of pleasure craft being .careless about their ground tackle. They come into port thinking nothing but getting below or ashore; Irt go the anchor, anyhow and any. where, with insufficient chain out, and trust to Providence, Now the majority of small range from .'toft, to 40ft. in length, and their bower anchors weigh, or ' should do, bet ween 281b. and 601b." ' Anchors of even the latter weight are ~| not heavy enough to drive into a stiff sand or "mud bottom unless they are j pulled there by the drift of the craft, or by her going astern. Small anchors must have sharp-pointed flukes that, on being drawn forward, sinj, into the ground. This should be borne in mind by those who feel tempted to put their trust in stockless anchors, which look so neat and modern. The first pull on a stockless anchor does not draw it into the ground. Friction with the bottom has first to cant its arms, and very often the friction is insufficient to turn the points down. Again, roughness of the bottom may turn this | anchor on to its side, so that one arm sinks while the other rises clear. What then? Why, the arm that is in tha T , ' ground, being set at an angle to the shank, behaves like a propeller blade, turning the shank on its.axis, so that, eventually that arm, too, comes clear of the ground. Another anchor that is not so efficient as it looks, or as iis name implies, is the Admiralty - pattern anchor. This anchor is of the conventional stocked type, and the general impression it conveys is of plainness and strength. But these are not the sole necessary qualities in an anchor.. As has been explained, small anchors' have to be pulled into the ground. With its short shank and blunt-ended arms, the Admiralty anchor is more likely to score the bottom, than" to dig in. The shank of this anchor is nolonger than the top-to-tip width of thearms, and the palms that should compress the mud are flat spades that only dig it out ill lumps. ' '

The Fisherman Anchor So universally recognised as the most efficient of all plain anchors for general service is the Fisherman type of anchor in its improved form that you will rarely see any other on a small yacht equipped for serious cruising. The length of the shank in this anchor equals one and a-half times the spread; of the arms, and the length of thestock is but little less than the length, of the shank. At the crown, that is to say, -where the shank joins the arms; there is an extra thickness of metal, so that the arms may not bend back. • The points of this anchor are as Bharpas possible; the palms are leaf-shaped and concave inside, so that they coin-, press the mud without tearing it up. This anchor has only one bad feature, which it shares with other anchors, that have stocks. The stdck, when shipped. is held by an iron wedge passed through a slot in the stock, and unless that wedge is hammered in , until it nearly breaks, sooner or later it is sure to work out.

Grapnels Since it is the arm, or arms'/ of an anchor that do the holding, it would appear at first glance that the more-, arms an anchor had the firmer would' its hold be. That undoubtedly would be the ease once those arms Were firritly J bedded-in, but in practice only those that point nearly vertically downward tend to sink, and the effect of "the others is to prevent their doing so. Only in very soft mud does the four or five-armed grapnel hold better than!, a two-armed anchor. In that instance it sinks by its weight until three of the arms, if not all of them, may come into operation. The C.Q.R. Anchor ■ Recently there has been placed on the English market a yacht anchor, which, by all accounts, is as remark* able for holding power as it is for novelty of design. This, the C.Q.R'., looks exactly like two small ploughshares back to back with joined tips, a shank with a limited range of independent movement being attached to a fixed distance-piece between thpm. However it may strike the bottom this anchor, as soon as it is dragged, turns Point downward and then the shares, which are, in effect, one big palm, promptly start digging their way into the bottom. * , _

This anchor is by no means cheap, if you compare it with other anchors on a weight basis. But it is claimed to have double the holding power of a Fisherman anchor and four times that of a stockless one; so it should commend itself to many on the score of efficiency and the ease, owing to its lightness, with > which it can be handled. >. ■

Chain Cable No sea-going .craft, not even.* 20-footer, ought to rely on rope as Ber main cable. It is not just a matter of strength, but of durability and -of weight for keeping the anchor's shank steady on the bottom. Even a new lope, parcelled with rags against the rubbing of the stem fairlead. may chafe through in a few hours of uneasy riding between wind aud tide. It may get cut through against the vessel's forefoot, or torn to shreds on & stony bottom. Simply, it cannot be trusted.

The smallest chain obtainable for use with an anchor is of Jin. diameter metal. It is strong enough for a craft of the normal motor cruiser type up to a length of 2oft., but is not the best size for her. on account of its light weight. Anchored in a swell, nn-. less an abnormal length of chain were slip might ensilv pull such chain straight, jerking the anchor until it came free of the bottom. Another disadvantage of the smallest chain is that if it rusts at all it is not worth' re-galvanising, for by the time it has been scoured bright for re-galvanising there will he dangerously little- metal in it. Chain of o-16in. diameter will give better and longer service, whil® the difference in cost is a matter only of shillings. It will go well with * 281b. anchor, and Am. chain, in turn, is suitable for a 601b. anchor, r- . As to what length of chain a cruiser ought to carry, there is a great diversity of opinion, but really it is all.® ouestion of localitv. Tn a cruising ground 30 fathoms tnav do tor craft drawing un to :Mt., while sum a craft, cruising in deep water. wouK need double that quantity.. In any f >as< V a length is required equal to three times the depth oi the dee pes anchorage the boat is ever likely ride in; four times wuuhl make « safer in bad weather. Shackles and Chain Pipes || Tn any length of cable a cruiser will carrv there are bound to be snai . or split links adjoining the P iec ?r Make sure when shipping new £ a ._ that these joints will pass the chai - pipe easily, even when the chain twisted. It is a nasty situation for_ shackle to jam in the pipe anchoring. , , Conversely it is more than j. for vour cable to take charge, go * a rim, and all disappear overboarfl. leaving you with nothing. So _.i n forget to tie a firm knot " in t^le J -j. end, or put a large bolt j secured by a nut and with, the _ burred over*