Anchor Sizing

maverick354 · Post by **maverick354** » Mon May 15, 2017 11:12 am

Hi There, I have a 35 Bertram and looking at a new Claw Anchor. 15kg (33lbs). Any thoughts to if this would be sufficient or is the 20kg (44lbs) going to be the better option. thanks for the input..

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Wed May 17, 2017 9:39 am

Maverick... First of all welcome to the Bertram 33 (and 35!) sandbox. If you have been lurking here for a while you already know that here you will find a great bunch of guys who are very willing to share their knowledge of their Bertrams. One sort of rule here is no question is out of bounds because the poster thinks it is too simple or shows a lack of understanding. The dumb question is the one that never gets asked, so feel free to ask anything. To address your question, my personal feeling is that anchor selection is not a simple choice.. I hope I don't sound condescending, but it all depends on what you do with your boat, and where you do it. Bottom conditions (sand, mud, rocky, weeds, etc, etc.} are all things that must be considered as well as whether you expect to anchor for a couple hours of fishing, or ride out a storm. When a storm is coming you will always wish you had a larger anchor, when you anchor for an hour for lunch you will wish your anchor weighed less so it would be easier to retrieve. My advice is to read manufacturer's suggestions. and read suggestions from sites like the West Marine Adviser, as well as any articles you can find online. My personal feelings are manufacturer's suggestions should be upgraded to the next largest size over the size they recommend, and use chain between the anchor rode and the anchor itself. Some people recommend chain as long as your boat, but that seems to me to be excessive, but again, in a severe blow more is better. And finally, check your local marinas and see what locals use, then discount the smallest 50%. I think it is best to assume at least half the boaters you will find either don't know how to select an anchor, or how to actually deploy and then set an anchor even in calm conditions. Good luck and let us know what you decide.