"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
Here is a picture of a Spade S200 (steel, 120 lbs) on the bow of our
Grand Banks 49 trawler, about 80,000 lbs fully loaded:

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/5...croppedsc6.jpg

It has been our primary anchor now for 4 years and 14,000 nautical
miles of cruising, tested several times in 40 to 50 kt squalls with 3
to 4 ft seas. It has never dragged or pulled out, and almost always
sets the first time.

I prefer to see an anchor with a forged shank. That Spade anchor looks as if
the shank is cut from plate.
When I got my boat from USA it came with a 10kg Danforth anchor with a shank
that was cut from plate that only measures 3/16 thick. This for a boat
displacing 16000 lb!
What happens to a shank like that when the wind changes or the tide turns? I
have replaced it with a 17kg Bruce.

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:28:33 +0100, "Edgar"
wrote:

I prefer to see an anchor with a forged shank. That Spade anchor looks as if
the shank is cut from plate.

No way. The shank is a forged V-shape that helps the anchor to bury.
The chain would break at 17 or 18 thousand pounds before the shank let
go.