Anchors

I swear I'm not biased, but the Sarca Excel supplied by said bondage guy is freckin amaze-balls.
Set's in 1 to 1.5 times it's own length.
When backing down I actually tell everyone to sit down. If you do it too fast it's like backing into a brick wall.
Once I have backed down, I like to put it into reverse at about 1800 rpm (enough speed to normally do about 4 knts) and demonstrate it is set. Then I sleep super well.

on my old plough, it just wouldn't set. I'll see if I can find those photos.

Here we have photos of my old plough and the new Sarca Excel #4 (16kg I think). Arkles Bay at low tide. Typical bottom type ot many Gulf anchorages. Sand and shell. Finer sand further out but this stuff is sand and shell.

You will note the plough would fall on it's side. Once it had done this it just would not set. Even though it is hinged, all the weight is at the top, and it would not sit on it's flukes unless you balanced it carefully and held the weight of the shank. Not sure how you achieve that from a yacht in 7m of water. This confirmed my concerns about this anchor, that effectively I was being held by a pile of chain on the sea floor.

As can be seen, the Excel would set immediately. Like within 1 anchor length. Hopefully from the first photo you can get an understanding of the anchor shape / geometry.  It doesn't matter how you drop the anchor onto the sea floor. You can drop it, roll it, chuck it. It will always end up sitting in that attitude on the tip of the anchor, one fluke and the end of the shank. As soon as it moves / is pulled forward, the tip of the anchor buries as easily as a woke lefty gets offended. If sitting on flat ground, the tip is angled down like a concorde nose. So even if it's sitting flat on it's flukes, the tip has weight on it and wants to bury itself. I've added a photo from the au website of it sitting flat, so you can see how it sits on the tip.

I think Rocna styles may be similar but they use the roll bar to get it onto it's tip. The Excel doesn't have the roll bar so fits on bow rollers without fouling the pushpit and what not easier. The front part of the tip is solid, so there is a dead weight to get the tip down and set, that is basically why it is so good.

very happy with my ROCNA (original Kiwi made version), there is now a Mk II version which is quite a bit more refined

Sarca Excel, had on two boats now, first thing I'd buy for next one.
Gave them both plenty of real world tests.
Last week had 40+ and pretty lumpy.
I slept OK.

Excellent !  Thanks fish that’s the test I remember 

Sarca excel. Second one I have added when buying a new boat. They stick. Have tested it in 50k plus winds, winds that have rotated etc and it holds.

Friends now have them and are all equally happy.

Of all the anchors out there the first 3 I'd put on mine are Excel, Spade and Fortress. The 3 that lead the respective design theories.

The NZ made rocnas are very good and far better than the later version chinese ones, which are the vast majority these days. The downside rocna has is they are the worse value for money on the market. That sticker on the side is a horrendous price due to all the ticket clippers in the supply chain. You can buy the same anchor (with 2 small design improvements) made of the same metal in the same country for 1/3 of the price. That's why so many rocnas you see on bows actually aren't rocnas, they are Shovels. But if I had one (NZ Made) I wouldn't throw it away I'd be using it.

If your Bruce is a genuine one keep it, they have a cult following so if the right eyes see it there could be a few bucks to be had. If it is Claw then dump the piece of crap.

So I'd be looking at -
Excel
Spade
Sarca
Supreme
Shovel
Rocna which could be higher if the price wasn't so bullshit.

One of the best tests ever done had the Supreme pulling better numbers than the Rocna. In our world we regard both as the same performance wise. Both got beaten by 2 others but for 90% of boaters we are talking 'What shall we use to pop down to the dairy? The Aston,the Ferrari or the Jag?' i.e. if they use any correctly they should be fine.

That same test, and many others, showed the BIG gap from the above bunch back to the plows, deltas and the likes. Not saying if you have one you're nuts but if you ever need to replace one you'd be crazy not to upgrade. The biggest bonus the new ones have is setting, they do it so well even the idiots are getting well anchored. Not many should ever be in a position to test ultimate holding load.

Watch for oversized size guides. Pete has sized his closer to mooring weight than anchor but he's not alone. Excel and Sarca are aussie speced and they think 5mof tiny chain is all you need so if you use proper chain then you can consider one down (tell me boat, windage level and what will be between the anchor and boat, I'll tell you what I reckon)