Anchor advice

[Festinghouse]

id use 4m chain, and 30m of 10mm rope for your set up. as you say, its not the titanic but scope still applies, as does the need for chain.

[Zagato]

I use a CQR anchor on the yacht and a Danforth as the kedge. I also have folding grapnel for the tender.

If I were in a RIB I would have a Danforth and a folding Grapnel - this will cover you for pretty well all types of sea bed

I have 60m of chain on the CQR and 10m of chain plus 30m of rope on the kedge. It all depends on your motoring grounds

[IanH]

Sounds like I need a bigger sib and more powerful outboard for the anchors and chain

Festinghouse, your advice seems more appropriate. What size chain? Is 6mm galvanised ok?

On some of the cheap anchor kits sold for jet bikes, they come with what looks like a small fender. What is that for and is one recommended?

Is it a good idea to use a carabiner to connect the anchor to the towing D ring on front of sib? If so, any suggestions for the carabiner and how to rig as I'm not necessarily going to want all the line out.

[Festinghouse]

6mm should be fine, i dont like the idea of fixing the anchor to just one point - just in case! ive always fixed to two points at least, in case one should fail - front d rings on sibs arent the strongest and in the past ive tied a short rope to one side ring, passed through the front ring, and tied to the other side ring - forming a bridle.
the fender (or float) is so that the anchor can be left in position whilst playing on a jetski making it easy to secure the ski when returning to the beach - the float simply stops the karabiner and rope sinking when detached.

[IanH]

Thanks for that. My zodiac has three rings on the front, one for lift/painter and two for a towing bridle. I think what I will do is make a bridle between the two tow d rings - zodiac say not to use the lift/painter ring for towing so I guess that is not as strong - iirc that it is also larger and made of plastic.

What you say about the jet ski float makes sense now. I initially dismissed it but now think it may be useful incase I drop the carabiner - its going to sink unlike a rope end.

[Cooper Anchors]

Originally Posted by IanH

I really like the look of the Cooper Anchor. Anyone have any experience on one on an airfloor sib approx 3.6m long, (ie just past recommended boat length of 3.5m) on southern UK waters, bays and rivers?

I don't care that it reinvents the wheel. Many a modern material has been used to better traditional materials and I don't see why anchors should not benefit in the same way.

Whilst I'm on subject, recommended length/size of chain and rope would be useful to know if someone could assist. Its a 3.6m sib in inshore/river waters, not the titanic. I think the Arun harbour entrance is about 1.4m with 5.5m tidal range so I guess I need nearly 50m which sounds a lot to me.

Hi Ian
We can't recommend the Cooper 1kg Nylon Anchor for boats over 3.5m in length.
However Ian, if you decide to give it a try we will still offer you a money back satisfaction guarantee, if you are not happy with it you can return it to our UK forwarder.
Cheers Larry Cooper