What Sized Anchor Do I Need?

We are often asked the question "What sized anchor do I need for my boat?" There are many types and styles of anchor available today, and over recent years a number of iterations and developments have taken place to optimise anchor holding capacity for a given weight of anchor, and to optimise the ability of an anchor to set.  The setting ability of an anchor it related to its abiltiy or tendency to dig itself into the sea bed as easily and quickly as possible, which ever way it lands.

As all experienced sailors know, when anchoring it is necessary to establish that the anchor is holding and not dragging and many factors can effect this, the most obvious being size and weight of boat, sea bed type, wind and tide strength, and also the amount of chain let out.  There are many sources of detailed information on these aspects of anchoring.

This brief size selection guide relates anchor weight to boat length to give the buyer a means of choosing a suitable weight of anchor for their boat.  It draws on various sources of publicly available information and is a little on the conservative side, as in our experience many boat owners prefer to use a slightly larger anchor.  If in doubt please go up a size.

This size table is broadly applicable to the Bruce type anchor, Delta type anchor and Danforth type anchor.