Knox spade or rocna?

[steveyates]

This post caught my eye

————- Re: penultimate sail of the season....dragging anchor....
Post by Nick » Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:19 am

wully wrote:
I've just invested in a Spade anchor - hope it copes with the west coast weed better than the CQR's I've been using.

I'm keeping a Fortress and a spare warp for it on board- that seems to cut through the weed quite well.
You'll love the Spade - nothing better than going into Canna on a windy evening, slinging the Spade over and having it set rock solid first try, then sitting in the cockpit having a dram watching people fishing for kelp!———.

It was before prof knox actually launched his anchor, so as you all regularly anchor on the west coast I was wondering if you have any experience of the knox over the spade or rocna, particularly in places like canna?

I will be swapping my old cqr this summer for a new gen, and while I’m sure they are all good, I have a bias towards the Knox as its a scottish company. But only if it is as good as or better than the others.

[marisca]

I declare an interest as I am using a Knox specially modified to fit my boat by the Professor himself! That being said, I have experience of the Spade and the Knox and both give that confidence giving bow dip as they bite, something I never got from my ersatz CQR which needed much more careful laying and gradual tensioning. I reckon if Knox or Spade (or other NG anchor) are your choices, what fits your boat best becomes the deciding factor. Prof. John changed the profile of the Knox roll bar to fit round my forestay while maintaining its function and it sits very neatly on my roller.

[steveyates]

Thats service for you!

[wully]

FWIW..

Holding. - Nothing between them once set.

Setting - I think in heavy kelp/weed the Spade is just ever so slightly better as it doesn't have to roll bar to get tangled if you are a bit less precise in where it lands.. It's also easier - just- to get the kelp off it on recovery.

Cost - The Spade is/ was more expensive and doesn't seem so widely available.

Stowage - The spade comes apart if you want to tuck it away somewhere and the Rocna gives you a downloadable template to check it will fit your boat.

There is really no way to objectively test them back to back in identical circumstances but I thought both were excellent and would probably choose on cost and availability if I was buying again.