Yay! Another windlass question - Lofrans/320

[Kevy]

Hi all,

I think I've finally decided on a windlass and will go with a Lofrans X2 on my Hunter 320. I've been going back and forth on the decision and got some great advice and help from Ralph and others.

The Lofrans X2 is for 5/16 chain and I'd like to go with as much as possible. I'm thinking about getting 120', plus 9/16 rode to a total 250 or 300'.

It seems like with the 320 I'm sort of on the cusp between 1/4 and 5/16, but I have a Rocna 15kg anchor and the recommendation for that is the 5/16. I realize there will be more weight in the bow, but I also figure I can always decrease the amount of chain later if necessary.

Anyway, just thought I'd see if anyone had experience with the Lofrans X2 and Hunter 320s out there, or any suggestions on the chain/rode. In the end I wonder if I'll just sleep better with the larger recommended chain or if I'll just regret the weight.

Cheers.

 

[jssailem]

I think you will be happy with that set up in the area you sail. The chain should not be too much. You can easily test. Walk to the bow. If you can stand on the bow with out significantly seeing the bow dink beneath the boats water line then the chain weight will not have much more effect. You can get HT chain that is a little lighter than BBB. Here is a short primer on anchor chain. https://www.cruisingworld.com/how/your-chain-explained-understanding-anchor-chain/
You will want to know that your chain will match your gypsy.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I have ground tackle nearly as you describe on my 38-ft Bavaria yacht. Namely, 160 ft of 5/16” chain backed by 200 ft of 9 /16” 3-strand nylon rope fed through a Lewmar Sprint 1000 windlass. The anchor, however, is a 45# Suncor Plowmaster. Both chain and anchor are stainless.

We anchor a lot (30 - 40 nights on the hook/yr in recent years) in anchorages protected from sea swells, but experiencing winds gusting at times to 32 kt, but most often to less than 25 kt. It works. I’m rarely beyond the chain b/c we typically anchor in 30 ft or less. That allows for up to a 5:1 scope on all chain. The rope-chain splice goes through the gypsy, but not smoothly. The chain will “kink” at the splice so must be manually ushered through at that point, as in pulling the rope on recovery to assist the spice moving through.

 

[Kings Gambit]

IMHO, you should survey your typical anchoring depths; say usually not more than, say, 40 ft, and carry at least a 4:1 scope of chain for that depth. That would be 160 ft. Then back with nylon rode to reach at least a 7:1 scope. So, you’d need at least 120 ft more of rode.

The reason is that if you deploy all of the chain and then swing on much nylon in a windy place, you lose some of the benefit of anchoring on all chain. My full tackle is calculated to a scope of 7:1 in 50 ft; but 4:1 all chain in 40 ft. As I said, however, we’re usually around 30 ft where it would be 5:1 on all chain.