Late last fall, we had a thread here about mooring ideas. At that time, I was proposing to use 8-10 60# cast iron "stage bricks," chain them together & bury them at low tide. This past week, I returned to this question & pursued the helix anchor option with renewed vigor. I am now committed to this latter option but would like some additional experience/advice on how much holding power the collected wisdom would suggest is adequate. Grasshopper is a 23.5. With gear onboard, I'd guess displacement is 3,500+ lbs. After a little more research this morning, I came across a table which suggests our size sailboat generates about 1,500 lbs of load at 52 knot winds; 2,200 lbs at 64 knot winds (hurricane strength). Given our fairly high freeboard, these data might be a tad low. However, in that Grasshopper is trailerable, she isn't going to left out in even 50 knot winds; she'd be back on the trailer. Our mooring area is excellent sand. Helix's are not for rocky bottoms, hard sand, or muddy mooring scenarios. I'd be able to self-install & will simply go out during low tide & install in 2'-3' of water. The pricing on helix anchors is really quite attractive. I was looking at a used 350# mushroom for $280. The strongest helix I'm considering is half that & much, MUCH easier to install. My main question here is how much holding should I be looking to provide? I know it's always smarter to err on the side of caution/safety, but I also don't believe in shooting mice with elephant guns. The options I'm considering are for: 3,000-3,500 holding - 31 lbs, 8' shaft, $140 2,500-3,000 holding - 21 lbs, 5.5' shaft, $105 2,000-2,500 holding - 15 lbs, 4' shaft, $90 Thoughts/suggestions/experience? Thanks, Kevin Fitzpatrick s/v Grasshopper Hunter 23.5 Brownsville, VT (Link is to the helix mooring site.)