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.. What brand of anchor is that? I like the groved shank feature for a sliding ring. I haven't seen that on any danforth type anchors. [QUOTE]
Don't remember for sure as I've had it for about 30 years, but I believe it's a Hooker. It seems to be one of the better sliding ring anchors. The best sliding ring anchor I've ever seen is a Benson, which is mostly all cast steel. Most sliding ring anchors appear to be very cheaply made and I wouldn't trust one for any serious anchoring. I used to have a Benson but lost it trying to do an anchor dive in 4' seas on the old Amarylis off Singer Island . . . DUMB move! Very difficult to anchor dive here because of current; should have done a float dive and just drifted over it!
Unfortunately I managed to bend the shank on that anchor yesterday!
Near as I can tell, I think the boat was still moving forward when I dropped it, and with 20' of chain, it REALLY digs in quick. When wind/current took over, looks like it pulled the shank backwards; surprised the ring didn't slide and just pull it out. I believe it's just cheap low carbon steel, which yields at about 30-35,000 psi. Looks like the tensile side of shank yielded (bent) and the other side that was in compression simply buckled. Ran some quick numbers and it would only take about a 150 lb load to bend it, which I think a 2800 lb boat could easily generate. Looking for a shop that might be able to straighten it. I don't have the tools to put that much load on it.