Greg,

We have an anchor survey on this site that shows a Manson Supreme on the bow of a C36. I bet 90% of members don't know it is there. We all need to spend more time perusing what is on this site; lots of GREAT stuff.

Go to Technical, then Reference, and the Anchor survey is at the top.

I switched to a 35 Manson Supreme. It works very well. I have never dragged. You will need a bigger arm over the roller for it to fit. Garhauer has them at reasonable price.

Enrique
Talisman '98 MK2 36' Hull #1673

Greg, you don't say where your sailing grounds are or what kind of bottom you're usually hooking into. That makes a huge difference in the anchor you'd want.

Speaking from personal experience in the rocky, kelpy, tough bottom of the Pacific Northwest (Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, and Canadian grounds) a Bruce is the WORST possible choice. It's cheap, which is the only positive thing anyone can say about it. I have drug more times on Bruces on various boats (instructing) than on all other types combined. I wouldn't have one on my boat. Someday I might even let people know how strongly I really feel about them.

Greg,
I agree with Enrique and Larry. I used to have a Bruce (and a bunch of others, too), and I now have a Manson Supreme. It is by far the best anchor I have ever used. There might be some type of bottom/situation where it won't hold, but I have not found it yet. Awesome holding power. Highly recommend it.

We also have a 35 lb. Manson Supreme. Fits just fine in the original (MK II 1999) roller, except we had to replace the bail with a taller one (Schaefer # 90-07). It is tight under the jib furler drum, so your mileage may vary!

We haven't yet anchored with it in any hairy situations, but so far, so good!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

I have the original Bruce anchor that came with the boat. It works fine in sandy or muddy bottom having anchored out in winds that shifted during the night and in squalls in SW Florida and on both the Atlantic side and the Bay side of the Florida Keys.

However, when a gale came up off the ICW in Sarasota I found it did not hold well were the bottom is some kind of grass. What I learned from that episode is to back the boat down with the engine up to about 3000 rpm to make sure the anchor is set in the bottom not just tangled in the Grass.

The Bruce did not hold well in the Bahamas on a rocky bottom on one occasion also.

Larry hates the Bruce so much he didn't even post my pics I sent him for the anchor survey....:p

My 33lb. Bruce has a perfect record on my cruising grounds of the northern Chesapeake Bay. That said, if I were in[I] need [/I]of a new anchor, I'd probably buy a Manson or one of the other newer designs.

I really liked the Bruce on my old boat, it really reset well. My area is most sand, grass and mud. It's important to find out what works in "your" area. The simplest way is to see what's on the front of the boats in "your" area.

My present boat has a Delta (35lb?) and a setup for a kellet using a mushroom anchor. Very impressed with this setup. The PO set me up well here.

[QUOTE=KnotDoneYet;21209] The simplest way is to see what's on the front of the boats in "your" area.
[/QUOTE]

Jim, that may not be the case. One never knows whether those boats are dock queens or marina hoppers. We have a very nice Nonsuch 36 on our dock with two (gasp!) CQRs on their bow. They use their boat a lot, but never anchor! You really need to meet the skippers to find out if that advice is helpful. I'd guess there's more "anchor-smarts" on this forum and ours, than most anywhere on any dock. I've read a LOT of other boating forums, too, and the new gen anchors are far superior to earlier, tried and true designs. Basically, forgetting about the roll bars for the moment, the area of the anchor is literally twice that of the older designs.