Rocna Anchor Recall

[mainesail]

Here's why the letter above from Rocna is pure rubbish. This was posted by Grant King Rocna's ex general manager. I have more photos of bent Rocna's inadvertently copied to me. Unfortunately I have been asked not to distribute them until they become PUBLIC RECORD... Grant knows the real story...

In a private email to me from Metal Test Laboratories in Auckland on 26 August 2009 I was told the following :

The piece cut off the Chinese product was analysed and hardness tested only.  The steel was a low carbon steel with a small chromium addition, but the steel had not been quenched and tempered, so the hardness was only 6 Rockwell C, not 25 Rc as required for Bisalloy 80.

This was the result of cutting a shank of a Rocna anchor that had been submitted for a galvanising test only. The facility was testing a batch of NZ shanks for hardness at the time and they proceeded to test the Chinese one for hardness in order to compare with the NZ ones.

The details of this test were suppressed by Rocna when advised of the results. I was told to not investigate it further.

I will forward the relevant email to YBW mods for confirmation of fact if requested.

[DarthOccam]

Michael,
What model or weight of Manson did you buy? How does it fit to our anchot locker lid?
Thank you,
Yonar

I purchased the Manson Supreme 35lb.  It fits very well on the longer roller of the mkII, and there's no problem with clearance into the anchor locker.  I did replace the bail on the roller as recommended by Joe Kern (http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5336.msg39251.html#msg39251) and it launches without drama and stays clear of the furler.

Back to the Rocna situation, I would be leery of any product sourced from China where the material specifications mattered.  Rocna's product testing aside, there are too many examples where there was a substitution that wasn't caught.

[scotty]

So... lots of conflicting information, which is itself part of the problem.  After some back and forth with West Marine, they confirm that the Rocna 15 anchor that I bought in January, 2011 is indeed part of the "recall" (quote from West Marine, "The item 9261645 you purchased below shows to be on the recall list.").  Rocna says it is not (quote from Rocna's e-mail to me, "...no 15kg Rocna's were part of the batch of reduced grade steel shipped to the North America market.").  Feels like I'm standing between two corporations having a "he said - she said" argument. I like the Rocna and it's setting charactoristics, but I'm going back to the drawing board and checking out other anchors.  Haven't yet made a final decision.

[dbpaul]

Dear Johnboy

Well if I had that bent Rocna anchor, I would use a come along winch and a fish scale and unbend that anchor and see how many pounds of force it took to do it.

The anchor in the picture shows a fantastic, smooth, uniform bend......this tells me something about the design.

In the steel that they used in the anchor, I'm curious how close the ultimate and yield are.


paulj     

[Jim Hardesty]

I'm still curious about the conditions when the anchor was bent.  A fellow Yacht Club member has a "CQR" ,not a knock off, anchor with a very twisted shank, the result of a hurricane.  The boat rode out the hurricane (I don't remember the name but was one of the big ones) thanks to multiple anchors.  What I'm saying is just because the shank bent (better than breaking or weld failure).  Doesn't necessarily say that the anchor was defective or a bad design.   Need to know the whole story before making a decision. 
Having said that I don't trust Chinese material either.
Jim

[dbpaul]

Jim Hardesty

I'm with you about how the anchor was deformed.

All the video tests on the anchors that I've seen was how well they set from different angles.

Seems to me now, that the anchor tests should have included a pull force measured from at least 90 degrees from the original pull line after the anchor was set.

I have no experience in anchoring in severe conditions that some sailors face on a regular basis.

Well I'm going to keep my Rocna anchor it was made in Italy.


paulj

[Stu Jackson]

Wouldn't that make it a spaghetti anchor? 

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

How do you know if you have one of the Chinese anchors?

[Stu Jackson]

How do you know if you have one of the Chinese anchors?

Good question. Seems like a lot has to do with the date you purchased it.  In addition to the "he said, she said" WM vs. Rocna stuff posted earlier.

One would have to do some research on the Rocna issue, or perhaps someone here knows.

I bought mine when they were a brand new item through a dealer in British Columbia thanks to a local group effort by the C36 Fleet 9 here in San Francisco.

Discussion of them began in the "Anchoring 101" topic, check out the "101 Series" sticky topic if you're interested.

[mainesail]

How do you know if you have one of the Chinese anchors?

Most of the Chinese Rocnas have Rocna embossed on the fluke. Some early Chinese ones may not have, and bigger sizes do not, but the 10, 15 & 25kg anchors should. This is because the flukes on the Chinese Rocna's are cast and the embossing is in the cast..

[Stu Jackson]

The second picture in Reply #9 shows our Rocna 10:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4457.0.html

The only "signage" is the label on the side, nothing on the top of the fluke.

YMMV

[Hawk]

Well my Rocna has the embossed name on the fluke but I didn't have to wait for WM to get back to me as I received a nice postcard from WM in California setting out the Product Specification Notice for my 15 kg anchor.
WM does say I can return it which I will do....but has Rocna said the recent anchors are back up to spec or is this the "new" "fit for purpose" specification. Talk about lawyer speak - "fit for purpose" is right out Sales of Goods Act legislation.

An exchange for a Manson may be the way to go.........

Hawk