I hate to start an anchor thread but wanting feedback on Ronca anchors for any body that has one.
We bought the first Rocna anchor sold in the Pacific Northwest. It was made under license from Rocna by Suncoast Marine in Vancouver, British Columbia. We were directed to Suncoast by Rocna when I talked to them in New Zealand because shipping the size of anchor we needed would have cost more than the anchor. which at the time cost close to $1,000. Rocna said that Suncoast used even better manufacturing methods than they did.
So our Rocna is made the way it is supposed to be made out of the materials it's supposed to be made of. As we cannot replace it, we keep it locked to the boat.
We have been using our Rocna for many years now and in a wide variety of bottoms--- packed mud, soft mud, oozy mud, gravel, sand, rock and gravel, weedy, etc. It has never once failed to set (yet) and it has never dragged (yet), even with two boats hanging on it in 30 knot winds.
But you know what they say about anchors. Every anchor sets perfectly until the day it doesn't, and no anchor ever drags until the day it does.
Based on our experience, the only other anchor we would consider using if we were in the market for one is the SARCA. While I feel the design of the Rocna is a wee bit superior to the SARCA (SARCA owners feel the opposite
), I believe both anchors are equally superb. I don't know if the SARCA is available in the US today or if the only way to get one is to buy it from the manufacturer and have it shipped over.
I have heard good things about the Manson, but I have also heard and read enough bad things about the Manson, particularly having to do with its slotted shank, to not want one, at least not with the Rocna and SARCA on the market. I also believe the design of the Manson is inferior in a couple of specific ways to that of the Rocna and SARCA.
The current Rocna is made in China at Canadian Metals' wholly-owned subsidiary. This is NOT the same place that Rocnas were made when production was first shifted to China by Holdfast, who bought the rights to manufacture the Rocna from Peter Smith.
The way to identify a Chinese-made Rocna is by the raised lettering on the underside of the lip at the wide end of the fluke. If it has the name of the anchor there, it was made in China. I do not know how to tell the difference visually between the original and iffy Chinese-made Rocnas and the current ones.
With regards to China's manufacturing ability, they make what they are told to make, the way they are told to make it. Nordhavn's are made in Xiamen, China (I've been through the plant). Major components of our airplanes are made in China (We've worked in the plants). Their work is outstanding and is as good, and in some cases better, than than the work done in the US. In general, the attitude of the workers in China toward their work, at least in the plants I've been in, is superior to what I see on average in the US. How long that lasts remains to be seen.
The Chinese also make crap. So do we. That's because the things being ordered are specified to be crap.
I don't know anything about the current quality of Rocna anchors other than what I read. Were we in the market today, our first choice would probably be a SARCA assuming we could tolerate the shipping cost. Our second choice would be a new Canadian Metals Rocna simply because I don't know for sure about the quality. If I knew the Canadian Metals Rocna is as well made as the original Rocna we have now, I would buy it over the SARCA.
There would be no third choice.