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| Anchor Sizing for Tollycraft 40 Tri-Cabin:
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For 15 years, publisher Bob Hale was the Northwest representative for Bruce Anchors. Because of his expertise, Bob is commonly asked about anchor sizing. This question came from Bill Haimes, a local compass adjuster and repairman:
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Sept. 7, 1999
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When I was adjusting compasses at the Roche Harbor Tollycraft Rendezvous my wife fell in love with a boat. As I write this we are hours away from being the proud owners of a 40 tri-cabin. The boat is great and very clean, only a few minor problems. One of which is the anchor. It's a 20-pound home-made stainless steel knock-off of a Danforth. It will look pretty in a stowage bracket on the bow. As a real anchor I think I need a Bruce. The boat weighs 24,500 pounds on 40 feet. I think the 30 Kg. model is right. What does your table say?
--Bill Haimes
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Response
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You're right about the brand--you want a Bruce. They just plain work. We anchor a lot, in all kinds of bottoms--deep, shallow, rocky, weedy, good holding and poor--and the Bruce bites every single time. Bruce is the anchor most often seen up the coast. There's got to be a reason.
Now to sizing. I don't think you need a 30 kg (66-pound) Bruce. I put a 44-pound Bruce on our Tolly 37, even though the sizing chart says a 33 should be good to 39 feet. For the typical boat, I've found it better to go up one size whenever I get close to the crossover between two sizes.
If I had a tri-cabin Tolly 40, it too would get a 44-pounder. There's not that much difference between the two boats. My Ideal windlass gypsy will accept 1/4-inch high test chain, which is approximately as strong as 3/8-inch BBB. I put 300 feet of brand-new 1/4-inch high test on, and that's enough. The Bruce allows me to anchor on 3:1 scope with no problems. The 1/4-inch chain is lighter than 5/16 or 3/8, and that's a big factor on those older Tolly 40 tri-cabins. They're a little heavy by the bow, and you want to keep the front as light as you reasonably can.
--Bob Hale
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