Since 2015, American Steve Goodwin has been publishing a series of YouTube tests on the relative performance of nearly every type of yacht anchor on the market. He tests with varying rode lengths and three different seabed conditions (sand, mud and cobblestones). The series can be found here
https://www.youtube.com/user/flygoodwin/videos. There are 90 videos so far and they’re still being made. Unlike a lot of tests, these ones involve videoing the anchors underwater as they set (or not) on the seabed. You should be able to find among the 90 a video of a large version of your own anchor being tested.
It’s interesting that Matt is specifying the Spade anchor for the new BRe bowsprit anchor launching system mentioned by Thomas. It comes out very well, perhaps best of all, in these tests. Older-style anchors like the CQR and Bruce, plus cheap knock-offs, do not do so well and most anchors (other than perhaps grapnels and the fisherman) struggle with rock and heavy weeds.
The older generation of new style anchors, such as the Rocna and Manson Supreme, do well by setting almost immediately on the first drop into mud but not nearly so well on 180° resets. There are reports that occasional failed resets with these anchors in high winds have ended with yachts washing up on the beach. The problem appears to be sticky mud adhering to the flukes. Goodwin’s unusual remedy for this is to drill multiple holes in the flukes (see below), which somehow prevents the mud from sticking. After that, they also perform well on resets. Sailing on the River Mudway with a Manson, this is of particular interest to me. I also carry a Fortress, which is initially very good in mud, although after watching his video I won’t trust it overnight to reset in mud, as like the Manson it can become clogged up.
