Ovni 435

The standard set-up is OK, but the anchor was far from secure, and given that the last thing we wanted was to have 33 kg of angular metal coming adrift in bad weather, we made the following modifications;We had a new polyacetal roller turned, of a larger diameter than the original, which was too small in any case. The new one was made to fit the internal radius of the shank perfectly, so the Rocna now sits more snugly on the roller.;We drilled the shank to accept a full width 12mm keep pin – I know as manufacturer you would undoubtedly have preferred us not to do so [*], but there was little option. With this keep pin in place the anchor is secure for general cruising.;For long passages and heavy weather, we had a U shaped bracket made which, when inverted slots over the back of the shank near the end, and a second keep pin passes under it locking it in place. The shank cannot rise at all when this bracket is in place. It's a bit of a fiddle getting the keep pin in, so is a pain for day sailing, but worth the time and trouble for offshore.;We can also attach a line from the chain shackle back to a cleat we had welded in to the anchor locker next to the windlass, which normally takes the snubber line from the chain.;We had a handy drum made up for the kedge (25 kg Rocna) which clips on to a pair of lugs we had welded on to the foredeck at build for that purpose. The drum holds 100m of anchor-plait and 30m of 10mm G40 chain. It makes life far easier and the whole drum can easily be strapped down in the cockpit if we need to set the kedge from the stern, where we had an extra large guide and roller welded on so that the kedge warp leads straight on to the starboard primary winch – very useful on a boat like an Ovni that is designed for drying out, when the normal drill is to drop a kedge out from the stern to pull her off if necessary.;All in all it's pretty bombproof, and all works well.;We are still very pleased with our choice of main anchor. We anchor all of the time, and feel far more relaxed as we have such faith in the Rocna.;— Colin Speedie, owner SV Pelerin UK. Website: http://www.wave-action.com/;* Nb. we advise against the use of retaining pins for a number of reasons (although Colin has mitigated one of them with his over-the-top bracket). Please read more on anchor retainment.