I have been living on my Pacific Seacraft Orion 27 since Nov. 2011 I started from Cambride, MD , spent the first winter in Farendena, FL. Went back north as far as Washington,NC. proceeded south to Southport NC. I left Southport June 22 2012 arrived at Clearlake TX August 25 2012 and was hit by a Searay speed boat 2 hours after arriving. I have lived on the hook all but 9 days of that time. I have a Rocna 10 kilo and a Rocna 15 kilo that is presently my primary anchor, I have been very happy with them up to this point. We were having easterly wind of sustained 15 to 20 knots with gusts of up to 35 knots. When I noticed that I was draging down wind at a very slow rate of under 1 knot. My primary has never done that with all the varied bottoms that I encountered traveling the ICW from Southport around the Keys to Clearlake. I pulled the anchor and noticed that it hadn’t completely burried itself having the rollbar showing the upper third clean of mud. I have an all chain rode of 5/16 ” g4 and always set my anchor by backing down at 2300 rpms on the 2Qm15 Yanmar engine that is in Thalassa. I have been doing my own tests with a Mantus 8lb that I purchased at Boaters resale. I do admit that my testing is a little ruthless but I have no time in my life for fabicated truth. I have had the Mantus taking all the strain for the past 2 weeks on Clearlake with 12 feet of 1/4 chain and 3/8″ rode of about 15 meters. I have reset the anchor every other day from my dinghy, and am very pleased with the holding as well as the retrieval. It sets quickly, holds fast and can be retrieved with the dinghy. It has come to the surface with no mud clogged on the fluke but once, and that time there was only about 20% of the fluke covered, witch was easily cleared with a few dunks in the water. The performance has been as good or better than my 16.5 lb claw anchor that I have to retrieve with Thaalassa, not being able to pull it out of the bottom with the dinghy. Clearlake has got a top cover of pudding mud that covers really hard mud. I will be leaving for North Carolina within the month after I redo the standing rigging on Thalassa, I have an old master fiberglass craftsman that I have worked with in North Carolina and will take Thalassa there to have the job done properly.

Just to let you know that the Mantus 8/9 pound anchor is doing great on my Bahamas cruise. Since l sailed over here in my 12 foot boat, I could only carry one anchor and I’m glad I choose your product. As advertised it sets quickly and holds well in many bottom types.  Of course the little boat gets a lot of attention and people also ask about my ground tackle which I’m happy to show them since I’m often in the shallows or dried out in the flats. Well keep up the good work.

Dave Bolduc
Exumas, Bahamas

“..this was my second time anchoring with my new Mantus anchor, and wow, once again it was pretty incredible… this captain is super happy with the holding power of his anchor!”
Full story: Perfect trip to Friday Harbor and Mantus proves itself again
-Brian W.
S/V Aeolus

Anchor Away
Created by a cruising sailor frustrated by the performance of traditional ground tackle, the Mantus anchor—available in galvanized or stainless-steel models—is a high-performance, “new generation” anchor especially designed to set and hold in hard or grassy bottoms. Formulated with steel plate and no cast parts (the shank and shank boot are welded from top to bottom, and the shank and roll bar are bolted to the fluke), the anchor’s “nose” is reinforced for extra strength, and every Mantus comes with a lifetime guarantee.
$90 to $940 (galvanized models), (855) 262-6887, www.mantusanchors.com

http://www.cruisingworld.com/gear/hardware/aprils-new-products

Mantus passes first test on trip to Blake Island

For a full story: http://gulf32aeolus.blogspot.com/2013/01/mantus-passes-first-test-on-trip-to.html

“When we pulled up to about 1:1 the windlass actually bogged down a bit and had a moment of struggle to free the Mantus from the seabed. Let me tell you something, that never happened with our CQR. And our windlass is a 1000W Lofrans Tigres. A really beautiful beast”

“So the Mantus set right away into a mud/sand bottom, held the boat firm when tugged back, and then was a bit hard to pull out with our windlass until we were really 1:1. I would say that is great news for this anchor and I am excited about giving some more work in the months ahead”

We love our new 3/8″ Mantis Hook! We have been sailing our 45′ Prout catamaran to the Bahamas for the last 3 years.
We have tended to anchor out rather than do the marinas to save on the cruising fund.
One constant issue with a catamaran is that one must deploy a bridle that extends 10-12′ from the bows to keep the vessel from wandering at anchor. Since we draw only 4′ the bridle sometime winds up laying on the bottom. If the wind and current slack and we have anchored in less than 12′.. more like 6′ or 7 ‘ … the standard chain hook often falls off once it rests on the bottom.
Not so with the Mantis Hook !
It holds on and I sleep better and so does the Admiral!
Greatefully noted-
Capt. Dave andChris O’Neill
S/V Felix

“The primary anchor, the Mantus, did very well.  It didn’t budge much at all, just enough for it to dig in so deep that the very top of the rollbar was 6 inches below the surface, which I believe was only about 2 feet of drag.  The in tandum anchor chain still had its 10+ feet of slack so that means the Mantus never dragged.  It did rotate when the winds rotated as it was pointing 120 degrees different direction from how it was set.  All in all, it passed a very tough test.  70 knots gusting to 80 knots and it didn’t drag but 2 feet….awesome!” – Franklin Gray reports from Bahamas

full blog post here: Dreamboat and it’s crazy Captain

This is the Mantus anchor which I have grown to love…not much left to see huh?  It’s really dug in.  I’ve ridden solely on both anchors in winds over 50 knots so I know they are both very good anchors and set very well.  You can’t buy a new Bulwagga anymore so I’d recommend the Mantus over any other anchor on the market.  From what I can tell, the extra weight on the tip and the expanded rollbar really help the tip dig in immediately

Franklin Gray

“Just wanted to post a quick endorsement of Mantus Anchors.
I have a 44 foot Voyage Catamaran, it had a 55lb Delta. I am a charter boat Captain current’y doing charters in the galveston Bay area but am heading to the Virgin Islands this fall. The Delta worked ok, but I wanted an anchor that I would not have to think about. While catering to a boat full of guests the last thing I want to worry about is whether my anchor is going to drag in the middle of the night. On my prior boat I had a Manson Supreme which worked great, I was planning on buying one of them until I came across the Mantus at a local boat show. I decided to get the 85lb, I wanted to sleep well. I had problems getting this anchor to fit on my bow roller, after some discussions with Mantus we traded it for the smaller 65lb anchor. This fits perfectly.
I first used the anchor this past Labor Day weekend. The first night there was little wind and figured we would not have a problem dragging, what stood out in my mind was that when we backed down to set the anchor it hooked up so well that it almost jerked one of the guys off the boat. The bottom in Galveston Bay is mud, thick mud, usually when the anchor is pulled up it is completely covered, the Mantus shed most of this mud.
The second and third night were spend at another anchorage, lots more wind and we actually had a 180 wind shift and then a shift back to the original direction over a few hours. I happened to be on the boat while this happened and we never were anywhere close to pulling the anchor loose. I did watch a few other boats drag.
Although I haven’t used the Mantus all that much yet I am please with my purchase, it took a lot of convincing to not go with a Manson Supreme but I am happy that I did.
If you have any questions you can contact me directly.
Captain Steve Schlosser
S/V Alternate Latitude
usvicatamaran.com

Just returned from a cruise with 2 of the boats equipped with Mantus
anchors. Flawless performance (as expected), including a night in high winds anchored in a cove off an old sawmill where the lake bottom was amix of waterlogged pine tree bark chips and grey clay. Not the best for holding, as the bark chips (pieces mostly around 2″ X 6″) tend to block the flukes of Danforth and Bruce types, requiring multiple setting attempts. Mantus bites immediately. I normally go for a swim to check the set, but in this case the dark tannin in the water prevents a visual check… a little stressful in bad weather.
I’ve just placed an order for another two Mantus anchors, officially retiring the two other anchors we carry aboard. No sense lugging around obsolete ground tackle.

Thanks!
Brian, Sailing an Alberg on The Great Lakes.

The latest anchoring research indicates that the venerable articulated shank plow (CQR) and double fluke (Danforth) types of anchors are not roll stable, i.e. they often pull out when wind direction changes. Conversely, the non-articulated, fixed shank types such as Mantus, Delta, and Spade are roll stable. As I am preparing for long distance coastwise cruising beginning in October, this prompted me to abandon my big CQR and get a 35lb Mantus for my trawler.
Wow!
I love the Mantus. Sets for me quickly every time in all bottoms, including sand, grass, soft mud, clay, and has held beautifully in all these holding grounds.
I am totally sold on the Mantus design and quality.
Phil Geren
Past Vice Commodore
Texas Mariners Cruising Association

It’s working great. It digs in very quickly. I have used it in mud and soft sand.
The soft sand was at Ship Island in MS. The anchorage was partially exposed
overnight and the wind increased to 20 knots. I’m going on a week and half long trip
two weeks from now. I’ll reference my log after and give you a detailed report. We
will be anchoring every night thanks to my shoal draft capabilities!

Hi Greg;

Just received your 13lb. Being very curious how you got your design to set in hard packed sand (where others fail), I had to try it right away in our yard. It did indeed set, well done! It seems that you have perfected the chisel point, a little different than both our Rocna and Manson.

I have to admit I’m a bit of an anchor buff, and have about 30 anchors in our boat house, and I love to photograph them under water to see how they perform. We have been sailing on Georgian Bay since ’65 (part of Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes), where the sea bed is often a combination of weed, rock, gravel, mud, and sometimes sand (and old logs too left over from the days of logging the area).

You should think about a simple knock down design with perhaps one shank bolt and welded tabs the shank foot slides into, it would be great for those who want to stow it in pieces and need quicker deployment.

Again, great job, thanks!
Brian.

Mantus Anchors invited me down to the South West International Boat Show this weekend to help them out with their booth and enjoy a little bit of Texas.

I had a great time.  I created the Mantus Anchors iPad app which turned… Read the rest here.

The first weekend came where we didn’t have to do anything and it was going to be relaxing, but oh no, bitch nature had something to say about that.  The past 36 hours it’s been blowing hard.  A guy came by and tried talking my Captain into moving to a mooring saying the holding here is only a few inches of “stuff” on top of limestone.  Well, my Captain wouldn’t have anything of it, but he did deploy his second anchor just in case.  Good thing because I hate dragging my anchor.

The two anchors he has out now are the Bullwagga and the Mantus.  Both are new style anchors but the Bullwagga maker is out of business.  Captain loves the Bullwagga but for some reason, this storm seems to be mostly riding on the Mantus and it’s doing quite well.  It’s our first time using this anchor so it’s good to know she can handle her own.  Winds at times were reach 40 knots but mostly in the range of 25 knots.

This anchorage has a problem with strong currents and due to the fact that there isn’t good protection all the way around in any anchorage and many stories around about “the last storm” that I think the Captain is going to head to Marithon soon as they have a very good mooring field that is protected in all directions…. Read the rest here