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Mantus Anchor & Accessories

$1,550.00

There are a lot of important pieces of equipment on a boat…a beefy anchor is one of the tops. Curiosity (our 05′ Leopard 43 Catamaran) came with an old CQR anchor that didn’t fit properly, had a bent shaft, a seized anchor roller and a small swivel.  It wasn’t ideal to say the least.

On top of all of that, it often seemed impossible to set and even when it did set, the anchor was lying on its side (which is not good).  As soon as we would back down on it with anything above 1500rpm it would often break loose and start to drag.  There are plenty of times it would take 4-6 attempts to finally get a good bite and holding (and there was one night we simply gave up and decided to sleep in shifts).  I know that’s a lot of words just to say, our anchor pretty much sucked!

We turned to the internet, read a bunch of articles, watched a slew of YouTube videos and chatted with our fellow cruisers.  The conclusion:  Sailors are a heavily opinionated bunch. Mantus, Manson, Rocna and Spade all have their own cult following.  Any of these choices would be better than what we have. The Mantus homegrown testing videos and rave reviews from other cruisers won us over.  Plus, Mantus is a small company that is owned and operated by a couple of fellow cruisers.

We went with the following from Mantus:

  • 65# stainless steel anchor
  • swivel
  • anchor mate
  • chain hook

All of this combined has been a huge, dramatic improvement.  So far, the anchor has set every single time with no additional attempts needed.  It’s a beast.

Our old anchor wasn’t a perfect fit for our boat and neither is this one…I have no idea what anchor Leopard was thinking would fit.  So…we had a “fun” time retrofitting our set up.  Mantus customer service (aka Phillip and Greg) were fantastic at helping us work through it all.  We sent emails with photos and had multiple phone calls through the whole process.  Now, we feel like we have a solid anchoring system that will last.

We covered the fitting issues we were having and how we solved them here:

We have recently upgraded our anchor chain and share the story here:

We now have 250ft of chain with 200ft of heavy duty anchor line. We also have a spare Fortress anchor with 50ft of chain and 200ft of anchor line. Both are attached at the bitter end with a thin line on a U-Bolt, so it can be easily cut in an emergency situation.

 

🚣 Dinghy Anchor!

Our dinghy is our car and when we park it, we want to make sure it’s there when we get back.  Just like our big anchor for Curiosity, the Mantus dinghy anchor just works.  Digs in sets and doesn’t budge.  Plus, it easily packs down if you don’t have a dinghy locker.

 

If you decide to purchase a Mantus product, we very much appreciate you clicking through our link here. It doesn’t cost you a penny extra but it makes a big difference to us.  Thank You!

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Reviews

  1. Richard Bell

    Hope you guys are well with all the Volcano activity near there. I also have a Leopard 43 OV. I am trying to find that chain hook in your video and pics. I went to the Manta website and they have this thing called the M2 Chain hook. Totally different and I am not sure I like it as well as the version you have, I like the conventionality and the snap. If you have a source could you please let me know.

    Fair Winds and Following…
    Rick Bell
    S/V Biggles
    Leopard 43 OV

  2. Robert

    I have been looking at anchors and its associated hardware and that made me think of you two.

    This article http://features.coastalboating.net/Editorials/swivels/index.html

    Says swivels fail frequently and I inferred that they should be taken apart and periodically inspected.

    They don’t recommend using a swivel, however, they like this one. https://www.ultramarinewest.com/products/ultra-flip-swivel

    I guess you are tying, pining, or otherwise securing your anchor whilst underway. Please inspect the swivel when you can, it will make me feel better 🙂

    Regards

  3. Chris Gill

    I’m rather partial to the Danforth/fortress anchors.

  4. David Northrup

    great vid, like to know why with mantus and not with Rocna??

    • Nikki Wynn

      I could ask the same. Why a Rocna instead of a Mantus? 🙂 I did answer why we went with Mantus in the info above. “The Mantus homegrown testing videos and rave reviews from other cruisers won us over. Plus, Mantus is a small company that is owned and operated by a couple of fellow cruisers.”

  5. Matthew Jarvis

    As always thank you for your awesome reviews! Any thoughts on why you went for the more expensive stainless steel option vs galvanized?

    • Curious Minion

      Curious Minion here Matthew. Stainless will last a lot longer than galvanized, and they really wanted durability because French Polynesia has some deep anchorages.

  6. Rick Fadler

    What a coincidence! We have a 2005 Leopard 43 and installed a Mantus 65lb anchor last spring. I did the same cardboard template as you but I think I guessed a bit better and the roll bar doesn’t hit the bottom of the beam. I think we moved the roller forward 5″ and lowered it 6″.

    We’ve noticed the fiberglass where the anchor roller attaches looks like it’s become a bit delaminated. I assume it’s from the added stress of moving the anchor roller forward from it’s original point. The roller acts like a lever against the hull where it’s attached. By moving the roller further from the hull it can create more stress. So my next project is to reinforce the mounting area. I’m curious how you mounted the anchor mate. I didn’t see it in the video.

    I really appreciate the videos, we’re doing pretty much the same work as you, replacing holding tanks, water heaters, sails, etc.

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