After years of wrestling with a heavy classic CQR anchor on my 38-foot sloop, I replaced it (as my primary anchor) with a Delta. I'd researched the Delta and read a lot of reviews and test reports that suggested it often set more easily than the CQR and held well in different bottoms, but the real reason was something else. I don't know if it was my boat manufacturer's misjudgment or that of a previous owner, but the CQR anchor's position on the bow roller below my Harken jib furler was problematic. It seemed the roller was too short or the anchor's shank too long, or maybe the furler drum too low. Whatever the original cause, the anchor would not slide forward on the roller and drop down by itself: the shank always caught on the drum as it pivoted up when the flukes went down. The situation was even worse when raising the anchor. Instead of the pull of the rode back along the bow roller hoisting the end of the shank up and over the roller to slide the anchor back, it again jammed beneath the furler drum, such that someone on the bow had to manually lift the anchor the last bit and wrestle the shank into place. That rather defeated the whole notion of the bow roller, yet I suffered this for a few years as had the previous owner. It took only a few simple measurements, following my anchor research, to realize the Delta's shank was just enough shorter than the CQR to drop smoothly down and return easily back up into position on the roller. I should have done this long ago, but there are so many factors involved in choosing the perfect anchor for a given boat that I ignored it while doing other upgrades. But I'm a much happier sailor now!
