Breaking strain of a bow eye

[BogMonster]

I've been thinking about replacing my current anchor line (10mm 3 strand nylon, which can be a bugger for tangles if it has been shaken up, as I found out yesterday when dragging it out in the garage to dry off) with some Anchorplait.

I don't really anchor much, so it's mainly a safety item and the reason for thinking about changing it is that it's less likely to tangle in an emergency deployment situation. I was already planning to go to 12mm, but I wondered about going to 14mm for a bit of overkill.

However it looks from here

https://www.jimmygreen.co.uk/p/techn...g-strain-guide

like the breaking strain of 12mm Anchorplait is already 3.3 tonnes, and I suspect a bow eye will let go at much less than that in very rough conditions if the boat is really jerking on the line, anybody care to hazard a guess at what a typical bow eye (usually about 8mm stainless loop) would fail at?

Further to that, assuming it's less than that, my thinking is that 14mm would have substantially less stretch for a given load, leading to higher snatch loads in rough conditions, and I maybe should stick with 12mm as the best compromise.

Any thoughts welcome. Space in the anchor locker is not an issue.

Ta

[Dragonhawk ficht]

I know it can be pricey but good quality multiplait deploys and repacks so much better than nylon, if you can afford it I'd go for 16mm, much better on the hands for hauling in, with plenty of stretch, so no need to worry about snatch,
I've got 100m of the example myself

50 METRES X 12 MM MULTIPLAIT / OCTOPLAIT - NYLON 8 STRAND MOORING / ANCHOR ROPE | eBay

[thomas]

If you're worried about snatching and you have plenty of space then put a rubber spring on it.

[Silverfox]

For a 7m vessel it is recommended that you have:
9kg with 10m of 8mm chain and 20m of 12mm warp (30m of overall length). This may be reduced by up to 20% (but not the length) ( I would recommend the reduced diameter as its only a light RIB)

[Anchorhandler]

Originally Posted by Silverfox

as its only a light RIB

Haha, you've obviously never weighed your VM Will, mine weighs 1600kgs......:-)

I was surprised at how heavily built they are.

Simon

[BogMonster]

Ta for the replies. The reason for the original question is that I don't really want the bow eye to be the weakest point (because if you're dead ship, and you rip that off, you've then nothing to tow from).

Another question: which is best out of rope spliced to chain, and rope spliced around a thimble and joined to chain with a shackle (obviously with the shackle pin secured).

I've just got my current rope/chain joined with a bowline, and I'm not convinced it wouldn't chafe over time with movement, and I think that the same problem would affect rope/chain spliced joins. Any thoughts?

I feel happier with a thimble spliced into the rope (and it also means I could take it off and use it for towing if need be), but I can't splice multiplait so I'd order a made-up line, and the deals available on rope/chain spliced together are much better

I think I probably know the answer, but is there any difference between the £4 a metre Anchorplait and the £1 a metre Ebay nylon multiplait apart from the pretty stripes?

[m chappelow]

Only ever seen one bow (deck )crappy chromed cleat fail
And that was a fully swamped speedboat which was been panick pulled out of the water by the owner who had decided to (borrow / nick ) our tractor ,
the nylon rope and remains of the cleat then hitting his 16 year old son in face causing severe facial injurys .

Think there is more chance a bow eyes (nuts)working them self loose over time with any snatching action than actual breaking out unless it's got no decent backing pad or washes behind whilst anchoring unless its badly worn ,

If you are worried about the bow eye failing why not run a rope or bridle fastned from the transom , running down the length or underside the hull and then through the bow eye ,
That way the main strain is taken on the transom but the bow eye is just acting as a guide or fair lead.

[Dragonhawk ficht]

It's definatly worth having either a thimble or a rubber sheath spliced in if possible, I'd say the pound a meter stuff should suit your needs,

[BumbleAbout]

Originally Posted by Dragonhawk ficht

I know it can be pricey but good quality multiplait deploys and repacks so much better than nylon, if you can afford it I'd go for 16mm, much better on the hands for hauling in, with plenty of stretch, so no need to worry about snatch,
I've got 100m of the example myself

50 METRES X 12 MM MULTIPLAIT / OCTOPLAIT - NYLON 8 STRAND MOORING / ANCHOR ROPE | eBay

I've bought from these guys in the past and if you email them, they were quite happy to attach a stainless thimble and shackle ready for chain attachment (if you don't actually need the chain) or quote for a different length of octoplait etc. I have ordered bits seperately from them and then received a PayPal refund out of the blue because they spotted the same address and put everything into one delivery for me.

[PeterM]

Its been a long time since I did calcualtions of breaking loads, but I reckon you would pull the metal fixnig out of the GRP of the boat before it failed ....