The History of the Anchor

Anchor Introduction

A boat’s ability to function as a vehicle or home is dependent upon its size, motion and comfort. However, all of these things would be useless if seafaring vessels could not stop and be put in one place. The reliability of an anchor helps ensure that your trip, voyage or race will go smoothly. In the past few decades, as recreational boating and the prevalence of light craft have increased, so as the need for a reliable, lightweight, small anchor. The anchor that fulfills those characteristics is the Fluke Anchor, commonly referred to by their largest manufacturer, Danforth. The Danforth anchor design has become the most common among boaters and racers and, until a major anchor redesign occurs, it will likely remain so.

Anchor History

The earliest evidence we have of anchors comes to us from salvaged artifacts from places like the Mediterranean and East Asia. An anchor in and of itself is a compromise between two objectives: physically hook or bury into the bottom of the sea to prevent movement, and use pure dead weight to stop a vessel from drifting. Early anchors that have been discovered seem to have given into the latter aim. Large rocks would be chained or tied to vessels to halt movement. The appearance of many of these rock anchors with wooden beams to stabilize the anchor show us that our ancestors were aware of the fact that anchors could be made to hook into the ground. However, metal was a precious resource, and to risk losing an anchor would be to risk losing one of the most valuable materials at the time.

Throughout the time of the Roman Empire and into the Middle Ages, the anchors we see very much resemble the traditional model of anchors the people usually think of. They had long metal shanks, which were the main length of the anchor. The two curved arms hooked back towards the shank. It was these arms that were to hook into the ground. A large wooden stock, perpendicular to the shank would lay parallel to the ground and force one of the arms to be facing into the ground and bury within it. This overall design was unchanged until the 19^th century.

The addition of the fluke was one of the major changes that occurred on anchors. Rather than simply having bars as arms that would bury as much as they could and hope to hold on, anchors started to take advantage of the weight and motion that boats produced. A fluke is a part of the anchor that is wide and flat, also known as the palm. The first flukes were added to the ends of the arms of traditional anchors. By increasing the surface area buried in the mud or sand, the resistance that the boat exerted on the anchor made the anchor hold fast.

Since the 19^th century, various anchor designs have existed, usually building on the principle that the increased surface area of the fluke would create infinitely greater holding capacity. Some anchors designed were one fluke which was wedge shaped and sought to bury completely in the sand and mud, while some new ideas for anchors have three arms with large flukes at the ends of each. In 1939, Danforth started mass-producing one of the best and most successful anchors, what is generally referred to as the Fluke anchor.

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