Greg,

   After a season of using our new Mantus without a swivel, I have decided that for next season we will add a  Mantus swivel since we occassionally have a twist or two in the chain.  It would seem that the anchor would rotate and unwind any twists but  I have discovered that the Mantus anchor is quite sensitive to water flow when the boat is moving and orients itself with the claw portion towards the direction of flow.  This tendency apparently prevents the twists from unwinding. This means that if we are moving forward while raising the anchor, the anchor will contact the roller either upside down or sideways almost every time.  While the anchor will flip rightside up  (with a big bang) if you keep pulling I worry about damàge to the bow or having the anchor roll off of the side the roller.  I have found that if we are in reverse and moving at a knot and a half or more that the anchor has oriented itself right side up everytime so far.  It has also given me a lot of backing practice.   For those with a  Maramu,  I can say for sure that the anchor locker easily holds 100 meters of 8mm chain without any need to lay it out a particular way.  In fact I am going to increase that to 120 meters.  I am using the Aqua7 chain which is grade 70 and is supposed to be stronger than the grade 40 10mm.  I like the reduced weight and having a longer rode.

James Alton

SV Sueno

Nafpaktos, Greece