I recently had my anchor came loose while underway. We were bashing upwind, about to round Cape Leeuwin, and the banging of the anchor against the hull went unnoticed until it was too late. The main hull was pock-marked by dozens of impacts, until the anchor fell off and was consigned to the deep briny. The swivel, which I suspect may not have been properly rated, most likely broke, as there was no evidence of chain failure. It was a sad end to my Rocna Mark II, the reliable anchor that saw two of my boats safely through many a gale.

Later, I learned that a crew member had neglected to latch/lash the anchor chain before we got underway. Of course, it's still the skipper's responsibility to check such things. It’s an easy, but expensive mistake. I'm sharing this in the hope that someone else avoids the same mistake. My next anchor swivel will be a fully tested one and I'm putting instructions near the windlass reminding people to use the latch.

cammd said..
I dont use a swivel at all for my rocna mk2. One less thing to go wrong

I didn't used to either, and I don't think it is required (technically).

Except a lot of times it comes up upside down, and the swivel makes it so much easier to spin it around before pulling it over the roller.