How a Cruising Couple Invented a New Type of Anchor
Any Chesapeake Bay cruiser can relate to the frustration of dropping the hook in the ooze that is the bottom of the Bay only to experience the Chesapeake Slide. In other words, dragging anchor is just one of those things we’ve all experienced and all ranted about at one time or another. One cruiser decided that instead of complaining about his anchor dragging, he was going to do something about it. Greg Kutsen sailed his Ericson 38 from Texas to Columbia. As an emergency room doctor, Greg was the sort who liked to prepare for every scenario. He did the research, read the advice and tales of traditional old salts, and decided on the popular CQR (plow) primary, Fortress back up. Setting was maddening. Holding was iffy. One squally night in Provindencia, Columbia, Greg woke up to a fisherman knocking on his hull warning him he was about to drag into the rocks.
What do you get when you mix a rocket scientist with an ER doc on a sailboat? A new anchor design, of course.
“I buried myself in the idea of something better,” Greg remembers. Most cruisers would find a chandlery and buy a new anchor, but Greg sailed to Cartegena, drew up some sketches, found a local welder, and made a whole new anchor. That was the beginning of Mantus Anchors.
Frustration leads to innovation, but it takes a lot of moxie to see it through. Greg returned to Texas and kept making and testing prototypes. When he wasn’t saving lives in the emergency room, he was making plywood mock ups of anchor shapes. “I’ve always been artsy and have an eye for design, but the medical training gave me the work ethic, says Greg. “Not having an anchor I could trust ruined cruising for me. I never felt as if I could sleep soundly in a squall or leave the boat for extended inland travel.”
With a new generation prototype anchor sitting proudly on his bow, Greg cast off for the Galapagos Islands to put it to the test. “I think I am an engineer. I think I know it all. I am a dude afterall; I know everything! But then I meet Deneen, and I realize, uh no.” Greg returned to Texas and met his match at the after party for the Harvest Moon Regatta in 2010. “He wooed me with talk of past adventures and future plans to cruise all over the world,” says Deneen. “And now look at us, up to our eyeballs in this company! Cruising is somewhere on the horizon.”
Deneen is a rocket scientist. On their third date Greg pulled out his sketches and prototype anchors and asked her what she thought. “The designs were feasible, but needed some help,” Deneen says and laughs. “I showed him how to use professional computer design software to bring it to the next level.” She started helping him in the quest for a reliable anchor, and their relationship and the business both flourished. “We are just a couple of common everyday cruisers who had a crazy idea that we could design and build an anchor better than anything out there. Our credentials? Well, we have a boat and an anchor, and we certainly know from experience how anchors don’t work,” says Greg. “Initially we were just trying to make one anchor for Greg’s boat,” says Deneen. “But then after we made one, friends around the marina started asking if we would make one for them. More and more sailing friends wanted one of our anchors, and we realized that manufacturing was the way to go.” Mantus Anchors didn’t just start up non-traditionally; they continue to break with convention as they market and sell anchors. “Big companies are more old-fashioned. Maybe because we’re younger, we’re very accustomed to the power of social media and word of mouth,” Deneen says. She and Greg wanted to get their anchors out to the people who really used anchors, day in and day out, in all conditions and bottom types. “I went directly to boat bloggers; Greg reached out on the sailing forums. We knew the best testing grounds were actual cruising sailors. And we knew the ones plugged into social media would help us get the word out. When I buy something, I ask friends what they like. And that’s just what is happening with our anchors.” Greg and Deneen make the rounds to all of the boat shows across the country, including Annapolis. It’s just the two of them manning the booth, taking the calls, handling the emails and orders and questions. “We like people, and we like networking and hanging out with customers and hearing their stories. It’s all very rewarding,” says Deneen. “Oh, and we don’t sleep ... ever,” Greg says.
Greg and Deneen are both still holding down full-time jobs. If you need stitches in Houston, Dr. Greg will be waiting for you in the ER. And Deneen is a chief engineer for the space station, so she’s just a little busy from nine to five. So why do this? What’s the point of having an anchor company on the side with two already fulfilling and demanding careers? “We know first hand the frustration and fear when your anchor doesn’t set. Old timers make people feel like idiots. They tell you it’s your technique and make you feel like it’s something you are doing wrong. We feel like you shouldn’t need technique; you just need the right anchor. We want people to feel good about anchoring and have fun cruising” explains Deneen. The company is growing, new products are being developed, and the dynamic duo are looking into hiring some folks to help with the load and hopefully one day take over the day to day operations. That way, in a few years Greg and Deneen can cast off on their own sailboat and point their anchor-clad bow toward the horizon in search of the perfect spot to drop the hook. They’ll be able to enjoy anchoring and thus enjoy cruising and a little rest and relaxation from all of the hard work. That is, until they find something else on the boat that doesn’t work right.
About the Author: Cindy Wallach has lived aboard for 16 years, currently on a St. Francis 44 catamaran on Back Creek with her husband, ten-year-old son, and three-year-old daughter. Click for her blog: zachaboard.blogspot.com
