It was a new business relationship for a new millennium. In 1999, Rex Francis formed Anchor Right anchors. A year later, brothers Peter and Warren Cleland started their boat building business, Bar Crusher Boats.
It was in those early days that Rex and Peter met at a boat show, beginning a strong relationship which has lasted for over 20 years. Rex was at the show to promote his anchors, and one of Peter’s objectives for attending was to find a better anchor for his boats.
As Peter explains, the anchors that his company had tried all had various shortcomings. Firstly, boats needed to carry more than one type of anchor, depending on the type of seabed. Secondly, some anchors were made from inferior materials, resulting in structural failure. Thirdly, some anchors would flop around when retracted, making a lot of noise – and there was a danger that they would come loose when a boat was being trailered down a highway. Plus, they just didn’t look good enough on the high-quality boats that Peter’s company was producing.
Rex recalls that their initial conversation went something like this:
Peter: “So, what are these anchors like?”
Rex: “Oh, yeah … pretty good.”
Peter: “Will they work better than these other ones that I’m using?”
Rex: “All you can do is try one. Why don’t you take one with you? And, if you don’t like it, don’t worry about it.”
“Anyway”, says Rex, “I gave him a couple to take away, and it wasn’t long afterward that Bar Crusher put an order in.”
“They were early days for both businesses”, reminisces Rex. “And I used to deliver our anchors to their factory in Burwood. Back in those days they were only doing a small number of boats.”
Rex was delivering anchors to various businesses at the time, and the talk in the industry included how quickly Bar Crusher were rising.
He says that watching the founders, manufacturing manager Warren and marketing manager Peter, “just putting their heads down and going for it” inspired him to work even harder at his fledgling anchor business.
Peter says that they adopted the idea to “build it better and ask more for it” to build the brand and do it on a larger scale.
Marketing involved explaining that the boats were better engineered than many competitors. With innovative features like a deeper-V hull and water ballasting for increased stability. They looked tougher, more rugged, and actually performed better. Their philosophy necessitated fitting accessories that were also better – more durable and innovative.
Naturally, these boats deserved an anchor that was tougher, superbly engineered, high quality and attractive – and Anchor Right’s SARCA anchors fit beautifully with that concept.
Peter acknowledges, “Sure, the cost of our boats was higher, but we found that people were prepared to pay a little extra for superior quality, performance and aesthetics.”
Rex recalls the first time he visited businesses to sell anchors. “Only two were interested. The opinion of the others was that they could get a cheaper anchor from overseas and that people wouldn’t pay extra. Turns out that those dealers were wrong!”
He had to battle many doubters who couldn’t see him making a success of the business but eventually the boating community began to realise that Anchor Right anchors “work far better and it’s worth paying a few extra dollars for quality.”
Peter joined in: “We had tried a few other ‘off the shelf’ anchors – like the hinge type – but found that they flopped and banged around and generally made a lot of noise when retracted. And didn’t set right when deployed. On the other hand, the SARCAs sat well in the bowsprit. On the seabed they’d roll over and set themselves well, and you can run over them and pull them out when it’s time to up anchor.”
Peter and Rex agree that mutual support by Australian companies for each other helps ensure the survival and success of Australian jobs and businesses.
Despite their success, Anchor Right is not a company to ‘rest on its laurels’ and is continually developing its range. The business now produces anchors up to 230 kg in the Super SARCA and 285 kg in the Excel range, so Anchor Right products have a broad appeal from smaller boats right up to much bigger commercial vessels.
Recently, the company’s superior product has seen orders fulfilled for New Zealand, the UK and they have now secured a contract with the large Vietnamese boat manufacturer, Corsair.
www.anchorright.com.au
Published in print October-December 2022
