The Vryhof “Anchor Bible” can be downloaded for free here:
Sure - this is my exact model:
Bruce has moved on to newer designs, but at the time it came out it beat all the other traditional anchors everyone had been using.
Bruce probably no longer makes anchors that weigh less than my car, let alone fit inside it, but plenty of other anchors kind of like a current Bruce exist in smaller sizes.
This is just one example from a better-known company:
The stockless anchor is actually not very good IMHO, but stows against the bow better than most anything else so it gets used a lot and I guess no one cares if it is inefficient in weight-to-holding power when it comes up with a button push.
Note that anchors are a different thing to a yacht, when I am ashore doing whatever and a storm comes through, there isn’t another crew on the boat ready to drop anchor #2, run the engine, or go anchor somewhere else. I need the boat to still be there when I get back without any human assistance 
I understand what “weather” means. But that doesn’t tell us what component failed.
The chain fails at its weakest link (the connecting link), or the winch brake fails to hold at which time it is up to the bitter end to stop the payout.
For what it is worth, I was involved in reactivating a LASH ship prior to its conversion to a containership. We discovered one of the connecting links fractured during a anchor drop test. We dye checked all the other connecting links and found 2 more.
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I don’t know if the connecting links are really the weak link, they look beefy. But the thing about the stud links is there are a lot more of them. If the stud fails and/or falls out the stud link is much weaker.
Not to say it’s not done but I don’t recall any ship at anchor where the pawl is left up and the load is depending on the brake.
I had misremembered the reference text, It said it can be advantageous to not use the pawl, as you can tell it may be about time to get underway as long as you notice it’s slipping, but as we have all experienced it’s generally keep it down.
Also it cites the 2005 standards that have been superseded by a document that is way above my head, but I can’t imagine the numbers changed too much, and it breaks down the breaking strength as follows:
- Brake must hold 45% of the chain’s breaking load, (About 10x stronger than the holding capacity of motors and gears)
- Guillotine/pawl must hold 80% of chain’s breaking load
- Hawsepipe must be able to bear 20% of breaking load
- Windlass and deck mountings must hold and force that can be exerted on it.
If anyone really wants to get in the weeds I think this is where the numbers come from.
https://iacs.org.uk/publications/recommendations/1-20/rec-10-rev4-cln/
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I have always preferred using a pelican hook versus the pawl as it doesn’t have to be heaved in to relieve the pressure in case of windlass failure or desire to pay out more scope. It’s also usually much stronger. Just a personal preference.
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Odd for me to read about brakes and pawls. When I was installing windlasses the one thing we made SURE of was our customers were told to NEVER use the windlass to hold the boat, once she was set switch to a snubber. We are clear that a torn-up windlass used that way was not going to be fixed for free. Obviously past a certain size that no longer holds true. You also have the issue of a windlass on a boat not originally designed to have one holding onto the chain, but departing the boat with a section of deck attached to it 
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Unless it’s in deep water the anchor is dropped just using the brake to control the rate the chain is payed out with the windlass left disengaged / out of gear Once the desired amount of chain is out the brake is tightened and the pawl dropped. Windlass is left disengaged.
Shock loads on the windlass motor could damage or destroy it…