Lewes-based company creates umbrella anchors

With beach season underway, it’s important for beachgoers to understand how they can protect themselves and others this summer. 

AnchorElla LLC is a veteran-owned umbrella anchor business based in Lewes that aims to promote beach safety. AnchorElla is a durable and lightweight plastic board tied to a strong neon parachute cord that secures beach umbrellas in the sand, avoiding unwanted contact with beachgoers. 

“For us, it was not just a thing about business, but it was how do we make the beach safer,” said AnchorElla co-owner Mike Kirylik.

AnchorElla’s strength exceeds 100 pounds of force and it will withstand 40 mph winds, surpassing the ASTM F3681-24 Beach Umbrella Safety Standard recommended by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

This voluntary safety standard was implemented in 2024 to help diminish common injuries and deaths caused by airborne umbrellas on crowded beaches.

“We would like to make this abundantly available, readily available for the masses who could then afford something like this,” said AnchorElla co-owner Cengiz Tanverdi. “And then, hopefully, that will lead to large, widespread use of this to prevent any future problems.”

The plastic board acts as a shovel which is used to dig a hole about a foot deep into the sand. AnchorElla lies flat in the sand and is covered up with sand with the string sticking out. The umbrella shaft is stuck in the sand a couple of feet away from AnchorElla. Once the string is tied around the stretcher poles at the top of the umbrella in a taut fashion, the umbrella will stay in place. 

Tanverdi created the anchor after confronting a problem that needed to be fixed. His wife Lily feared the horror stories she had heard about umbrellas on windy beach days.

“Whenever it was windy, she would just simply hold onto our umbrella. But then we couldn’t protect ourselves from other umbrellas flying,” Tanverdi said.

In response, Tanverdi – a retired engineer for 40 years – created a solution. Using plywood and rope he found in his home, he devised an easy-to-use contraption a few years ago that kept their umbrella in place even in the face of hurricane-strength winds, subduing Lily’s worries. 

When Kirylik, Tanverdi’s nephew, was visiting the beach from his home in Newark with his family and saw the original anchor, he recognized the potential the contraption had for fostering beach safety. 

“I started to think, ‘How could we mass produce this with a mission of safety for a regular consumer?’” Kirylik said. 

Tanverdi and Kirylik then enlisted the help of an engineering team from India to create a more enhanced design that still maintained the anchor’s light-but-sturdy characteristics. They found manufacturers in China during the fall of 2023 who could build an anchor with the same design but available for sale at a low cost.  

After two years of testing, AnchorElla received its license to manufacture at the start of 2024. AnchorElla ships out of Lewes. 

Other umbrella anchors exist, but not all meet the Consumer Product Safety Commission standard, warns Tanverdi. Alternate models with a screw bottom can be easily raised vertically from the sand due to the shape of the umbrella canopy. Those with a square-shaped tarp meant to weigh down the umbrella do not always work either if the amount of sand buried on top is insufficient. 

However, AnchorElla secures the umbrella from the upper half of the shaft, ensuring the best possible protection. 

AnchorElla boasts several other positive features. The anchor takes about 10 seconds to bury in the sand. AnchorElla also weighs less than a pound, making it easy to carry in a beach bag. At only $14.99, the anchor is generally far less expensive than competitive products. 

And it’s made the beach a calm and relaxing place once again for Lily Tanverdi.

“I think everyone should have a beach umbrella anchor,” Lily said. “This one just happens to be easy to install, practically anyone can do it! It’s lightweight and easy to carry. The concept is so simple and yet so effective! It certainly has given me peace of mind!”

AnchorElla is sold in azul blue, with colors in sea foam green and hot pink on their way. 

The device is patent pending and can be bought online with free shipping at anchorella.com. For more information, contact info@anchorella.com.