beneteau 321 windless

[neil_kimber]

I have just purchased a beneteau 321. Unfortunately it does not have a windless and after 2 weeks in the Ionian my muscles are aching ! Can anyone advise me the most suitable make, style and size to fit?

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[jerryat]

Hi Neil,

Can only recommend the one I fitted after much investigation - a Lofrans Airon. My boat is the same length as yours, so although the Airon has a 1000w motor (big enough for a 40 footer) it does give you plenty in reserve. It has a reversing motor i.e. both raises and lowers the anchor, is very powerful and is virtually bombproof. Maintenance is negligible.

I admit I was a bit concerned at first about buying an Italian made windlass (no offence to any Italians reading this!) as I didn't think of engineering as being their forte. However, as several cruising friends in the Med pointed out, most Italian motor cruisers use this make, the owners wouldn't dream of heaving an anchor or getting their hands dirty, so the units are made to last!! Lovely theory, but certainly the Lofrans is beautifully made and massively robust. We've used ours for the last 8 years in the Med and Caribbean, anchoring virtually everywhere, and have not had a single problem --- yet! Make certain you size the power cables properly as this is the biggest single cause of failure in windlasses. There was a recent thread on this forum that went into this aspect in some detail. Well worth you doing a search.

The Airon is a vertical axis unit i.e, the chain gypsy is horizontal and pulls like an ordinary winch, and is available with or without a drum above the gypsy. We wanted as low a foredeck profile as possible and have never seen anyone use a drum, so didn't specify one.

Finally, there are two further options - the 'standard' aluminium body, and the 'Deluxe' which has a heavy chrome plated bronze body. For the difference in cost we thought it worth going for the latter.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Jerry



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[Talbot]

I also chose the Lofrans Airon.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.yandina.com/Bank3.htm>This Link</A> may help you in how to wire up the windlass

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