Electric Anchor Windlass?

Eeyore

Eeyore

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Kudat, Malaysia
www.yachtrhumbdo.co.uk
OK, I admit it, I'm getting too old to keep hauling the anchor and chain up by hand! I'm finally looking at options for fitting an electrically powered anchor hoister.

Almost every liveaboard cruiser I know has had problems of one sort or another with their electric windlasses, so I am looking for something that is going to be reliable and not give me any grief!

I sail single-handed, the boat is a 35foot Warrior and I anchor a lot.......400+ nights on the trot in the past, so that's a lot of hoisting. The ground tackle is a Manson Supreme with 50 metres of 8mm chain plus 40 metres of octoplait - so around 100Kg? I think therefore, the windlass needs to have a pulling power of 300Kg?

Which windlass to choose? What do you have fitted and what are your experiences of same? Deck switches, remote control, cockpit control........all very confusing!
 
The options for a windlass will be narrowed by the configuration of your anchor locker and foredeck. You will need to look at whether youncan fit a horizontal or vertical gypsy, if you have a dry space below deck that a motor can be inserted into or if you need the whole thing to be above deck ith a waterproof motor casing.

We have a Lofrans Cayman 1000 watt windlass, which is a horizontal gypsy, rope drum on the opposite side from the gypsy and the motor is in a waterproof case. The boat is a Bavaria 38 with 70m of 8mm chain and a 20kg Rocna. We fitted it after the 600 watt windlass we got with the boat died on us: I think the major reason for failure with it was it simply wasn't big enough for the job.

I fitted a wireless remote control I bought if eBay for about £15 and wouldn't be without it. Hard wired control is also there as a backup but I haven't used it since fitting the wireless remote four years ago.

Problems with the Lofrans? None other than the wretched rubber mat that comes with it. Throw it away! We used it and it retained a nice puddle of sea water round the base of the windlass body, leading to paint failure. I stripped off the resulting mess, repainted and then mounted the windlass on a plywood plinth to stop the problem reoccurring.

You'll need to factor in wiring when thinking about costs. You'll need fairly hefty cable to provide the power and that'll add to the costs.
 
Duncan,

We are in similar position to you with our B39. The Lewmar windlass is just not man enough for Med Mooring & I'd dearly like to replace it with a Lofrans. Did you have to rewire when you fitted the Lofrans or was the original ( factory? ) wiring suitable?

John
 
A weird solution.

Some time ago I saw a yacht with a SL Seatiger hand anchor winch ( The same as we have ) witch was powered by a very small petrol engine. The engine was started with a rope so it could have been a Seagull outboard power head.

Even a centrifugal clutch grass trimmer engine could be used. Cost peanuts.

See you are in Northern Borneo, even a blacksmith can make a petrol powered machine out of most hand operated winches. Very powerful, very reliable, cheep. No cables, no extra battery.
Bit noisy, and no way to control from the wheel or tiller.
 
I have a Lofrans Tigres fitted 6 years ago. Works well and if it failed tomorrow I would replace it with the same.

The Lofrans foot switches are totally pants being a stew of different materials which die after 10 to 15 months. Carry spares if you use them.

Aging full time cruiser with a 55lb Rocna on 3/8th chain so I need my windlass.
 
TQA said:
I have a Lofrans Tigres fitted 6 years ago. Works well and if it failed tomorrow I would replace it with the same.

The Lofrans foot switches are totally pants being a stew of different materials which die after 10 to 15 months. Carry spares if you use them.

Aging full time cruiser with a 55lb Rocna on 3/8th chain so I need my windlass.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Go for a 1000W one - it is worth it for the extra power when the anchor is well dug in. Hauling in the weight is not the issue - it is the breakout pull.

You will need adequate cables, especially if the battery is not near the windlass. Voltage drop is your biggest enemy. The 1000W at breakout equates to getting on for 100A - you only need a 1V drop to loose a fair bit of power.

As for controls - most are operated by relays, so you only need contacts to close the relays. I made up remote controls with bits from an electrical store - 'weather proof' push buttons and so on. The relay operating current is only of the order of an amp, so nothing special. I have 2 - one up at the bow, the other in the cockpit. Give me them anytime over footswitches or fixed controls at the helm
 
JFowler said:
Duncan,

We are in similar position to you with our B39. The Lewmar windlass is just not man enough for Med Mooring & I'd dearly like to replace it with a Lofrans. Did you have to rewire when you fitted the Lofrans or was the original ( factory? ) wiring suitable?

John
Click to expand...
The original wiring was fine. However, the original windlass had a two wire power supply, the reversing function was done by the control box reversing the polarity of the wire. For the Lofrans, the windlass has three wire: up, down and a common return. The windlass came with a new control box with three terminals (in, up and down) and Bavaria fit three cables as standard so it was just a case is using the new box and all three cables. The wired control at on the foredeck used three wires as is pretty much standard so they just fitted on to the new relay box which fitted into the space left by the old one. Hope that helps PM me if you need more info.
 
Minchsailor said:
Go for a 1000W one - it is worth it for the extra power when the anchor is well dug in. Hauling in the weight is not the issue - it is the breakout pull.

You will need adequate cables, especially if the battery is not near the windlass. Voltage drop is your biggest enemy. The 1000W at breakout equates to getting on for 100A - you only need a 1V drop to loose a fair bit of power.

As for controls - most are operated by relays, so you only need contacts to close the relays. I made up remote controls with bits from an electrical store - 'weather proof' push buttons and so on. The relay operating current is only of the order of an amp, so nothing special. I have 2 - one up at the bow, the other in the cockpit. Give me them anytime over footswitches or fixed controls at the helm
Click to expand...

I have a 1000W Quick but my advice, for what it's worth, is not to use the windlass for breaking out the anchor but to lock off the chain and use the momentum of the boat to free it. Similarly I would always motor / sail up to the anchor and only use the windlass when the chain is more or less vertical.

Richard
 
Eeyore said:
OK, I admit it, I'm getting too old to keep hauling the anchor and chain up by hand! I'm finally looking at options for fitting an electrically powered anchor hoister.

Almost every liveaboard cruiser I know has had problems of one sort or another with their electric windlasses, so I am looking for something that is going to be reliable and not give me any grief!

I sail single-handed, the boat is a 35foot Warrior and I anchor a lot.......400+ nights on the trot in the past, so that's a lot of hoisting. The ground tackle is a Manson Supreme with 50 metres of 8mm chain plus 40 metres of octoplait - so around 100Kg? I think therefore, the windlass needs to have a pulling power of 300Kg?

Which windlass to choose? What do you have fitted and what are your experiences of same? Deck switches, remote control, cockpit control........all very confusing!
Click to expand...

glad ad to see I'm not alone , after 15 years of hauling a 60lb CQR and associated chain I too caved in and fitted a windlass, after a lot of research I ended up with a Lofrans Titan B as it was affordable and spares available in UK and Europe

I went bigger than before and replaced everything from the battery layout to the windlass , I never plan on changing this set up again in my ownership and wanted belt and braces, so opted for a cabled remote that is in the forward section of the boats interior and will come through a hatch AND fitted a remote control (Lofrans) so operational from any where on the boat.

all the control cables and relays are in water proof junction boxes and in dry areas of the boat so hopefully no moisture problems , as time progresses we shall see what happens to it !

im actually looking forward to anchoring now :-)

Some pics here : http://www.sailblogs.com/member/blown-away/?xjMsgID=338831
 
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The Goiot windlass that lives in the locker up front is now nearly 30 years old and has been superseded several times. Still works a treat though and will recover chain in a 40 knot blow. Can't find a supplier event these days.

Might be worth buying in France with the Euro at 1.33 though!

http://www.bigship.com/catalogue/mouillage-1/guindeaux/guindeaux/
 
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I have 1000 watt horizontal Chain gypsy with rope drum on top

It is impossible for me to see when the anchor reaches the bow roller unless I lean over the bow of course. By this time the anchor has minimum weight on the windlass and the speed is quite fast.

1000 watt is now too powerful. Visualize the orientation of the anchor as it arrives at the bow roller with the shank vertical and the swivel just about to round the roller. The anchor shank now flips from vertical to horizontal at high speed and overruns with momentum to jump out of the roller and hit the fore stay.

Last year, 2014, I was escaping from an anchorage in very strong winds. I operated the windlass from the cockpit switches while controlling the wheel and engine. The anchor did it's jumping trick and ended up amidships with the chain jammed in the pulpit corner. With the boat leaping about I was definitely not a happy bunny.

I spoke to some other folk about this but strangely nobody said that they had that problem. I have standard 16kg Delta with swivel and chain

What am I doing wrong?
 
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I fitted a Maxwell 1000 watt vertical axis windlass after carrying out some research. It worked perfectly for over 10 years, anchoring for about half the year. I then sold it on to a buyer who was replacing an Italian one, who is delighted with it, finding it far more powerful and, as the YM tests confirmed, fast. The reason for my replacement is that we are berthing for the foreseeable future in a marina with lazy lines, so we wanted one with a capstan. We bought another Maxwell.
 
BurnitBlue said:
What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Paint the last ten feet of chain or even just tie some coloured ribbon to it as a temp measure. Then you can pause before the crucial final recovery. Longer term, a new anchor roller with a metal retaining strap works well and is also reassuring when you take green water over the bow!!! Plus a gentler thumb!!
 
tri39 said:
Paint the last ten feet of chain or even just tie some coloured ribbon to it as a temp measure. Then you can pause before the crucial final recovery. Longer term, a new anchor roller uwith a metal retaining strap works well and is also reassuring when you take green water over the bow!!! Plus a gentler thumb!!
Click to expand...

I used coloured ribbon after this incident but it was so close to the anchor that I could never see it because of mud.

I reckon the best way is to paint a metre or two of chain and I will try that in the spring. This will be OK in daylight but not at night when the wind is howling.

Maybe the metal strap is the best all round prevention. What really surprised me was that nobody else admitted to having this problem because there is nothing unusual in my boats setup.

Thanks for the tips.
 
My Delta 20kg mostly arrives upside down.Considering one of those S.Steel bent solid couplers I see in Chandlers.Bit concerned about side loads fracturing this item.Will hope to complete the remote wireless controls after sorting out the aforementioned problem.Also (Lofrans Cayman 1200 on Dufour 36) 10mm chain seems too heavy to store a decent length,presently has nylon or similar to extend the 30m chain to 80m overall.Looking at going to all chain but 8mm calibrated.Presently the 10mm tends to jump the sprocket and dump out all in a rush,a do not touch moment!
 
Ive a Lofrans tigres 1500 watt, good bit of kit and getting old now,
As I operate it from the cockpit and cant see the anchor 45 ft away,,
I paint a meter section of chain in bright paint just before the anchor hits the bow roller....works every time, even with a torch at night.
Yes the anchor does come up up side down some times ,,,but I don't trust those swivels,,,,I would rather click the anchor up and down couple times to spin it.
 
Artic Warrior said:
Ive a Lofrans tigres 1500 watt, good bit of kit and getting old now,
As I operate it from the cockpit and cant see the anchor 45 ft away,,
I paint a meter section of chain in bright paint just before the anchor hits the bow roller....works every time, even with a torch at night.
Yes the anchor does come up up side down some times ,,,but I don't trust those swivels,,,,I would rather click the anchor up and down couple times to spin it.
Click to expand...

Well that is a confirmation that painting a meter of chain just before the anchor will work. So that is what I will do.
 
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