Lewmar Windlass advice please

[Peterlewis321]

We have a Lewmar V2/3 vertical windlass installed on our Princess V45. As we are med based and moor stern to I was wondering if I could add a drum/capstan onto the top of the windlass to help tighten the lazy lines at the bow (particularly for ‘weaker’ members of the crew)?
Lewmar look like they do a drum kit to do exactly this but, but if I did go down that route, it is not clear to me how would I allow the newly added drum to work independently of the chain/gypsy?
Or is this just a waste of time?!?

 

[markc]

We use our windlass to do exactly what you want to do. It's a Lofrans Leopard. It has a drum above the gypsy. the clutch is released on the top of the drum, meaning that the gypsy is now free, meaning that the anchor will drop unless held on by the safety line. As the drum is connected directly to the main shaft it will move independently to the gypsy when the clutch is released. I would think that the drum kit would include a replacement longer shaft and the drum. Having totally stripped down my windlass a couple of years ago, I can confirm that the shaft needs to be inserted on a bench with some hefty tools - not sure if the same will be needed on Lewmar