Kukri
Well-known member
I’ve never done it any other way, on anything bigger than a Squib!
Mainsail hoist - winch or electric?
- Thread starter KenF
- Start date
I’ve never done it any other way, on anything bigger than a Squib!
TernVI
Well-known member
I've sailed a few boats without topping lifts, even with quite big sails and heavy booms, it's not hard to lift the boom by pulling the halyard sideways at the mast. Or if there's no-one to tail the halyard, it is only a few turns of the winch.
Frogmogman
Well-known member
Tern VI said much the same thing, and I agree with you both. This is the obvious place to start.
TernVI
Well-known member
But I was thinking more in terms of everything working as it should rather than rushing to exercise the credit card on upgrades. Sometimes just stripping, cleaning and lubing the old gear makes a big difference. As it happens, this week I've improved the halyard on one of my dinghies by making a new sheave on the lathe and a few minutes with a needle file. I've also made it 2:1 to reduce slip in the cleat and the effects of stretch.
asteven221
Well-known member
We had an electric winch on our Beneteau 423 and found it very good. As for batteries, never had any issues and the engine was always on whilst hoisting. Our current boat is a Bav 44 without an electric winch and it is a heavy hoist. I do hoist manually quite often and it is a bit of a workout, so I decided to get an electric winch handle. The eWincher looks great but very expensive, so I ended up with a Winchrite at a lot less than half the price. I didn't fancy the cordless drill idea.
My thoughts on the Winchrite? It's actually very good and does the job easily and doesn't need charged very often. I think it hoists quicker than the Lewmar winch on the Benny. It can also be used for genoa winches, so is more versatile than a fixed electric winch. It has enough oomph to lift a person, so can be used for recovering MOB situation or hoist them up the mast instead of the Main! I agree with others that it's best to hoist the Main most of the way and finish off manually. As always there are plenty You Tube demo's to check it out.
Downsides? It's quite large and heavy (ish) so not the easiest bit of kit to use for that reason, but the weight does tend to mean you are more aware of where you put it down. Less chance of dropping it overboard. The speed it hoists is such that it will break your wrist if you are not careful, but you get used to that. Perhaps, unlike a fixed winch you will get a better feel if the winch start to object if things are getting too tight. Nevertheless, on the first few hoists, it will come as a surprise how much torque the thing has! As I mentioned above, the charge seems to last for ages and it does charge quickly when required. We use it and then put it below, but don't store in it in the supplied bracket. There are two issues I have discovered that you should be aware of. The cog that goes in to the winch can drop off and is held in the Winchrite with a small sprung ball bearing. The second issue is actually dangerous! Like many electrical charges the charger has a slip on plug arrangement, meaning the charger can be used in many countries with different plugs. Last weekend I charged the Winchrite. When complete I grabbed the charger to pull it out the mains socket. The plug adaptor literally fell apart leaving part of it on the charger, but of more concern was the bit left in the 240v socket. It had two exposed metal pins i.e. live and neutral exposed for an unwary fingers. That could be a dodgy one off plug assembly and of course isn't a fault with the Winchrite itself, but worth mentioning. I believe the oldest Winchrite's had a gearbox weakness, which was soon sorted out so it might be worth bearing that in mind on any cheap fleebay purchase.
All in all I would recommend the Winchrite. It does what it says on the tin and does it well. At about £700 it's also the lowest cost solution (eWincher £1900 or a retrofit electric Lewmar £2500 plus? You can mess around with cordless drills, which IMHO is not worth the bother. Best to get something designed for the purpose I reckon.
My thoughts on the Winchrite? It's actually very good and does the job easily and doesn't need charged very often. I think it hoists quicker than the Lewmar winch on the Benny. It can also be used for genoa winches, so is more versatile than a fixed electric winch. It has enough oomph to lift a person, so can be used for recovering MOB situation or hoist them up the mast instead of the Main! I agree with others that it's best to hoist the Main most of the way and finish off manually. As always there are plenty You Tube demo's to check it out.
Downsides? It's quite large and heavy (ish) so not the easiest bit of kit to use for that reason, but the weight does tend to mean you are more aware of where you put it down. Less chance of dropping it overboard. The speed it hoists is such that it will break your wrist if you are not careful, but you get used to that. Perhaps, unlike a fixed winch you will get a better feel if the winch start to object if things are getting too tight. Nevertheless, on the first few hoists, it will come as a surprise how much torque the thing has! As I mentioned above, the charge seems to last for ages and it does charge quickly when required. We use it and then put it below, but don't store in it in the supplied bracket. There are two issues I have discovered that you should be aware of. The cog that goes in to the winch can drop off and is held in the Winchrite with a small sprung ball bearing. The second issue is actually dangerous! Like many electrical charges the charger has a slip on plug arrangement, meaning the charger can be used in many countries with different plugs. Last weekend I charged the Winchrite. When complete I grabbed the charger to pull it out the mains socket. The plug adaptor literally fell apart leaving part of it on the charger, but of more concern was the bit left in the 240v socket. It had two exposed metal pins i.e. live and neutral exposed for an unwary fingers. That could be a dodgy one off plug assembly and of course isn't a fault with the Winchrite itself, but worth mentioning. I believe the oldest Winchrite's had a gearbox weakness, which was soon sorted out so it might be worth bearing that in mind on any cheap fleebay purchase.
All in all I would recommend the Winchrite. It does what it says on the tin and does it well. At about £700 it's also the lowest cost solution (eWincher £1900 or a retrofit electric Lewmar £2500 plus? You can mess around with cordless drills, which IMHO is not worth the bother. Best to get something designed for the purpose I reckon.
Manosk
Member
My solution for my boat a Nordship 32 with 24.7 mainsail would be an iwinch bit and an Dewalt drill with 70NM torque bought
for 169 eur plus 60 eur for the iwinch
for 169 eur plus 60 eur for the iwinch
westernman
Well-known member
I can hoist the main on my boat by using the electric anchor windlass.