Rubber winchers (tailers) any good?

[MM5AHO]

My genoa winches are very old (perhaps 40 years) and not self tailing.
Are the rubber tops that sell to convert this type of winch to something approaching self tailing any good? really?

 

[RogerMayne]

Yes, I have some on some old lewmars, they do work well.

 

[eddystone]

Yes in my opinion. especially when you consider the cost of a pair of Lewmar Evo 40STs against £60 for pair of winchers. Certainly cheap enough to be worth trying before committing to buying self tailers. The main drawback is that the rope does not feed off the winch like a proper self tailer, so you need to keep giving the rope tail a quick tug to clear it. Oh and they are an absolute pig to fit - you will need boiling water to soften them, washing up liquid etc.

 

[BabaYaga]

My genoa winches are very old (perhaps 40 years) and not self tailing.
Are the rubber tops that sell to convert this type of winch to something approaching self tailing any good? really?

Just beware that the size that fits your winch drum tops might not have a groove for cleating that is wide enough for your sheets.
This is the case on my boat, so I only use them for 'self tailing', by fully stacking line on the drum.
Still find them very valuable, had them for a long time. Now on my second pair.

 

[Mistroma]

Just beware that the size that fits your winch drum tops might not have a groove for cleating that is wide enough for your sheets.
This is the case on my boat, so I only use them for 'self tailing', by fully stacking line on the drum.
Still find them very valuable, had them for a long time. Now on my second pair.

The ones I had many years ago also had a groove at the top which would not hold the rope. As you say, the rope simply went around the drum until there were enough turns to push it against the underside of the device. I think that the groove was only there to allow the line to be cleated when not winching but was not suited to that task. Mine worked very well and the rope was forced against the ribbed section but the sheet never went into the groove to cleat. I only ever saw one size for each range of winch sizes and didn't think they were sold for different sheet sizes, just the winch size.

 

[alahol2]

Yes, they definitely work and are worth fitting. You may need more turns than usual on the winch. I have very chunky genoa sheets so get by with the normal 3 turns on size 40 winches.

 

[NickRobinson]

Confession time....
My boat has them. In my ignorance I thought the rubber thingy with the narrow groove was for... something, eg thin lines line like the furler? etc.. etc..
After this thread and some Youtubing, I am enriched and looking forward to using them properly-

 

[Robert Wilson]

Confession time....
My boat has them. In my ignorance I thought the rubber thingy with the narrow groove was for... something, eg thin lines line like the furler? etc.. etc..
After this thread and some Youtubing, I am enriched and looking forward to using them properly-

Confession accepted, and no penance for you.

Enjoy using them, and welcome to the enlightened among us. I've had mine a few years now, work well and a cost-effective way to go.

To the OP, as said above, they are swines to fit; do NOT use anything sharp to help ease them on - they tear.
Don't ask me how I know.........................

 

[RivalRedwing]

This come up fairly regularly, some like them and some do not. I agree with majority on here that, whilst they are no substitute for a proper self tailer, they are much better than nothing at all and a good investment. The key is to appreciate that the rope mus be wound such that it jams against the underside of the wincher which is where the grip comes from, the slot is just to secure the rope once winding has finished.

 

[Danny]

I had them on a previous boat and found them very effective. Can be hard to fit as mentioned before. Added bonus: they offer a degree of protection when you bang your shin on the top of the winch!

 

[vyv_cox]

I must be the only one, then. I thought they were rubbish. And yes, I was using them correctly.

 

[colind3782]

I'll admit that they are not as Ideal as spending £3K on new self tailers but they do work as advertised.

To get them on I warmed them up in hot water then used plenty of soap and a length of line, used in a similar way to how we fitted windscreens back in the day.

 

[maby]

We had them on a previous boat and they do work - not as well as a purpose built self tailing winch, but vastly cheaper!

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I remember that when I fitted mine, with my son's help and strength, our finger tips hurt for several days after!
The problem is that not all winches have the same dimensions. On my boat I have old Barient winches and their top flange is wider than most others. Consequently, the wincher that fitted the drum size was too small for the flange and the rubber lip that is supposed to sit on top of the winch, leaving a clear groove underneath, barely manages an overlap of 5mm on top of the flange.
However, the thick and 'hairy' genoa sheets fill the drum with 4-5 turns and hold well under the rubber. With that many turns one can hold the sheet with two fingers without slipping, even if the rubber was not there.
For 'self-tailing' I use one hand on the winch handle and the other for 'guiding' the sheet away from the winch. The grip of the rubber on the sheet that butts up against it is sufficient to hold in place; it is only in very gusty conditions that I put a precautionary turn over a cleat

 

[alahol2]

I remember that when I fitted mine, with my son's help and strength, our finger tips hurt for several days after!
The problem is that not all winches have the same dimensions. On my boat I have old Barient winches and their top flange is wider than most others. Consequently, the wincher that fitted the drum size was too small for the flange and the rubber lip that is supposed to sit on top of the winch, leaving a clear groove underneath, barely manages an overlap of 5mm on top of the flange.

I too have old Barient winches with the big diameter rim and having now moved my winchers between several winches I have got the method off to a 'T'.
Heat in hot water and washing up liquid for 5 minutes.
Hold the wincher at 45deg to the winch rim (part below the rim, part above) and push the whole wincher over the rim and onto the drum.
Load the jib sheet onto the drum below the wincher and winch in. This pushes the wincher hard onto the underside of the rim.
Use a spoon handle (or flat blade screwdriver) to lever the lip over the rim.
I have very little strength in hands and wrists (arthritis) but can fit the wincher in less than a minute.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I too have old Barient winches with the big diameter rim and having now moved my winchers between several winches I have got the method off to a 'T'.
Heat in hot water and washing up liquid for 5 minutes.
Hold the wincher at 45deg to the winch rim (part below the rim, part above) and push the whole wincher over the rim and onto the drum.
Load the jib sheet onto the drum below the wincher and winch in. This pushes the wincher hard onto the underside of the rim.
Use a spoon handle (or flat blade screwdriver) to lever the lip over the rim.
I have very little strength in hands and wrists (arthritis) but can fit the wincher in less than a minute.

Thanks for the explanation but I don't anticipate fitting any more in the foreseeable future. The method that we used was largely similar except that we boiled for much more than 5 minutes before they became soft enough'.
It could be that the winches are a different size from yours. The ones to which we have fitted are Barient 26. The other two in the cockpit are Barient 22 (from memory) and are only ever used for the asymmetric. I had thought of having them converted to ST but shipping them to Australia and back was not viable. The company there refused to sell me the bits so that I could do the machining myself.

 

[cpedw]

Hold the wincher at 45deg to the winch rim (part below the rim, part above) and push the whole wincher over the rim and onto the drum.
Load the jib sheet onto the drum below the wincher and winch in. This pushes the wincher hard onto the underside of the rim.
Use a spoon handle (or flat blade screwdriver) to lever the lip over the rim.
I have very little strength in hands and wrists (arthritis) but can fit the wincher in less than a minute.

That's cunning!

I have found them helpful (without being really self-tailing) but difficult to fit.
Derek

 

[Contest1]

I inherited a pair with this boat but have never used them.
Must dig them out and fit them as described by Alahol2.

 

[MM5AHO]

Update.
I bought two of these and fitted them last winter and so now have a season with them.
Not as good as proper self tailers (as others said), and I have experience of those on another oat I sail frequently, but a huge improvement on hand tailing from my existing non-ST winches. So, I say a good purchase.

 

[zambant]

They do work on our boat and are good value in my opinion.
Moody 346 with 150% genoa
Fair winds
John