Self tailing winches.

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millbeach

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Gang.
Would you say self tailing winches are worth laying out money for.
As i sail mostly alone, i think they would be a good aid to me.
I sail 27ft Jeanneau,
I have been told ,Size 16 are the size for me.( for genoa )..
A pair of Harken are £550 .:
Any thoughts on other manufacturers ?:confused::confused:

Must admit will have to wait till winter to buy and fit...
 
I sail singlehanded most the time and wouldn't be without self tailers.

Have you been to the boat yard on Canvey Island? I got 2 x new Lewmar size 14 self tailers from there for about £400 - been fine on my 27' cutlass.

Did toy with the idea of adding the bungee winchers to the old winches byt after a couple of conversations with people who had used them decided they would be a waste of money.
 
Yes i know the chandlers on Canvey "Dauntless" me thinks.
Funny thing i bought my boat out of that yard.

Yes, have also heard those tops you add to traditional winches are ****.
Will def look into buying some s/t over winter.
Thanks for input.
Will start saving i think..:)
 
I fitted a rubber "Wincher" to our last boat for the central genoa winch. Cost me £25 for one and it was blumin brilliant, worked exactly like a self tailer which we only fitted when the ancient winch gave up. Given a choice I would obviously fit a true ST but the difference was an extra £230.
 
and CPD had persuaded me they weren't necessary....

OK, lets take it up a step: Single speed self tailing vs two speed manual tailing. Does the ability to use both hands on the ST counter only one hand for winching with the lower gearing?
 
It depends on the size of the boat. We were a 27ft cat so almost all the sheet came in without using the winch handle, it was only the last bit we used the handle for so only having single speed made no difference.
 
Winches..

Harken, Anderson and Lemar.
They seem to be the top three i guess.
Any other quality winch manufacturers i should look in to ?..
 
I fitted Antal to my last 2 boats. I can buy 1.6 Antal ST winches to every 1.0 Harken winches. So very cheap.

From Marineware Southampton. Nice people.
 
For what they cost I'd bash a pair of winchers on and see how you get on. They are low cost, quick to fit and you can take them off again easily if not satisfied. No they don't suddenly make your winch ST but they do most of the job, and I've used them enough times to know they are not bad bits of kit. If you decide they don't do the job for you, then save up for the real deal ST winches and sell the winchers. you will get a goodly proportion of your money back.

Tim
 
FullCircle said:
I fitted Antal to my last 2 boats. I can buy 1.6 Antal ST winches to every 1.0 Harken winches. So very cheap.

From Marineware Southampton. Nice people.
Click to expand...
Yep , agree here , we have antal s/t 'rs on the countess . had "winchers" on pegasus which were more use for holding beer bottles than jib sheets and on etap i managed with neither , comes down to personal choice i guess .
 
Wunja said:
and CPD had persuaded me they weren't necessary....
Click to expand...

....... and he still thinks they arent :D. Being on the fine ship Sabre somewhere in Holland at the mo allows me to play with Roger's shiny bits and whilst indeed fine bits of kit they are too (2 speed St'rs), and indeed nice to have, I still wouldnt class them as being necessary for single handing. Far better spend money on for example self steering, and if, and only if there is loot in the pot after everything else is done, then maybe consider it. I have no intention of replacing Pipedream II's shiny turny bits. The list of non-turny shiny bits to be added to Pipedream II before turny bots are even considered is frighteningly long :eek::eek::eek:
 
millbeach said:
Gang.
Would you say self tailing winches are worth laying out money for.
As i sail mostly alone, i think they would be a good aid to me.
I sail 27ft Jeanneau,
I have been told ,Size 16 are the size for me.( for genoa )..
A pair of Harken are £550 .:
Any thoughts on other manufacturers ?:confused::confused:

Must admit will have to wait till winter to buy and fit...
Click to expand...

get a price from Alan Beal of Brightlingsea he will give you a competitive price
 
On a larger boat, self tailers are excellent as the forces involved in handling sheets are pretty big (note to self - if the cruising chute wants to pull away, don't grab the sheet without gloves on :o)
On a 27 footer, they will be much less, so non ST would work fine - add a Wincher if you need an extra 'hand'.
All halyards can be put through clutches so you wont really need the extra help there.
 
Winches again...

As part of my upgrades this winter I replaced a pair of manky and alloy Barlows for a pair of Lewmat ST40's from Dauntless. Suffice it to say I bought two for the list price of 1. Oh, what a joy, sheeting in the genny hard in the 4/5 on Saturday was a onehanded job, and had to look to check it wasn't too tight. Worth it? oh yes.... As are the two solar panels and the Tacktick instruments....
 
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