Two speed winches. Why?

[Cardinal]

I am struggling to understand why the OP can't manually spin in ("ratchet") the genoa sheets on a two speed winch. Every one I have seen this is possible, and we do it every tack - before finishing with a couple of turns on low gear.
Perhaps two speed winches are overkill on a 26 footer, but would seem extreme to go to the expense of removing them rather than just using the speed you want.
And when faster speed is useful is when sailing without a mainsail, or reaching, when there is more loaed sheet to pull in than on a well judged tack

I think that the OP wants to be able to turn the winch handle back against no resistance one-handed in order to get another bite at the angle of pull which he can conveniently manage one-handed. He can’t because there is resistance to turning in both directions. I think his difficulty relates to his specific situation in which he cannot take advantage of the two speed winch.

 

[fredrussell]

I think that the OP wants to be able to turn the winch handle back against no resistance one-handed in order to get another bite at the angle of pull which he can conveniently manage one-handed. He can’t because there is resistance to turning in both directions. I think his difficulty relates to his specific situation in which he cannot take advantage of the two speed winch.

Yep, thats it.

 

[michael_w]

I used to sail i the days when the 150% genoas were enormous and the winches were too small, ain't nothing like a set of Lewmar 3 speed primaries.