Upgrading winches ?

Storyline

Storyline

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The main thing we noticed when moving from a 31' to 36' boat (apart from loads of lovely extra space) is that the loads on everything are very much higher. Storyline is quite a heavyweight so those with lightweight flyers will not have this problem.

Now we find it an effort to harden up the jib if it is windy so tend to luff to make it easy to sheet it in.

* Has anyone tried one of those portable electric winch handles - do they work ?

* Has anyone tried a retrofit self tailing mechanism - do they work ?

The alternative is to upgrade the winches a size or even (dreaming :)) fit electric ones which would be feasible as we have space under the coamings,
 
Winches are bought and sold on ebay.
How much will the upgrade cost?
vs How much did the boat cost?
Or, would a smaller genoa be a better investment?
 
I've just changed out the old Gibbs on our boat for shiny new Lewmar self-tailers. (15ST) Wot a pain if you don't want to add to the number of holes in your beloved boat.
The Gibbs have 4 screws, the lewmars 10 (yes) holes for either five studs or five bolts. Needless to say none matched.
If you can get newer/upgraded winches by the same manufacturer you may be a lot more fortunate than me.
The Lewmars are the perro's cohones, they have a reduction gear even though they are little single speed units and are a joy to use compared with the Gibbs which are just a simple ratchet. The genny seems to want to play the game now, as opposed to when it used to fight every inch of sheet.
 
Billjratt said:
I've just changed out the old Gibbs on our boat for shiny new Lewmar self-tailers. (15ST) Wot a pain if you don't want to add to the number of holes in your beloved boat.
The Gibbs have 4 screws, the lewmars 10 (yes) holes for either five studs or five bolts. Needless to say none matched.
If you can get newer/upgraded winches by the same manufacturer you may be a lot more fortunate than me.
The Lewmars are the perro's cohones, they have a reduction gear even though they are little single speed units and are a joy to use compared with the Gibbs which are just a simple ratchet. The genny seems to want to play the game now, as opposed to when it used to fight every inch of sheet.
Click to expand...

I removed my ancient Gibb bottom action winches and fitted some Lewmar self-tailers. Like you I had to plug old holes and make new ones.

Trouble is I didn't do my homework and now find I can't rotate the winch handle through 360 degrees because there's a guardrail stanchion in the way!

Does anyone know where I can get a 6" winch handle? :o
 
On my Fulmar I fitted a pair of second hand Lewmar 43ST's (from my brother's boat) as genoa winches on the cockpit coamings. Even this size can be a bit of a grind in heavier airs whilst sailing singlehanded using just one arm.

The old self tailing genoa winches are going to be moved from the outer back edge of the coachroof, where the handle fouls the sprayhood, slightly inboard and forward to replace the Lewmar 16 halyard winches. Again these are oversize, but will make life easier. The Lewmar 16's will be sold on eBay as they will no longer be needed.

On my brother's Contest 35 he fitted Lewmar 48ST's and was pleased with the extra power they gave him. This would probably be the size you should consider. Expensive but worth it.

The problem with the portable electric winchers is the battery may go flat on a beat, so you will be no better off. No personal experience, but my thoughts.

With regard to retro fit self tailers, the only experience I had some years ago were the rubber ones at the top of the drum. They work in a fashion, but not like a proper self tailer. Basically you get what you pay for.

The only sensible choices are fit bigger self tailing winches or reduce the headsail size (furl away) earlier. The only thing you do know is, you will not get any younger so in a few years you may be very glad of the larger winches.
 
Storyline said:
The main thing we noticed when moving from a 31' to 36' boat (apart from loads of lovely extra space) is that the loads on everything are very much higher. Storyline is quite a heavyweight so those with lightweight flyers will not have this problem.

Now we find it an effort to harden up the jib if it is windy so tend to luff to make it easy to sheet it in.

* Has anyone tried one of those portable electric winch handles - do they work ?

* Has anyone tried a retrofit self tailing mechanism - do they work ?

The alternative is to upgrade the winches a size or even (dreaming :)) fit electric ones which would be feasible as we have space under the coamings,
Click to expand...

Can't comment on electric add on handles - but the problem sounds like lack of power for the size of sail which is best addressed by going up a size. Don't think you can convert to self tailing as the winches are a different design, not just an extra bit added on. Almost certainly the hole spacing will be different - I replaced 2 speed 25 Lewmars with 16STs and had to plug and re-drill. Expensive business if buying new, but an alternative to get the self tailing feature using your existing winches is the Barton Wincher.
 
Concerto said:
Ever thought of moving the stanchion?
Click to expand...

Yes I have.

But whether I will ever get round to doing it .........

Anyway, the designer spaced the stanchions equidistant along the hull and it would spoil the look of the boat if I moved them. Maybe moving the winch would be the answer.

Meanwhile, I tack slowly and try and get the sheet in before the sail fills with wind :rolleyes:
 
We inherited quite ancient Barbarossa (absorbed by Harken) winches. Non self tailers. The recent Harken 44-2 winches have identical bases, so we investigated and bought the required parts to re-fit the winches to self tailers- same ratio - same base. So mechanically an easy fix. Not cheap, but less costly than entire new winches.
There are "winchers " to add to non-st winches, but we did not find them great to use. The conversion to real ST winches was well worth it.
 
Storyline said:
The alternative is to upgrade the winches a size or even (dreaming :)) fit electric ones which would be feasible as we have space under the coamings...
Click to expand...

Electric winches are really best for one off dog jobs like raising a main, etc. As others say electric genny winches would quickly burn through available battery juice.

But you know I wouldn't get too hung up on winch size; I have an approx 60 sqm genny and 2-speed Lewmar 58s which can do the job in low gear, but painfully slowly if more than a few inches of rope to grind.

You might be better investigating the self tailing route, purchase a big two-handed winch handle and continue to luff up a bit when necessary.
 
This is what I did,
challenges
Age 60+
Arthritus
Not a lot of money
Solution
Lofrans 12v capstan
Sited in cockpit with foot control, using winches as turning blocks am able to single handed sheet genny, raise main, and earlier this year sort out tangled mooring chain. Works for me.
 
You could get all ancient mariner about it and fit a pulley to the sheet, doubling up the sheet but perhaps turning the foot into a lethal weapon.

On my main, as a potential partial solution to that risk I have a strop on my mainsheet then the pulley block hung low down thereby (and my reason for doing so!) using less rope than usual.
 
parsifal said:
Does anyone know where I can get a 6" winch handle? :o
Click to expand...

I know you're joking, but a shorter handle will leave you with a lower ratio than the Gibbs you replaced. I had a similar problem with the main winches - skinning my knuckles on the stanchions when grinding hard, which is best done by getting your chest right over the drum and winding 360 deg. I saw a great idea on a refurbished Co32, the offending stanchions were replaced with ones offset by a couple of inches by bending them through two right angles directly above the base. It's not a cheap option as bending thick walled stainless tube is not easy and then the guard wire holes need to be made at the right height, so you can't just bend the existing ones!

http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy87/rob2hook/Mojo - my Weston 8500/P1010006.jpg

Rob.
 
dom said:
These guys seem to have quite a good reputation (no personal experience)

http://winchmate.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udk5mY5QJQc
Click to expand...

I bought a Winchrite earlier this year mainly for anchor raising. My wife had been campaigning for one for 2/3 years but I'd been resisting (I do the winching) but then I had a heart attack so we bought one.
At £500 it was about half the cost of an installed electric anchor winch and I have to say that I'm impressed with it. ...easy to use but I haven't explored it's battery capacity yet.
 
dom said:
These guys seem to have quite a good reputation (no personal experience)

http://winchmate.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udk5mY5QJQc
Click to expand...


Looks like a good solution. Too bad they start with the #27 though; my Barients are only #26. :(

I had tried to obtain a kit of parts from the outfit in Australia and do the machining myself but they refused to sell. Shipping the winches there and back would have made the exercise uneconomical.
 
Thanks for all the replies :)

Good positive feedback on the winchrite electric handle. It is on 'offer' at the moment at £550 !
As we are rarely in a rush I think we will continue to luff after the tack - can usually sheet in the genny in one luff but sometimes need two. Not much hassle really when I think about it.
 
I'm thinking to upgrade our mainsail winch, it's mounted horizontally and not self tailing. Unfortunately I'm not sure of the make but it's unusual (for me) in that it has a serrated channel where the rope feeds and a sort of guard which is supposed to prevent the rope from continuing to feed into the channel causing it to jam. Am I right in thinking a single speed self tailing winch would be better?
 
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