Upgrading winches ?

[Birdseye]

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.
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Thats what you should do anyway, even withleccy winches. Only considerate for the poor sod on the winch handle. We do it every tasck when racing.

What winch handles do you have. Those expensive 12inch lewmar jobbies that allow two hands on the handle really are worth the money particularly if you currently have 10 inch handles.

 

[john_morris_uk]

A shorter winch handle loses lots of power as someone else has pointed out. An alternative to having a cranked stanchion or a shorter winch handle is to cut a pad to tilt each winch by a few degrees. I had exactly the same problem on our Sadler 25 many years ago (and inherited home made tiny winch handles!) I cut some blocks of teak into pads and got them sliced on a band saw at the right angle. Long s/s machine screws are easily sourced and slightly tilted over from the 'vertical' winches are not uncommon and don't look unsightly. With the winches tilted over slightly you can now use the proper full length winch handles. Easy peasy...

Whilst on the subject of genoa winches and being hard to wind in the last bit: may I make a plea not to crank the winch handle backwards and forwards. It's really bad for the pawls in the winch and I see people doing it all the time. Winches are expensive; why shorten their life?

 

[Daydream believer]

On my first boat I moved the winches on to the cabin top so I could operate standing up & not have to lean outboard
But I did not have a tent in the way .My halliard winches were on the mast so did not get in the way either

 

[Storyline]

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What winch handles do you have. Those expensive 12inch lewmar jobbies that allow two hands on the handle really are worth the money particularly if you currently have 10 inch handles.

Have got a lovely Harken one with a ball race that is as smooth as silk. However it is a bit short - the problem is they cost an arm and a leg (but still cheaper than new winches !).

 

[Daydream believer]

deleted

 

[Playtime]

A couple of previous posts have suggested the Winchrite electric (battery) winch handle and I would agree. I have had mine for a couple of years now and would not want to return to manual winching.

Battery life is not a problem in normal use. However, if you are concerned about this you can do what I have done - install a 12V socket in the cockpit and keep the Winchrite on charge on long passages. I also try to keep it fully charged after use.

One Winchrite is equal to 4 (or even 6) dedicated electric winches at approx 1/10th of the cost. You also still get to 'feel' the amount of force the Winchrite is exerting as you have to balance the torque by holding the Winchrite stationary. This is one of the criticisms (dangers!) of dedicated electric winches.

At £500 it is cheaper than one replacement (larger) manual winch and does not require full (handle) clearance all around the winch.

One point to note, though - it works best with 2 speed winches as the 'slow speed' (high torque) setting is achieved by reversing the direction of rotation.

I have no connection with Winchrite other than as a very satisfied customer (70 years old with a bad shoulder!).