Winch Fitting on Jouet Fandango 33

[Fozsimon]

Hi, I am new to sailing and am currently adding bits to my first yacht. I have a 1973 jouet fandango 33. I was wondering if anybody knows how the winches & cleats on each side of the companion way are secured. I have checked inside and there are no bolts coming through to the inside. The reason I ask is I want to fit some clutches but an unsure what is between the outer shell & the inner.

I could just remove a winch & hope to see but thought I would ask first as that is easier

Thanks
Simon

 

[greeny]

In the absence of any other suggestions:-
If there is a headlining then remove it and check for fixings inside.
If there are no fixings visible inside then the existing fittings are possibly fixed to Steel plates laminated into the lay-up.
Remove an existing fixing and if is a machine screw thread then it must be tapped into something i.e. a metal plate of some description. Use one of the metal detectors (usually to find pipes/wiring in a wall) you can get from a DIY store or ebay to try to locate where these metal plates have been positioned. Then you can drill and tap in those areas maybe. Hopefully the plates will be in the area you need to fix your new clutches.

 

[Fozsimon]

hi, many thanks for your suggestions. There is no head lining to remove & no visable fixings. I will try you suggestion to see if a metal plate was bonded in during construction. many thanks

 

[2copplane]

I’d be tempted to leave the winches alone and exploratory drill in the required location and that will give you a feel for the construction. It will probably be grp, balsa, grp then fresh air. I would stop as drilling any further as you will most likely poke through the interior.
On my boat we have areas of fixed grp headlining and in these locations an oversize hole has been drilled to give access to fit the nut on the through bolt and then a matching bung inserted.