jdc
Well-Known Member
Can anyone recommend a make and maybe model of vertical windlass as an alternative to my SL Sprint 1500 on my 42' rather heavy boat?
It seems to me that the thing was basically designed for 'normal' yacht use - whereas I use it pretty much every day I sail, sometimes several times in a day, and it's frankly not really man enough for the job. It's on it's 3rd electric motor, although - touch wood - I hope I've now fixed most of the ways water gets in (re-routed the cable, changed the design of the boot, fabricated a new plastic hawse pipe which comes deep enough into the chain locker, squirted sealant everywhere...). It has also jammed when a grub screw came loose (my fault I guess - didn't use enough loctite last time I changed the motor), but the issues just go on. I now have to replace the seal at the top on the main shaft and replace the main bearing as water gets in and the shaft has oodles of play. It was new in 2005, so not ancient.
Advantages of sticking with it are that it's powerful enough, I know it intimately and SL Spares have a service second to none. I could simply carry loads of spares parts.
But before setting off for the multi-year cruise I plan, maybe I should replace it - which I would do if, but only if, there's a genuinely robust alternative. No point putting in a different but no better one.
I tend to sail in remote areas; cold, muddy, lots of kelp and always windy. Often using tandem anchors (2 x 25kg). There's also a lot of windward work during which the foredeck gets green water over it.
It seems to me that the thing was basically designed for 'normal' yacht use - whereas I use it pretty much every day I sail, sometimes several times in a day, and it's frankly not really man enough for the job. It's on it's 3rd electric motor, although - touch wood - I hope I've now fixed most of the ways water gets in (re-routed the cable, changed the design of the boot, fabricated a new plastic hawse pipe which comes deep enough into the chain locker, squirted sealant everywhere...). It has also jammed when a grub screw came loose (my fault I guess - didn't use enough loctite last time I changed the motor), but the issues just go on. I now have to replace the seal at the top on the main shaft and replace the main bearing as water gets in and the shaft has oodles of play. It was new in 2005, so not ancient.
Advantages of sticking with it are that it's powerful enough, I know it intimately and SL Spares have a service second to none. I could simply carry loads of spares parts.
But before setting off for the multi-year cruise I plan, maybe I should replace it - which I would do if, but only if, there's a genuinely robust alternative. No point putting in a different but no better one.
I tend to sail in remote areas; cold, muddy, lots of kelp and always windy. Often using tandem anchors (2 x 25kg). There's also a lot of windward work during which the foredeck gets green water over it.
