Which Winch?

[Bolo]

I pulled the old Barient 10, 17ST and two cleats off the starboard cabin top with all of it original to my 32-3 (1987) boat. My plan is to install new rope clutches (all ready purchased the three in one Spinlock XAS) for three different control lines - main sheet, boom vang and main halyard. All three would then be serviced by one winch. The Barient 10 was used for the main sheet which had to be tied off to a cleat which I got so good at I could do it with one hand. The main halyard was pulled by the 17ST and the boom vang was adjusted at the mast by way of a cam cleat but now I have a new vang with a line long enough to reach the cockpit. One the port side four new Spinlock XAS rope clutches, reefing lines and a new (used) Lewmar were installed last year.

So, I could used the old Barient 17ST to service the new starboard rope clutches but since you can't easily get parts for Barients any longer I figured it's time to buy a new winch. The two I have in mind are the Harken 15STA and the Lewmar EVO Size 15 Self-Tailing. These two seem to match the old Barient but are they the right size? Maybe I need something larger? The old Barients seemed adequate but you can get use to almost anything if you don't know better. I sail mostly the Chesapeake Bay and do not race the boat. Opinions?

 

[Loren Beach]

There are Several good threads on the site for choosing ratio's and aligning the winch to the clutches. Both I and Christian have some blog entries to give you ideas.

O34 - New Housetop Winches & Clutches

The June-July project was to 1) replace the factory Lewmar ST30 winch on each side, 2) replace the out-of-production clutch stoppers on each side, and 3) move both winches aft toward the rear edge and move the clutch array back to make them a lot...

ericsonyachts.org

With a similar displacement boat, I am still a fan of our change from the factory 1988 Lewmar 30ST for halyards up to the Lewmar 40ST (the WM annual 2 for 1 sale should be coming up next month).
While it's proper to size for the halyard or control line load, I believe it's equally important to size for hauling a 200# crew person the mast. The larger winch is better/safer for all these purposes.

 

[peaman]

I figured it's time to buy a new winch

Watching this thread with great interest, as I have the original Barient 18 and 2 Barient 10 along with a collection of clutches, all of which I'd like to upgrade and rearrange.

 

[Bolo]

Watching this thread with great interest, as I have the original Barient 18 and 2 Barient 10 along with a collection of clutches, all of which I'd like to upgrade and rearrange.

Since you're so interested and as per my reference to the completed reefing lines upgrade, here is a photo of the Spinlock XAS clutches and the Lewmar 24 that services them. The two paired clutches are each for the tack and clew of reefing points 1 and 2. As for the other side of the boat where the main sheet, boom vang and main halyard are located, I still looking at the info available and waiting for other responses.

BTW: The frugal side of my brain is telling me to stick with the Barient 17ST because it basically was used only once for each trip that the boat made under sail and that was to haul in the main halyard so it didn't get that much used. Yes, it was gooey and sticky inside when I pulled it off but a good servicing will take care of that in short order. I understand Loren's point about upgrading to a large size because I may want to haul a 200 lb person up the mast someday but...that won't be me! I don't go up the mast anymore and actually when the riggers worked on my mast last year they used one of the small winches on the mast used for the spinnaker halyard. I also noticed that Christian has blogs about cleaning his Barients and unless my eyes are deceiving me, he still has Barients on his E38. Also, I have the Barient 21 that I removed when I did the reefing lines "upgrade". That winch, which did sit on the port side of the cabin top, was used to raise the jib halyard and tighten the reefing lines. I since moved the jib halyard to a winch on the mast since that line was only used one every other year to raise or lower the Genoa. So that winch received even less use than the 17ST.

 

[peaman]

Have you considered the Lewmar DC series of clutches, with their aft-pivoting lever versus the others? My clutches may have been installed too far forward, but presently, opening them fully requires dragging the lever end along the isinglass of the dodger. I'd like to avoid that in future. Our boats have precious little cabin-top space for hardware, for those of us who like to use a dodger, and that has been an issue for me, with not only clutch lever swing, but also winch handles. When I replace the clutches and winches, I will be looking to optimize the available cabin top space inside of the canvas dodger.

 

[Bolo]

Have you considered the Lewmar DC series of clutches, with their aft-pivoting lever versus the others? My clutches may have been installed too far forward, but presently, opening them fully requires dragging the lever end along the isinglass of the dodger. I'd like to avoid that in future. Our boats have precious little cabin-top space for hardware, for those of us who like to use a dodger, and that has been an issue for me, with not only clutch lever swing, but also winch handles. When I replace the clutches and winches, I will be looking to optimize the available cabin top space inside of the canvas dodger.

The Spinlock XAS clutches, for the reefing lines, have worked perfectly for me. Easy to open and close even for my wife. So that's why I bought the trio set of Spinlock XAS for the starboard side upgrade. Yes, there isn't a lot of cabin top space on our 32's but I managed to find the room. If you like, when I'm done I can measure out where all the components end up and send the layout to you to at least use as a suggestion for your placement since we have the same boat.

This afternoon, sometime after I made my earlier posts, I disassembled the Barient 21 that was on the port side of the cabin top (used primarily for the reefing lines and the jib halyard) which I previously took off the boat when upgrading the reefing clutches. I cleaned all the parts which has white grease the consistency of melted wax along with black grime. After cleaning the winch I noticed that it had almost no signs of use on the inside with even the pawls and spring in good shape which makes sense because it wasn't used as much as say the Genoa sheet winches. Basically, there is noting wrong with the winch so I've decided to install it on the starboard side of the cabin top to service the main halyard, main sheet and boom vang after they come out of the Spinlock XAS rope clutches. If at some later date I'd want to replace them with a Lewmar or Harken I can but I can't see that coming anytime soon after cleaning and checking it out


Barient 21 particularly disassembled before cleaning.


Parts cleaned and ready for assembly.

 

[peaman]

If you like, when I'm done I can measure out where all the components end up and send the layout to you to at least use as a suggestion for your placement since we have the same boat.

That would be real helpful, because what I have just doesn't seem right. Thank you.

Your Barient 21 looks great. I would definitely keep that one, especially since it is self-tailing, and slightly bigger than my 18.