Main winches

I am reinforcing the plywood that mounts the main winches. Has anybody ever felt the need to upgrade the winch size on the 35?

A friend, with 'some' boat knowledge, has told me the original winches are liable to fail under the load close hauled; but they still work fine, and the cost of new ones is just huge. However, they are another item I would hate to have fail half way between Greenland and Iceland.

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972

primary winches

Gareth:
For what it's worth, I just purchased two Harkin winches for use as secondary winches (aft of the primary winches, used for spinnaker sheets, and single handing of jib sheets). The rep from APS told me.... the Harkin rep told him....that Harkin B 40.2 two speed winches were fine for "secondary" use, but suggested 44's for primaries. Obviously the 44's are alot more expensive, $1,300 as opposed to the 40's being $899. The APS rep felt the 40's would do fine for primaries as well, but you'll be pushing the envelope a bit.
Alan
35 MKII

gareth
here is a website that has a lewmar winch guide. perhaps you can compare what you have with what they say you should have. i have never seen a winch blow out. i have seen almost everything else. booms break, lines part, demastings, standing rigging part.



www.mauriprosailing.com/ lewmar-winches-selection-guide.htm

take care
greg

Sizing winches...

Like Greg, I have never seen (or heard of) a winch breaking up under load... Which does not mean it never happens...
What normally happens is the load overcomes your ability to turn the handle.

Our 34 footer came with the factory-optional winch package, which gives us Lewmar 46 primaries and Lewmar 43 secondaries (both ST). I can bring in the genny in second gear, with difficulty, in a breeze, and my wife cannot.
Part of the problem is the location and slight outward cant of the winches, so that only a tall person can really get right over them and crank. She is feisty, but still only 5'4" on a good day...
But also, there is the larger problem of undersized winches on all production boats. Even the standard option-upgrade packages typically only get the ratio's close to optimal for an average husband-and-wife crew. I figure that this is one area where a builder typically saves some real bucks. New owners seldom get out in heavy air for quite a while, expecially if they are new to sailing or new to that particular size boat. Undersized winches, as long as they are not obviously puny, never seem to deter a potential purchaser.

The real irony is that racing crews have more muscular and/or younger crew and often have much much larger winches than "cruisers."

And..... It's the cruisers that really need huge winches!

As to pricing, if you watch for annual sales, you should be able to get Andersen 46ST's for around 1K each, which would be my first choice for a 35 footer. Check the pricing at Rigging Only, on the web.

Best,
Loren in PDX
Olson 34 Fresh Air

When I switched my primaries to self-tailing winches, I went one size larger (from a Barient 24 to a Harken 48) and find that I can now steer and trim the sails at the same time, which was the goal. Harken was having a sale and gave me $300 for each Barient. BTW, you can find great backing plates here:

http://www.pridemarine.com/Backing Plates.htm

Used winches

Does anyone know of a salvage yard in the southeast (SC, NC, GA) that sales used sailboat stuff? Seems like a winch or other gear off a salvaged boat a few years old at half the price would be worth looking at???

Art
71/E29

used winches

Try "Sailing Hardware & Gear" catigory under EBay.
Paul Huch

Used winches and gear

Try www.Baconsails.com. You may have phone them for what you are looking for. They are in Annapolis and sell items on consignment. They have over 10,000 used and new sails in stock and searchable online. The hardware is not all cataloged online so best bet is to call them. I worked there years ago and they are a great resource for just about any boat part, used that is.

Winch parts for Barient

While we're on the subject...
Does anyone have a good line on getting replacement parts for the Barient winches? The only place I've been able to find is the outfit in AUS (arco winches). I'd prefer an easier (ie. closer) supplier for things like pawls, springs, and other stuff that might go kaput.
Thanks,
Chris

To make sure you get the right stuff go with Arco. He can be called by phone which is better. dont trust email

Lewmar 52s

Speaking of main winches....when we bought our E-38 I was thrilled that it came with such hefty main winches - Lewmar 52s. Even hard on the wind my wife could sheet the genny using the low speed on those huge things.

BUT, they are the older type with the self-tailing groove that is not spring loaded. And those grooves are HUGE. A 1/2" diameter genny sheet is actually too small for them, and can slip out under a strong load. I ended up going with 5/8" diameter multiplate lines for genny sheets, which are way bigger than they need to be, but at least give me a secure grip in the self tailing groove. Newer Lewmar winches have a spring loaded slot that gets around this problem. Always wanted to trade up, but never got around to it.