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self-tailing winches

dc27

have boat, need time
i'm looking at general advice on selecting self-tailing winches. my 27 has Lewmar 8s (one speed, non s/t) and i'm looking to upgrade. i'm being steered in the direction of Lewmar or Harken 16 s/t, and am wondering if anyone has any observations one way or another (or in another direction enitrely). thanks!

oh, this is for my genoa sheets.
 

Mindscape

Member III
Self tailers

harken or lewmar are good choices, I'd consider Andreson as well. Hard to go wrong with any of them imho. If you sail single or short handed you will love the ST's. Get them as big as you can, I think if you search the site you'll find that's one of the common threads in most opinions. On a prior boat (not an E boat) I replaced the sheet winches with Harken self tailing ones and only wished I'd done it sooner.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Bigger = Better

For a masthead rig genoa on a 27, I would want nothing less than a "30"...
I used to have 16's on a much smaller headsail boat and they were undersized when the wind went over 12 or so.
Just my .03 (with inflation),
Loren

ps: and watch out for the bogus arguement that "only racers need large winches"... Note that racers usually have macho weightlifters to do the grinding; guys that easily could pull in the genny sheets with their teeth (!)... It's the mom-and-pop cruisers that need the large self-tailers!
:)
 
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tilwinter

Member III
Winches

When I bought my Andersons about six years ago, I was driven by price. Between the rebate for my old winches they were offering at the time, and the discount I got by shopping around (got them at Rigging Only), I got them for about 45% off list price.

My personal opinion is to shop around, look for specials, and take the best price. They are all fine winches.
 

JMS

Member II
The Andersens are really nice, although with the dollar/euro exchange rate being what it is, they aren't quite the incredible bargain they were a few years ago. We are going to use them on the 35-2 we are restoring.

The SS looks great and in the smaller sizes are no heavier than equivalent AL winches. Another feature is the ribbed drum design: very grippy and easy on the sheets.

I agree with Loren, two speed 30's-28's with the Andersens-would be the min. I would consider putting on a 27. We've owned two different E27's (no.'s 47 & 355) over the years. On 47 I installed Barient 21's ~= to a modern 30/32. On 355 we used Lewmar 30's. Upgrading the primaries was the best change we made to either boat.
 
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Randy Rutledge

Sustaining Member
don't go small

I had a pair of Lewmar 42 2 speed winches that came with the boat when I bought it. I questioned installing these huge compared to the standard winches for the back positions on my 29. I saw what they were worth on e-bay and said why not.
If I could afford it I would have this size everywhere other than the mast mounted halyard winch. Big is a good thing. Self tailing is out of my price range for this size and I will not use smaller
 
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