jib winch location

JohnVTX · Mar 17, 2016

Moving them back would make it more difficult for anyone helping, and you would be banging your elbows on the cupholder you have in your avatar. How is your main currently run? Which traveler do you have, stock or Garhauer?

Jackdaw · Mar 17, 2016

brad minda said:
I need to make my boat a little more single handed sailing ready. My first idea is to move the jib winches aft about a foot or so to make them easier to reach from beside the wheel. Any problems with doing that? I have seen other boats, not a C30, with the jib winches much further aft than where mine are located.

These are often SPINNAKER trim winches, as they are often set father aft.

In general wheel driven boats are harder to single hand than tiller boats.

jeepbluetj · Mar 17, 2016

I single-hand my C-30 sometimes.
Jib winches are in the stock locations.

What works for me:
#1 Autopilot. I rarely am behind the wheel. +1. +10, and autotack are awesome.
#2 Garhaurer traveler - works very well and requires no winch. (I mostly adjust the main with the traveler, not the sheet) I can adjust the traveler from behind the wheel if I just leave the lines back to where I can reach em. Kinda like harness racing. Looks silly but it works. I rarely do that because of #1 - otto drives.
#3 Garhaurer mainsheet upgrade - I can work the sheet without the winch.
#4 Predominantly light Southern California winds, but I've been out when it's pretty brisk too. I'll go out reefed if it's over 12 or so.
#5 I can reach the jib winch from behind the wheel if I really need to - enough that I could grab the tail and flick it out of the self trailer if I ever had to ease the jib in a hurry. (or leave the tail back by the wheel)

By far the hardest thing for me to do is raise/douse the main because I've got to be at the mast. So I turn otto on while motoring, and walk up to the mast, and raise or douse it. It's tough because I know I'm 5-10 seconds or so from reaching the wheel if something goes all pearshaped.

JohnVTX · Mar 17, 2016

jeepbluetj said:
I single-hand my C-30 sometimes.
Jib winches are in the stock locations.

What works for me:
#1 Autopilot. I rarely am behind the wheel. +1. +10, and autotack are awesome.
#2 Garhaurer traveler - works very well and requires no winch. (I mostly adjust the main with the traveler, not the sheet) I can adjust the traveler from behind the wheel if I just leave the lines back to where I can reach em. Kinda like harness racing. Looks silly but it works. I rarely do that because of #1 - otto drives.
#3 Garhaurer mainsheet upgrade - I can work the sheet without the winch.
#4 Predominantly light Southern California winds, but I've been out when it's pretty brisk too. I'll go out reefed if it's over 12 or so.
#5 I can reach the jib winch from behind the wheel if I really need to - enough that I could grab the tail and flick it out of the self trailer if I ever had to ease the jib in a hurry. (or leave the tail back by the wheel)

By far the hardest thing for me to do is raise/douse the main because I've got to be at the mast. So I turn otto on while motoring, and walk up to the mast, and raise or douse it. It's tough because I know I'm 5-10 seconds or so from reaching the wheel if something goes all pearshaped.

Exact same setup as me, except main halyard is back to the cockpit.

Stu Jackson · Mar 17, 2016

jeepbluetj said:
I rarely am behind the wheel.

Got it right.

Here's another discussion, just today:

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,8839.0.html

dj2210 · Mar 20, 2016

I just ordered 2 new winches with the intention of doing this. Instead of moving the original ones I'll add two more and can use either position. Most of the time I'm doing everything anyway unless I have crew for racing. I get a crick in my neck sitting on the coming. Also when landlubbers are crowding the seating it gets hard to trim with them in the way. Plan to mount them on that wide section just aft of the wheel. Not sure about using a turning block further aft or not.