I also prefer to use more 'old school' technology to make sailing easier:
I attached blocks to the clew of my headsails to increase purchase and take the load off the winches/my back. As long as you prevent flogging of the sail the blocks work great. It also makes it easier to work the sheets by hand until you get them on the winch and also essentially doubles the power of the winch. (And yes, you have to buy twice the line as normal.) You can get away with a single twin-sheave block at the clew, as opposed to two singles too.
To ease mainsail heaving you can also rig up a block at the head of the sail to increase purchase, as long as you're comfortable with having your line tacked to an eye at/near the top of the mast....I recommend attching it to a deadeye of some sort. (Of course, if your halyard lets go from the head of the sail with the usual rig you've just lost your main halyard line anyways, so what's the difference?) This rig technique also lends itself well to a wire/rope halyard combo. There are also other ways to rig this utilizing two sheaves at the top of the mast and running a double-ended halyard with one end belayed at the mast. This system is cool because you can also heave on both ends at the same time for a quick hoist and then pullingon only one for that last bit of tension. It increases the power of the person hoisting the sail...of course, again, you need more line.
I attached blocks to the clew of my headsails to increase purchase and take the load off the winches/my back. As long as you prevent flogging of the sail the blocks work great. It also makes it easier to work the sheets by hand until you get them on the winch and also essentially doubles the power of the winch. (And yes, you have to buy twice the line as normal.) You can get away with a single twin-sheave block at the clew, as opposed to two singles too.
To ease mainsail heaving you can also rig up a block at the head of the sail to increase purchase, as long as you're comfortable with having your line tacked to an eye at/near the top of the mast....I recommend attching it to a deadeye of some sort. (Of course, if your halyard lets go from the head of the sail with the usual rig you've just lost your main halyard line anyways, so what's the difference?) This rig technique also lends itself well to a wire/rope halyard combo. There are also other ways to rig this utilizing two sheaves at the top of the mast and running a double-ended halyard with one end belayed at the mast. This system is cool because you can also heave on both ends at the same time for a quick hoist and then pullingon only one for that last bit of tension. It increases the power of the person hoisting the sail...of course, again, you need more line.