Adding a jib sheet winch on H-32.

[Rick]

Hello to all,There were 4 sail boats on Barnegat Bay today; I was one of them! I'm new to sailing (although, I've windsurfed for many years in NJ), but this winter weather has been very cooperative for sailing.I would like to add a 2nd set of winches on my 2001 Hunter 32, so that I can control the main and the jib without leaving the steering wheel (when sailing solo). The boat has a reinforced winch pads for winches. I would appreciate any feed back or ideas on this addition.Thanks.Rick

 

[Scott Narum]

Winches

Rick, I'm looking at buying a 326 myself, and I will order it with the extra winches you describe...but they ain't cheap! You might check with Hunter directly since my boat would come with the winches installed. By the way, you will also find the extra winches handy in case you decide to fly an assymetrical spinnaker too!Scott

 

[John Nantz]

Drilling and Taping

If you do it yourself the winch pads standardly have aluminum plates sandwiched in the fiberglass. Drilling and taping into aluminum takes a different cuting oil than for steel. If a tap is run into aluminum it will gall up in short order and can easily break which would result in a real mess.Don't know how your new primaries will size up but ours were small so we moved them aft for secondaries and installed new larger primaries and now winching is much easier. Just an idea.An extra set of winches could also be useful to remove an overlap.

 

[Carl and Juliana Dupre]

Did This On 'Syzygy'

We got the spinnaker winches as a factory add-on for our H340 and we use them all the time for the jib sheets. The two standard cabin-top winches are just not enough to handle halyards, reef lines, main sheet, and jib sheets!As everyone has said, the aluminum plates are in the cockpit coaming laminate just waiting for the winches. Just make sure that you locate them properly.Our experience with using these winches for the jib sheets was good; it worked pretty well. We didn't have to add any other deck hardware; just ran the jib sheets straight back to the spinnaker winches right from the cabin-top jib cars. There were two issues that we ran into:-Although the run from the jib car to the starboard winch was clear, because of the way the sheets enter into the winches, the port side line did rub on the cabin top. We had to put down a bit of anti-chafe tape on one spot on the cabin top. -It is a long run from the jib car to the spinnaker winch, and we found the jib sheets to be prone to an over-ride when sheeting in quickly during a tack. It's OK once the sheet is tight and under tension, but due to the long run from the car, there is a lot of play in the line when it is at all slack, and we had a couple of over-rides when bringing the jib across in a tack. You really need a sheet "control point" near the winch. We are considering adding a turning block / fairlead of some kind near the winch.These two minor issues aside, we sailed all last season that way, and will continue doing so. These comments are specific to our H340. Before buying those winches, you may want to take a piece of line and check that YOUR boat has a clear and free line run from the cabin-top jib cars to the spinnaker winch position, or that you can create a clear path with a turning block.Good luck!Carl and JuleH340 s/v 'Syzygy'

 

[Miles]

Question for Carl and Juliana

I'm glad to hear the aft winches work ok with your jib sheets. I've been thinking of adding some spinnaker winches on my 340. From what I can see the run looks pretty clean except my arch (one of the older fiberglass ones) might get in the way a bit especially with a bigger winch. Do you have the new style (stainless) arch? Lewmar 30s or 40s? It sure would be nice to reach the jib sheets from the helm AND not have to run the spinnaker sheets across the cockpit like a spider web!

 

[Carl and Juliana Dupre]

New Stainless Steel Arch

Hi, Miles. We have a 2001 H340 with the new stainless steel arch, and the positioning of the arch and the spinnaker winches are completely different. Our arch is mounted on the hull much more aft and reaches forward, while we believe that your arch is mounted more forward on the hull and reaches back. For us our spinnaker winches are positioned well forward of the arch and the run is direct and clear. But you still should be able to make it work. The guy side of a spinnaker can still have a run pretty parallel to the hull with the pole out forward, and the guy still has to have a clear run to the winch.Our spinnaker winches are Lewmar 30's.Good luck!Carl and Jules/v 'Syzygy'