do I really need winches on my mac 26d?

[walt]

I mostly single hand a 26S (very similar) but when my wife is with me, she runs the jib. She doesnt care to trim so I put a mark on the jib sheet line and she simply gets the mark on the line just barely past the cleat during the tack and before the sail loads up. No need for winches. When Im single hand sailing, I somewhat use the same marks and set the jib before it loads up, also without the winch. But.. I like having the winches for occasional trimming or mast raising or tightening the roller furler halyard.

 

[SteveHughessails]

Wait until you try and get the wrapped sheet off the winch

I was hoping someone would bite, my apologies. I have tried using the winches on my MacGregor 25. Not as easy as you would think. Wrapping the sheet on the winch if done incorrectly like me, it was arduous to get it off. Can’t turn mine backwards.
Last time out we wrapped the sheet around the winch and just relied on the cleat so it looked good.