Halyard winches constantly foul

[Malcolm Hamilton]

I own a beautifuly maintained 30 Catalina and sail Sydney Harbour and environs. 2 weeks ago we almost experienced a knockdown near the harbour bridge after winds increased from 5 knots to 25-30 knots in a mtter of seconds. We were in control, however when trying to reef in the mainsal using the halyard winches, the rope constantly fouled itself by winding up the previous turn. This delayed control by several minutes and resulted in needless risk. Clearly, this is an inherant design fault. We have a custom made dodger however it does not foul the angle of the ropes from the guides to the winches in any way. Any suggestions or stories of similar experiences would be much appreciated.Malcolm Hamilton

 

[Dave Ullrich]

Over-ride Problems

I have an 83 Cat 30 TR. I have a suggestion. All winches will gget an override of you are not VERY careful and have more than 2 full turns on the winch. So to make life easier and less stressful, limit yourself to 2 full turns on the winch. It's really not a design flaw, just a way of life with winches.

 

[Donald R Doherty]

Andersen Winches

I up graded my C30 with Anderson selftailig winches for the Genoa sheets. I can't tell you how much I like them. They have a vertical rib instead of the "nurled" drum like Lewmare. I had the Lewmares on another boat and had the same problem with rope override. Old rope and the nurled drum just hold to tight and won't allow the previous turn to move up! That hasn't been a problem with the Andersens.