Has anyon added a main sail winch to a mast?

[Mark Flowers]

I have a Hunter 30' 1978 and only have a jib winch mounted on the mast. My wife can only get the main up about 2/3 the way by herself. Has anyone ever added a winch for the main? If so what steps did you take? How did you mount it? Are there any precautions I need to know about?

 

[gary jensen]

winch alternative

Why dont you place a fixed block at the base of your mast and bring the halyard back to a winch in your cockpit. That is how it was on my 36. You can hoist it from the cockpit and not add a winch...good luck

 

[David Foster]

2 Winches on my h27 mast

Mounted on either side on teak cheek blocbs to mate them on the mast. Mounted on stailess bolts in tapped holes in the mast. That said, I would highly recommend bringing the main halyard back to the cockpit. I did that mod this summer, along with the spinnaker halyard. It means a cheek block on the side of the mast, and a fairlead block on the cabin top as well as the winch at the cockpit, and a cleat aft of the winch.But the result is that I can help the Admiral with the halyard. And, I can easily single-hand the Lady Lillie.David

 

[Mark Flowers]

Thanks for the advice...Sounds like the way to go

Thanks for the advice, I didn't think of putting a winch in the cockpit. Sounds like the way to go.

 

[David Foster]

At, not in Cockpit

Just to be clear, all of the new gear is on the coach roof ahead of the cockpit. Cleat about 6 inches from the beginning of the roof, winch about 18 inches, and fairlead blocks forward of about even with the hatch cover stop.There are a number of good threads about mounting hardware on the roof. Fill a 1 inch hole with epoxy, then drill the hole for the mounting bolt after it dries. And of course, Back the nuts in the cabin with fender washers of other stainless backing.The job took my an afternoon with lots of checking to make sure I wasn't screwing up!David