How big is Too Big in winches?

[Bill Boyke]

Looking for opinons on rewinching my 1975 Hunter 30. My current genoa winches are currently Merriman 25's. My wife and daughters are my main crew. I intend to replace the winches with self tailing to make sail handling easier. Are Lewmar 44's or Anderson 46's overkill on a 30 ft sailboat. My crew will never carry alot of muscle so I am trying to rig it for brains not brawn. We intend to race Jib and Main and cruise. Any comments are apprieciated.Bill Boyke; Kismet(nee Fruition)

 

[Bill]

I'm not an expert but..........

I'm not an expert but I can tell you that the winches Hunter is putting on the 320 (I'm buying one) are Harken 32's, both are self-tailing, one is 2-speed and the other 1-speed. It has 540 sf of actual sail area and a 110% headsail.

 

[Bryce Grefe]

winches

The newest PS has a review of 6 winches. Also great assistance on calculating loads and translating that into winch size.BryceS/V Spellbinder

 

[Doug Sheppard]

Winches can be too big

Bill,I race up here in Anchor Bay, 89 h30 frac rig. Lew 44 has 1st gear ratio of 13.9:1 so it will take longer getting in if you're intending to race. Also has larger self tailer to 9/16" line so smaller lines won't hold as well. I personally don't like Lewmars, need too many wraps to hold. Anderson 46 self tailer will only take 1/2" or 9/16" line, also large 1st gear ratio. I recommend the Anderson 40 w. a 1st gear ratio of 8.5:1. Comes in fast and then goes to 39.5:1 Harken would be my second choice.