Locating 3rd winch on 340

[Daryl]

I am taking delivery of a new (2001) 340 in a couple of weeks and am having the dealer install a few things prior to that. One thing I feel would be extremely convenient is an additional winch on the starboard side to work the mainsheet. In addition to eliminating the nuisance of switching main and jib sheets while on port tack, it would reduce the need for the stopper blocks when it comes to the sheets. I have read in the archives that they can be very damaging to the sheets. I don't know if they have fixed this in the 2001 or not. Either way, I want the third winch but no one at the dealer seems to know exactly where or how to mount it. Is there a factory position or method of reinforcing deck? Does deck need reinforcement? Has anyone done it themselves with or without problems? I think I'll really be glad I have it when its all over. Thanks

 

[Miles]

340 Winches...

Hi Daryl,The line stoppers for the jib sheets really do tear up the sheet quite a bit so your idea of have a dedicated winch for the main is very good. On my 340 at least the winches are mounted over a glassed in plate in the deck. It isn't big enough to add another winch but you might be able to go with a more traditional backing plate or fender washers. An even better idea (as long as your adding winches) might be to put on the two aft spinnaker winches and use those for the jib sheets and use the cabin top winch for the main. That way you could tend the sheets from the helm too!

 

[Carl and Juliana Dupre]

Spinnaker Winch Route

Hi, Darryl. We had the same concerns about too many lines on those two cabin-top winches and, as Miles suggested, we went the route of getting the spinnaker winches and running the jib sheets back to them. We didn't add anything else; just led the jib sheets right back to the spinnaker winches. It has worked very well, with a couple of minor issues. The port sheet tended to rub a bit on the cabin top; we added a small patch of anti-chafe tape to the cabin top. The distance between the jib car on the cabin top and the winches on the cockpit coaming is very long; quickly sheeting in a slack sheet on a tack can result in an occasional over-ride. We plan to install some kind of block as a jib sheet control point closer to the winch. Other than those two things, it works just fine. Good luck!Carl and JuleH340 s/v 'Syzygy'