Question for Furling Mast Owners

[Mulf]

I have a 41 foot Hunter with a Selden in mast furling main. Two of my non-furling Hunter owner friends are considering converting their primary cockpit Lewmar winch to power using Lewmar's conversion kit, primarily to raise their large roach mainsails, and suggest I do it too. All of us are getting to ages where the winch work is getting harder for us.

I am looking for input from owners who have powered winches on the winch that could be used with the outhaul and furling lines for the furling mast. On a couple of really windy occasions I have used that winch to manually crank in the continuous loop furling line. Also, I am especially interested in comments on how it handles the occasional slight jam on hauling out the sail, and what the winch would do in that case.

Thanks in advance for all input!

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Using a power winch on a furling is a recipe for disaster.

 

[CCHer]

While I certainly understand Don's advice, I use the power winch for in and out, however with a lot of care. One loop around the drum and a person on the tail, never in the self tailing jaw. For us late 60 somethings it really makes sail handling a non-event.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

While I certainly understand Don's advice, I use the power winch for in and out, however with a lot of care. One loop around the drum and a person on the tail, never in the self tailing jaw. For us late 60 somethings it really makes sail handling a non-event.

I should have prefaced my comment with the caveat about using it to pull a "slight jam" as the OP described it.

 

[Les]

I have had furling mains and jib for just a little over fifteen years and have had little or no problems with the sails. That being said, with my present Hunter 27 I use the WinchRite (a power adapter for winches) to unfurl and furl my sails. I have an aneurism on my ascending aorta so heavy winching is out of the question. I just passed eighty one but I still like to sail....and I do the sailing. Tending the sails, docking, and putting the boat to bed from our day sails.

I highly recommend the WinchRite having had one for seven years with no problems.

 

[DRhoads]

I use one of those hand held power winches. Works well reeling back in and I have used it under pressure when trying to reef in high winds. I know "turn into the wind first" but sometimes that isn't as easy as it sounds. Wasn't expensive, charges fast, and multiple uses before needing a recharge. Hit a jam, just pull it off and hand winch until clear.
I have never seen a jam hauling out the sail.

 

[Scotty C-M]

I use the winch for both deploying and dousing the main. If done with care it should be no problem for you also.

By care I mean that I operate it very slowly, starting and stopping so that the process is slowed considerably. I listen to the sound, and feel the line, to be sure that the pressure is minimal. I watch the sail to be sure that it is rolling in or out easily. I've found that my sail likes to stop every once in a while to bounce inside the mast, especially when deploying the main. Sometimes the sail sticks a bit, but I've never had a jam like other people have described. I would be very careful with the winch if that were the case. In general, I let it take it's own time and it works just fine. What I don't do is just crank the heck out of it.

The winch makes it so easy to deploy and set the sail that I tend to sail more frequently. That is a very good thing for me! Adding a power winch to the cabin top would be a very high priority for me if I didn't have one already.