Re-locating the keel crank

[Dave Decker]

Has anyone re-located the keel crank on a Mac 25? I'm presently analyzing my interior options while cleaning it up. The logic of the crank location comes close to the logic of the 12v outlet on my 350Z. The crank just seems to be in a weird spot but then again I've never owned a sailboat before. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Stay tuned for the interior plans as soon as I get them nailed down. Hopefully will have photos too.

 

[Doug Rodrigues]

Someone did mentions that once...

Approximately 6 or 8 months ago someone did write that he had cut a round hole in order to rotate his winch 180 degrees. This allowed him to have access to the winch handle from the cockpit side. I'm not sure if that would benefit the inserting of the swing keel locking bolt though, unless you had a helper to turn the crank while you insert the locking bolt.

 

[Jim Ward]

Mac 25 Owner

That winch handle is always right in the way so I made a removable winch handle. I cut the handle off the winch and then drilled a slightly larger than 1/2 inch hole in the arm it attached to. When I need to use the keel winch I have a 1/2 by 6 inch bolt that has two nuts on it. One regular nut 1 inch in from the end. I insert it through the arm and then screw on a 1/2 inch wing nut. When I don't need to use the winch - take the handle off.