Looking up "Pearson 530" on the web:- If your boat was built in the early 1980's, and if the Spinlock's are OEM, we might have had (or are having in your case) similar issues. This because several years ago I also needed to deal with your question on my 1980 Cherubini 36.
My observations (but not necessarily recommendations since each case is different):
First, if one of the handles has failed, others aren't likely to be far behind. Aside from the aluminum base plate, these clutches are mostly made of plastic. Both the handles and the "side-walls" get brittle with age and fail. See the attached pic of the cracked side plate of my OEM Spinlock. If yours is the same, just driving out the pin to install a new handle won't be a longer term fix. It is possible that one of the side-walls inside of your (double or triple or however many) has failed and you just can't see or have noticed. That said, when mine went bad, I did discover that rebuild kits including new sidewalls are available. And the price at the time was surprisingly reasonable. I don't remember where I found. You will have do your own web search and determine if rebuild is a good choice for you. The Spinlock clutches need to be removed to do the complete rebuild.
- Second: About the time I discovered my Spinlock clutch wasn't working very well, I happened upon some used heavier duty aluminum type double clutches at a swap meet for just a few $'s each. So that was my solution because for me it was possible to make new mounting holes without too much hassle. Hunter in the 1980's glassed in aluminum plates underneath. The clutch mounting machine screws (1/4" or maybe 5/16" I don't recall) are threaded directly into the aluminum plate. No nuts underneath. I wouldn't be surprised if Pearson did the same... but you will need to ascertain yourself if you have an aluminum plate. If you do have, then you are free to upgrade to most clutch manufacturer's current line-up. If you have the know-how, drilling/tapping new holes is easily doable. Make sure though that you mount your new clutches just like the old so that the lines lead true from the deck organizers and for wrapping around winches. As a big boat owner, you probably know about the bad joss between stainless steel and aluminum. If your Spinlocks in fact are mounted into an aluminum plate, likely SS machine screws were used. SS vs. Al over many years = galvanic corrosion. Removing your existing screws may not be a slam dunk.
