Upgrading primary winches

Dec 6, 2016
20
Catalina C38 Pt Richmond
I bought an 81 C38 and it has the Lewmar 48 3 speed winches. They are in good condition but would like to have self tailing for short handed cruising. I have a pair of Harken 42 self tailers. They came off of an Ericson 35 I owned and worked fine there. Are these big enough to replace the originals?

Thanks for any help.
 

Ted

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Jan 26, 2005
1,254
C&C 110 Bay Shore, Long Island, NY
Welcome. I'm assuming that these winches are going to be the primary winches. I think that you'll find that the Harken 42's will be under powered for that application unless you are using small headsails. A 46 or 48 power ratio would be a better fit. What is the size of your headsail? You really need to provide us with that information for a proper recommendation. Harken has a load calculator which is helpful in determining loads. Check it out here.
http://www.harken.com/content.aspx?id=9096
 
Dec 6, 2016
20
Catalina C38 Pt Richmond
Thanks Ted for the reply. Yes they will be the primaries. I have a 110 as my main headsail. I will check out the load calculator.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Self-tailers are nice, we have them, but other than location how do they make single handing easier? A handy cam cleat nearby should work fine. IMHO, you have the right size now. Just thought it might save you some work.
 
Dec 6, 2016
20
Catalina C38 Pt Richmond
In my experience not having them is much more of a challenge, especially if it is windy. Just having to crank and not crank and pull. thanks for the advice from all though.
 

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
Shouldn't be a problem for the 110..... mount then right next to the helm for personal use. Leave the 48's in place. Never can tell, you might have crew and want to race with the 155... and you can never have too many winches.
 

Ted

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Jan 26, 2005
1,254
C&C 110 Bay Shore, Long Island, NY
Keep in mind that you want to size your primary winches for the highest anticipated wind that you may experience. You will have greater sheet loads with a smaller headsail in windy conditions. Run the analysis using a few different headsail sizes and wind speeds and you'll see the difference. Make sure that you use apparent wind speed not true wind speed when entering data into the load calculator.
 
Dec 6, 2016
20
Catalina C38 Pt Richmond
I agree Joe. Good idea. That way when single-handed I have ability to trim easily. Thanks Ted you are correct. I did check with the calculator that it would be okay up to 25Knts at least. At that point I would probably reef the jib any way. Thanks for the answers. I love this stuff.
 
Dec 6, 2016
20
Catalina C38 Pt Richmond
I wanted to update this thread. I ended up keeping the Lewmars 48s in the primary location and installing the Harken 42s back to an area I can reach while driving. So far it has worked out great. Thanks for the help.