I have Lewmar 16 2-speed for my primary winches and I suppose they came with the boat, which was built in 1984. I have been itching to replace them with Lewmar 16 self-tailing winches because I think it will make our frequent tacking easier (the cleats are awkward to get to with the bimini frame in place. Not having any experience with self-tailing winches, I would like to hear any comments about the differences in using self-tailing winches. Also, it appears that the bolt pattern is similar in diameter. Has anyone switched these out and were there any complications? In turn, I thought about switching the original primary winches to replace the cabin-top Lewmar 7 halyard winches. Does this make any sense? The bolt pattern has a slightly larger diameter it seems. Thanks for any comments!
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Scott, I'll risk saying the obvious,
Do it. You'll not regret it. Up-size if possible. No sailor ever complained of gear that was too big/powerful. You'll love self-tailing winches.
Do it. You'll not regret it. Up-size if possible. No sailor ever complained of gear that was too big/powerful. You'll love self-tailing winches.
Absolutely
Use self-tailing winches and you'll wonder why you went without them. Make sure the gap is right for the sheet size so they get a good bite on the line. You may want to fool around with the position of the foot depending on the winch placement in respect to who will be using it most (fore or aft of the helm). You want to get your wraps in quickly and get it up over the foot and into the jaws. After finding the perfect spot I can usually get the jib tensioned perfectly and locked down without even using a winch handle.
Use self-tailing winches and you'll wonder why you went without them. Make sure the gap is right for the sheet size so they get a good bite on the line. You may want to fool around with the position of the foot depending on the winch placement in respect to who will be using it most (fore or aft of the helm). You want to get your wraps in quickly and get it up over the foot and into the jaws. After finding the perfect spot I can usually get the jib tensioned perfectly and locked down without even using a winch handle.
Joe, thanks for the picture ...
I was tongue in cheek, we trade places often and I am usually assisting when my wife grinds the winch. She does want to be self sufficient, though, so sometimes I simply watch while she is handling a particular task. I had thought of putting cam cleats on a mounting block, but the winches are mounted pretty far aft and there is not much room for that set-up. I see that you have two sets of winches at the cockpit. I may think about that - put ST winches further forward and leave the original winches to handle spinnaker sheets. Thanks for the heads-up S. I never thought to ask if the ST model is 2-speed. I just assumed that it was. That is an important issue.
I was tongue in cheek, we trade places often and I am usually assisting when my wife grinds the winch. She does want to be self sufficient, though, so sometimes I simply watch while she is handling a particular task. I had thought of putting cam cleats on a mounting block, but the winches are mounted pretty far aft and there is not much room for that set-up. I see that you have two sets of winches at the cockpit. I may think about that - put ST winches further forward and leave the original winches to handle spinnaker sheets. Thanks for the heads-up S. I never thought to ask if the ST model is 2-speed. I just assumed that it was. That is an important issue.
Ken...
Just kidding a bit, sounds like you guys are a great team. I don't use those secondary Lewmar 7's in the picture too much but they are very handy never the less. You can't "ratchet" a 2-speed ST winch when the sheet's cleated, so wherever you place it you'll need full range of motion to utilize the ST feature. I would mock up a winch and handle and experiment with various locations while the bimini is up. You might also experiment with cleat location on your current set up just to see if there's an improvement. Some companines are giving old winch trade-in credit. Check around. Try Anderson along with Lewmar and Harken.
Just kidding a bit, sounds like you guys are a great team. I don't use those secondary Lewmar 7's in the picture too much but they are very handy never the less. You can't "ratchet" a 2-speed ST winch when the sheet's cleated, so wherever you place it you'll need full range of motion to utilize the ST feature. I would mock up a winch and handle and experiment with various locations while the bimini is up. You might also experiment with cleat location on your current set up just to see if there's an improvement. Some companines are giving old winch trade-in credit. Check around. Try Anderson along with Lewmar and Harken.
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