Electric winches - good idea.

Hope everybody is having a great summer; UK weather seems to have returned to its former glory this year :)

As we get a bit older, grinding the winches is becoming a little bit more difficult each year.  So we have been thinking about fitting some electric winches; and would very much appreciate peoples thoughts, views and experiences as we have never used electric winches before.

We sail short handed, 2-3 most of the time.  As such we tend to use the secondary winches in the aft cockpit (54s I think)  for the sheets as this lets me tack the boat by myself if need be.  So its those that I'm thinking of swapping for electric.  They are situated such that I could also lead a halyard there for changing sails and winching people up the mast etc. instead of using the ones by the companion way hatch; or the primaries.

Peoples thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers
Adrian

Tiderace II

GBR3369T

Hi Adrian.
WinchRight. Google them and take a look. All your winches are effectively electric and you don't go through all the installation hassle. Just another way of getting the result you are looking for. I know nothing about them except from what I have read but maybe others can shed some light. Good luck.
David 43/12

This sounds like a good idea. On Tigris we have a Lewmar electric mainsheet winch which works very well. I am planning for an electric halyard winch which can be used for multiple purposes and have been very impressed with the Andersen stainless steel compact range which has the motor in the base and variable speeds on one button. The winch suits our location where we don't have space under the winch. Gavin

Dear Gavin,

We had electric winches on my last boat, a Shannon 50, which we sailed extensively and lived aboard for 2 years.  We loved the electric primaries.  I am not sure that I would have put out the money to buy them but since they came with the boat, I was thrilled.  Nothing like pushing a button and watching the sail come in!  These were big Lewmars and were incredibly powerful; I think I could have ripped the clew right out. 

I know that some winches can be retrofit with electric motors which would save you a lot of money.

Something else I was shocked to learn while speaking with the Lewmar distributor in the U.S., not a retail outlet, is that they have 2 for 1 sales!  Yes, buy one winch and get one for free.  Apparently, boat shows are the place to get this special deal so we plan to make a list of purchases in time for the Annapolis Boat show.

Good Luck,

Chris

Dear all
It is strongly recommended that a Crash Stop button is installed within reach of the helmsman for powered winches. In case of a malfunctioning winch switch this could mean that the winch does not stop, and action must be taken within seconds.
Kind regards
Lars

Dear Adrian, We have 2 Antal 65's on Aorangi that like Chris came with the boat. Just want to reiterate what Lars explained as we lived it! The button remained engaged and it caused havoc pulling the furling line right out with obvious results before being able to cut the breaker out. Luckily it was not while bringing someone up the mast or it would have been really disastrous potentially. We immediately installed an emergency cut off switch near the winches, and we now use them more more frequently and in safety.
On a recent delivery also used a battery run WinchRite, but found it to be less than dependable. Perhaps just a lemon...great idea though!
Good luck with your decision, seeing it's a big one! Jayne Aorangi 47/047

Dear Jayne
Thank you for sharing this information. Powered winches can also start inadvertently, known reasons are:
-somebody is stepping on the button without realizing it
-water breaking on deck activates the button
-hot sun activates the button, this was a problem with early Airswitches.
Kind regards
Lars

I have an Andersen on my 411 for halyards. I repeat the call for a kill switch, which I must add. I had a crew member hit the switch without releasing the spinlok, which resulted in stall current coming to the winch for a few seconds. Later that day after a 10 hour cruise with engine on for 5 hrs, we found a dangerously overheated battery due to an internal short. I cannot say for sure, but I think the stall load created this short in an older battery (that was working fine as one of my starting pair until that day) by the very high current demand. I could be wrong, but have no other explanation for the sudden problem. The battery was hot enough that fire and explosion were at risk. I am going to review the relay at the winch and other controls to prevent excessive mechanical loads or current and I will add the kill switch also. These winches are great, but introduce many dangers and risks also.

Take care and Fair Winds,

Geoff, 411 #41 Corazon