Winch replacement

[sv1794]

I want to replace the main sail halyard winch with a self tailing one. Not having used a self tailing winch I would like to hear opnions about this, pros and cons. Thanks. mb

[Sailmc]

There are no cons to a self tailing halyard winch. Don''t know if you could find a non self tailing winch if you tried.

[Denr]

There are some issues with the self-tailing winches that you need to know about. These little things have the shape of an inverted hook that can catch on the cuffs of your Hugo Boss $500 suit pants resulting in a ripped cuff that can be very costly to repair. These inverted hooks are normally chrome and can reflect sunlight into the helmsman eyes at an inopportune time resulting in temporary blindness, not so good when navigating a tight harbor. These inverted hooks are ideal spots for spiders to spin their webs causing the capture of airborne insects that in turn attract flying predators that leave nasty white (and sometimes multi colored) stains on the deck resulting in a depreciation of the vessels value.

I wouldn''t go near these self-tailing winches.

[Sailmc]

Denr, I stand corrected. You also want to watch out for those scuff marks on your Bruno Magli deck shoes.

[paulmcquillan]

We made that change on our boat so that it was easier for the boys to raise the main.

Works great. Just remember to cleat off the halyard even though it''s in the self tailer.

[VIEXILE]

And, unless you have Anderson Winches to begin with, skip them. They make their handles so you can''t cross winches on a boat. The "short" handles are cheesy and overpriced, and have a pain in the ass locking system on them. Lewmar handles won''t work. The winches themselves are o.k., but match your halyard winch with your cockpit winches so you don''t have several styles of handles laying around.