Winches for 1986 O''Day 272

[sailr49]

Looking to replace Barlow winches #15 and #16 on my 1986 O''Day 272. It looks like most winches that size are non-self-tailing, but I''d like to have self-tailing winches to replace the #16''s. Will getting a bigger winch cause any problems, other than to my wallet? Also interested in feedback on those rubber add-on collars that WestMarine offers to convert standard winches to self-tailing.

[mrxonix]

The rubber things do not work, period.

A quick search on defender.com shows quite a few number 14 and 16 self-tailers. They are not cheap but they are certainly not hard to get.

[Irwin32]

Never used the blue caps to make winches self tailing. If they were the cat''s meow it seems to me we would know at this point. There must be some reason why people go with the real self tailors over the conversions.

[Sasha_V]

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[PaulBl]

The add on collars may not be better than nothing. Many folks I run into that have tried them say it. They really are no where near as good. When they don''t work is when you are expecting them to work even if they work sometimes. That is perhaps the biggest problem.

Going bigger is not problem but the money does add up quicker. Self tailing isn''t that big a benefit until the length of the lines get longer. On a larger boat the lines take longer to winch in than a small boat and you reach the point where you can''t do it by hand alone a lot sooner.

[paulmcquillan]

Go for the small self tailers.

Ideally the tack is done smoothly, with a little dip to windward, as the line is hauled in by hand. Only the last few feet get cranked in on the winch, and throwing it in the self tailer makes it an easy one person task.

The little blue things make good frisbees. Prior poster is correct that blue conversion collars stop working when you need them the most.