wire halyard winch

[walt123]

[suedebriar]

Even though I didn''t find anything in this thread it reminded me of a question that I have about wire halyard winchs. I sailed with one on an old classic sloop in years gone by. I now have a classic again and would like to find out if anyone knows any reason not to return to a wire halyard winch. I aleady know about the fact that as the halyard is raised the purchase gets weeker. This is because the wire winds around the winch and makes the drum larger. The winch handle also can be scary if you don''t keep a good grip on it. I really like the fact that you can wind the halyard up and it doesn''t end up on the deck or cockpit. A nice bronze wire winch looks good attached to the mast where the sail should be raised not from the cockpit where it takes a minimum of two people to do a simple single handed job.
I would just like to have some other input. I may be missing something.

[walt123]

Suedebriar, I was looking for a wire halyard winch this month and got no responses on this net. If your boat is a classic and had wire winches to begin with try Steve@seachestmarine.com I obtained 2 number 4 barlow wire winches and I know he has at least one Barient #3. Safe or un safe I really dont know my Cal 43 has had a wire main halyard winch for 30 years and it only had to be replaced when the base cracked. Classic boats need orginal gear

[paulk]

Classic boats also often lacked lifelines- look at the pictures in the Rosenfield Collection at Mystic. Wire reel halyard winches - if that is what you''re discussing- are DANGEROUS, just like not having lifelines. Wrapping the wire on a tight radius where it can chafe against itself helps promote ''soldiers'' in the wire that cause painful and bloody cuts, because unless the wire is guided onto the reel by hand it bunches and gets kinked. The brake can be left off while hoisting, or released by accident so that the winch handle ''kicks'' back, surprising jaws or other bones to the breaking point. This can also bloody the nearby deck and/or sails. The brake is not easily controlled, so sailors are tempted to put the winch handle in before releasing it for a reef. This again leads to the ''surprised bone syndrome'' discussed above. A winch that is dangerous to start with means servicing it to keep it operating properly is all the more important, and it isn''t getting easier to get parts. Beyond the safety issue, all-wire halyards are also heavier, weaker, and more expensive than modern synthetic line. They don''t use them now for good reason. They didn''t have blowers in the ''good old days'', but you wouldn''t sail with a gas engine without one now. Rigging something different will provide one less thing to worry about when you''re sailing, and isn''t sailing all about leaving our worries behind?