[TSOJOURNER]

Hi,

We''re in the process of retrofitting our sailboat with a new electric windlass. We''d welcome comments/suggestions/warnings from others in terms of vertical vs horizontal units, power rating and brands.

We have a 46 ft center cockpit Liberty458, 30,000 lbs displacement. We''re currently looking at units from Lofrans (Progress II 1200W and 1500W vertical w/ capstan, Tigress 1200W horizontal), and Muir (VRC2500 1200W vertical w/ capstan).

Anyone with experience with these or other brands - we''d appreciate your comments.

Regards,

Guylain/Katrina
SV Ganache

 

[TSOJOURNER]

I was looking at a used libety 458 and thought you could give me your thoughts on the boat as far as blue water sailing characteriscs and its sailing ability in general ( both light and heavy coditions). Also do you know if the hull design has been used on another boat. the broker thinks the peterson 46 is same underbody. David
S/V Hegira

 

[TSOJOURNER]

I was looking at a used libety 458 and thought you could give me your thoughts on the boat as far as blue water sailing characteriscs and its sailing ability in general ( both light and heavy coditions). Also do you know if the hull design has been used on another boat. the broker thinks the peterson 46 is same underbody. David
S/V Hegira

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Hi David,

We have recently bought our Liberty and have not yet had a chance to take her out extensively and make up our own detailed opinion of her sailing characteristics (we''ve been in the middle of electrical system upgrades...)

We did however sailed her during sea trials and brought her back to Vancouver from the San Juans, WA. The conditions were light (around 10 kts) and she moved quite well.

Our research on this vessel was quite extensive. I saw 10 of the 31 units produced, spoke with several owners, the designer (Peter Hoyt) and the Shin FA builders (they now live in BC). By all owner accounts, this is a keeper. She performs very well in both light and heavier winds. One owner regularly raced his in Seattle with a very successful record - not that everyone does that

The hull itself is that of a Peterson 44 (same as a Kelly Perterson 46), a well proven and popular model with a few hundreds built. The same design was sold in Europe as the Delta 45 and some were sold under the Passport 45 name.

Which Liberty 458 have you looked at? I might have seen it

Cheers,

Guylain
SV Ganache

 

[Constantin]

Have you considered Simpson&Lawrence, Maxwell, Lewmar? We have a S&L Seawolf 900 on our Prout Escale 39'' Cat. Plenty powerful for us.

However, you boat is 2x heavier than ours and 1200W may be cutting it close? The manufacturers should know but I''d always install a windlass one size up from what is recommended.

Our S&L has been very reliable despite a sloppy OEM installation that lacked enclosures for the controls, improper wire sizing, and little preventative maintenance (once in 10 years). That said, S&L charges a premium for standard replacement parts... Standard bearings from INA should not cost multiples of standard price just because I order them through S&L (we didn''t). This may be a good thing to research, although company attitudes may change by the time you need replacement parts.

We''ve grown pretty intimate with the Seawolf after a complete disassembly, re-lube, re-bearing, and re-sealing at home. We removed the S&L solenoid when we replaced the foot switch with a high-amp one from West Marine. The original S&L solenoid had rusted through twice due to lack of sea spray protection in the locker room.

Also, none of our connectors/wires were properly sealed and required a complete removal because the non-tinned wire had corroded significantly and were undersized. Don''t cheap out: Buy the proper wire size (tinned), seal all ends hermetically, and ensure that your electrical system is up to the task of supplying lots of amps to the front of the boat.

If you want to see the rehab, check out vonwentzel.net. That address redirects you to my web-site. Follow the leads to our Prout Escale and have a look at the "Pains in the Front" section.

 

[svseawitch]

Damonent,
We''ve been cruising on our Liberty since 1996. Love it. Been caught in 60 knots on passage from Niue to Tonga and felt fine. Autopilot even drove in those conditions until we hove to. We''d be glad to answer questions and also put you in voice contact with other liberty owners. Send an email to [email protected] and I''ll give you my real (spam free) email address...jpc

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Guylain,

I read with interest your message to David in which you mention you saw 10 of the 31 Liberty 458s produced. I have decided to move aboard in Boston, MA and have (through an extensive internet search) decided the Liberty has all the features I seek in a liveaboard/world cruiser. I''ve found only two boats listed for sale. One in FL and one in WA. Do you know of any other boats currently listed? Any additional thoughts on the design, your experience, what to look for/avoid would be highly appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Jim Henerberry

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Hi,
I just installed a MAXWELL VW1200 electric windlass on my 40 foot sailboat. My yacht has a weight of about 8ton and this New Zealand made unit works really well for me.

It is a dirt simple design and therefore (I think) long-term reliable. I had it first wired for "up-only" on the installers advice (!) but that was really dumb. Well, you can drop the hook anytime just by loosening the "clutch", but make sure you have a up/down control (like me now), so you can "juggle" if stuck. I my case, it got stuck because the wrong chain (!) was supplied. I have all wierd luck on the water!

I am now very pleased with this toy, yes!

 

[TSOJOURNER]

We have a Catalina 470 with a Maxwell VWC1200. We use it with a 66# Bruce and a 60# CQR with 100 feet of chain. It is a vertical model with a chain gypsy on the bottom and a rope drum on the top. Very happy with the windlass.