Upgrade using kit for Lewmar 48 ST winch

[Eve Carlson]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Hi Eve,

I fully understand your requirements as a Belize owner for the last 8 years.
I have changed the set-up of the winches for the headsail by moving the port winch over to starboard side and rearrange the sheet so that it goes via a footblock at the port side back to a bloch attached via flat webbing at the mast and then back to the winch.
Next job will be to electrify one of the winches, which will be the original located ST48 since there are a hatch plate inside the stairwell that would allow for the electric motor to protrude down.

To use this winch for the main halyard you will need to fit a block at the mast which must be installed so that the angle of the halyard prevent the halyard to roll over itself on the winch drum.
This set-up will allow you to use one electric winch for all your needs. Forget an electric winch at the mast for the main, too bulky and problematic when reefing.

Good luck with your Belize.
Happy lead free sailing from Lucky

Hi Lucky,
Can you possibly post a photo of your rigging setup? We are at the boat yard and they are interested in how you managed the sheets and blocks to get all the lines to the starboard winch.

[Stumble]

There really isn't any advantage to buying a new electric unit versus just buying the additional electric kit. The electric motor is just a bolt on to the standard winch. If you buy a complete electric setup you actually get two packages, a winch in one and the conversion kit in the other.

The only reason I can think to buy a complete electric winch would be if you are upgrading to a larger winch.

[Overlord]

I have a couple of brand new , in box lewmar evo 55 , 12v electric winches
They come with breaker , fuse , foot switch , ELS box and winch Handel
ELS is a single speed load sensing winch. Does away with 2 speed and two foot switches. It speeds up under light load that makes furling a dream. I had one on our leopard 47 and we lived aboard for 4 years and 20 000 miles. Not once did it fail or damage any of my sails . I think that's pretty much arm chair talk !
$3200 incl shipping

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Stumble

There really isn't any advantage to buying a new electric unit versus just buying the additional electric kit. The electric motor is just a bolt on to the standard winch. If you buy a complete electric setup you actually get two packages, a winch in one and the conversion kit in the other.

The only reason I can think to buy a complete electric winch would be if you are upgrading to a larger winch.

Another reason was eluded to earlier in the thread. Someone who had bought the conversion kit said it cost almost the same as new electric winch. If this is true, then buying a new one and selling the manual winch could come out much better financially than buying the conversion.

Mark

[Roy M]

Having installed these kits on other boats, I am a bit experienced with them. On my own boat ( a 40 foot trimaran with 300 sq. ft. main and 600 sq. ft. jib) I use Harken ST40.2 winches for the halyards and main sheet, and two ST 50.2 for the jib sheet winches. My suggestion is to purchase a Milwaukee right angle 28 volt drill motor with winch bit, or to purchase a "Winch Buddy", which is the same thing, but with a neoprene cover that masks the fact that it's a Milwaukee right angle drill. Try it out first before committing to an electric drive winch. I think yu will get the picture immediately. Then, should you really get it, buy an additional battery pack. If you don't like it, you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to sell on Craigslist to another sailor. I only use the drill motor if I want someone to send me up to the masthead without cranking me. Otherwise I use it for work. The first two pics are of a Harken I installed a year or two ago.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by pcmm

NEVER under any circumstances put a furling line on a winch let alone an electric one! That's a recipe for a damaged or broken forestay!!!

This is likely the outlook of someone with a smaller boat. With larger sails, use of a winch is often necessary when furling. We have used a furling winch for nearly thirty years and over 120,000 miles of cruising and have never yet destroyed anything. Of late we use a milwaukee right angle drill to drive the winch, and have not destroyed anything.

So, I must respectfully disagree with your "Never use a winch" dictum.

Jim

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by pcmm

NEVER under any circumstances put a furling line on a winch let alone an electric one! That's a recipe for a damaged or broken forestay!!!

IMO you should put an "IMO" in front of a statement like this. As Jim posted, there are ton's of sailors who do without any such problem. Probably the vast majority.

[Stumble]

Originally Posted by colemj

Another reason was eluded to earlier in the thread. Someone who had bought the conversion kit said it cost almost the same as new electric winch. If this is true, then buying a new one and selling the manual winch could come out much better financially than buying the conversion.

Mark

This might be true except that the cost of the kit is exactly equal to the cost of the winch plus the conversion. Plus or minus shipping cost.

Of course if you can find a deal on the parts it might be worth it. And as always never pay retail price for winches. It's too easy to get discounts on them.

[Oliver L.]

PMMM???

So how do you reef the genoa in stronger winds? Upwards of 20 knots I find it impossible to pull it in by hand, and it is (on my boat) led back directly to the cockpit winch. And yes, we have had cases where we caught the gennaker halyard, and yes, obviously I found that the force was getting excessive, so I stopped, we investigated and resolved the issue. Never had a problem with this.

That having been said, I would be hesitant with an electric winch - unless I could tell exactly how hard it was pulling (you get to know your boat pretty well after a few years...)

Oliver

Originally Posted by pcmm

NEVER under any circumstances put a furling line on a winch let alone an electric one! That's a recipe for a damaged or broken forestay!!!