MAINSAIL WINCH WRAP

[wind rose ll]

A dockmate has a Bristol 40' and is the new owner and hence this is his first year rigging the boat.
l was helping him the other day bending on the mainsail that has a Dutchman Flaking system and while raising the main discovered an issue with the drum winch on the mast. It is a two speed non self tailing mounted Starboard and about 15 degrees off perpindicular to the mast (towards the Bow).
Upon raising the last 10 feet of sail we used the winch and it immediatly started to coil the wrap in towards the mast and cause an override,l'm not a rigger and could not understand why this continued after several attempts.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
Dave

[Charlie]

I'm not a rigger either but most overrides are caused b/c the lead is incorrect. could be that the halyard needs an eye to run thru to keep the lead correct.

[S/V Elusive]

I think that Charile has the right idea - something to keep the halyard toward the base of the winch.

But, what is interesting to me,is that you need the winch for 10 feet? I think that something is binding and that should be addressed. Just as a point of reference, I have a hoist of 52' (foot is 18'), I only use the winch for the last 4 or 5 inches to position the boom correctly on the mast.

[billangiep]

Dave, Are you filling up the drum? You may find that taking just one or two wraps will keep it from piling up but that you need to hold a bit more tension on the tail.
Bill,

[wind rose ll]

Only two wraps on the winch and she overrides...the drum actually appears to have a taper on it.
We have led the line and tailed it from all positionsa and it still piles up.
Dave

[GordMay]

The base of the winch must be higher than the sheet elevation, so that the sheet rises towards the winch. This should be between 3 and 8 degrees below the winch's perpendicular axis. Ideally, the winch's output gear should be about in line with the angle of entry.
If the sheet enters the winch drum horizontally, or from abobe, a wrap is inevitable.
With a proper lead-in angle, you should be able to fully load (or very nearly so) the drum.
The photos are less than ideal examples, as the left pic shows too steep a rising angle, and the right pic shows a gimpy set-up (about correct angle).

[wind rose ll]

Well that actually makes sense to me.. but we had the abobe surgically removed from the mast.
Thanks Gord..seriously it did help.
Dave

[wind rose ll]

The winch is mounted directly to the mast and not on a base so the feed line is higher up the winch drum.
Dave

[btrayfors]

As suggested above, put a fairlead on the mast above the winch to be sure the angle of pull is from as close to the mast -- and the winch base -- as possible.

Bill

Or.....put a teak pad under the winch.