Rubber Bits Turning Winches Into Self Tailing?

[Aussie Sealady]

Hello,

I have a Top Hat 25 a 25 foot sloop which has standard winches.

Self tailing winches are very expensive and I have seen these from Barton Marine in the UK for sale on the internet. I have spoken to people who have also wondered about them but noonhe who has actually used them.


http://[URL="http://www.bartonmarine.com/products-winches-and-winchers.asp"]www.bartonmarine.com/products-winches-and-winchers.asp[/URL]
The ones I want to know about are the "Winchers"

Rubber thingies that fit on the top of the normal winch and for a fraction of the cost magically you have a self tailing winch.

Has anyone used them?
How good are they?
Do they make it as easy as they should for short handed or solo sailing?

p.s. I am always on the lookout for things that can make it easier for me to sail solo.

[McGinnis]

Should find some pointers here, here, and here

[tropicalescape]

I have them on my boat and they work ok,not like the real thing...DVC

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Sealady,

We used a few of them on our previous boat, and this is our take:

1. You must load up the winch barrel all the way to the top for the wincher to work. This means some extra wraps, takes time and adds extra twists to the line.

2. They work pretty well for applications like halyards where you normally haul it up most of the way by hand and only need to get the last bit with the winch. Allows one to use both hands on the winch handle for max effort. But, for tasks like grinding in a genoa where a lot of line must be brought in under load the lack of a proper stripper often meant that the line would escape from its friction-lock at the rubber interface and you could loose all of the line you just ground in. Harsh language often follows.

3. After a few years the rubber gets a sort of glaze on it, and it looses its grip.

So, as someone says above, yes, they do work well enough to be of help, but they are not nearly as good as a proper self-tailer.

Cheers,

Jim

[s/v Beth]

Used them. Do they self tail? No.

[Celestialsailor]

They are better than nothing but not by a whole lot. I just found these and bought them...cheeeeeeeeap!!!

[yachtsman49]

It all comes down to how much money you've got and as much as I'd love a pair of self tailers I was wondering as I have been given a pair of wincher Rubbers and after reading the previous comments how good is the cleating groove at the top I'm not really interested in wether they self tail or not but my primary winches which will be reconditioned Barlow 24/2 speed replacing [Barient 18/2 speed] sit in a position where the cleats or jammers are sometimes accidently released but If the cleating groove in the winchers works well this would solve this problem

[glenn.225]

They work well enough on small boats, my primary (only) winches are size 10 and they are perfect. I seldom use the winch handle mostly just pull the sheet in by hand, I put three wraps of the 1/2" jib sheet around the winch to load it up and it stays there. If the tension is constant, just snug it up and you don't even need to cleat it off, if it is gusting at all cleat it off so it wont slip. When I do need to crank the sheet in with the handle I generally will pull the extra away every second or third crank because they don't actual self tail. As said for small winches they’re a really cheap up-grade. If you have larger winches ST's are a no brainer.

[chris07732]

Can older winches be converted to true self tailing type?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by chris07732

Can older winches be converted to true self tailing type?

Some can. Contact Arco-Hutton winches in Sydney Aust.... they do such things routinely.

Cheers,

Jim

[Shanaly]

anyone know of a good rope clutch or cam cleat for heavy duty use e.g. on jib sheets?

[S/V Alchemy]

Spinlock and Lewmar are generally considered good rope clutch choices.

For a 25 footer, I'm not sure I would bother with self-tailer rubber ring thingies or attempts to "convert" them, because I have tried them on other boats and I find them a bit hit and miss in terms of working as advertised. I also object to the cost. If I could acquire Lewmar 44s for $250/each and rehab them in a short afternoon to working order, I would imagine you can find the 20s or 22s suitable for a 25 footer at a decent used price. There must be "boat recyclers" with this sort of stock in Australia.

I'm not sure you even need them, however. I have non-self-tailers (Barlow 26s I strip down every two years and service) on a 33 footer and I find them quite adequate solo sailing (I loop the tiller with my aft foot when winching in!).

I would opt for clutches or simply horn cleats or jam cleats properly mounted, which takes a bit of experimentation with the angles and maybe some fabrication to get them at the right height.

I understand the desire to make solo sailing easier, and I applaud it, but clutches and cleats and cams are probably a better option. That and plenty of arm-strengthening exercises and maybe a longer winch handle if you have the swing room.

[delmarrey]

I use a jam cleat for my 3/4" genoa sheets, which works great! You wrap around once and it's locked in, and then comes out quickly for a tack of the genny.

[rtbates]

I had them. They are half ass at best. Can be used to jam the line, but just about useless as a real self tailer.

I now have Andersen self tailers and the ability to take in/ let out the genoa sheet with one hand is very much worth the cost, especially when it blows hard..

[rtbates]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

I use a jam cleat for my 3/4" genoa sheets, which works great! You wrap around once and it's locked in, and then comes out quickly for a tack of the genny.

How many hands does it take to take in more line? More than one? With a self tailer you reach for and crank a tad on the winch handle and presto more line taken in.. For me that's what makes self tailers worth the cost...I don't have to let go the tiller, or whatever's in my other hand at the moment...