Difficulty in choosing a windlass; Lofrans X2, Lewmar VX2+ etc ...

[chrisr]

We have had the lewmar on our 7.5mt cat for about a year now

no sign of any wear on the gypsy, although surprisingly noisy (thought it would be quieter !) generally very happy with it...less than half the weight yet more power than maxwell it replaced

incidentally i believe the gypsy will accept both 8mm & 10mm chain...but should read the book again to be sure

cheers,

[roverhi]

Go for the vertical with chain gypsy and rope capstan. You can use the capstan for such fun things as kedging off when you run aground. Saved my butt when I ran aground and used the vertical capstan to slew the bow off a rock that it would have ended up on.

It's extremely hard to do that with a horizontal windlass because of the lead angle. If you plan on using the windlass to hoist you up the mast, a horizontal works better. Personally would never do that preferring to use the ATN Mast Climber gear.

[Jim Cate]

If you plan on using the windlass to hoist you up the mast, a horizontal works better.

Peter, that hasn't been our experience at all. Before getting our Milwaukee drill, we routinely used our vertical windlass for mast ascensions, routing the halyard via a snatch block on the rail to the foot of the mast. Worked well enough, and unless the location of a horizontal windlass was just perfect, you would need similar routing with that design.

Of course all the windlass mfgs say NEVER use one for this application, and none of us would EVER fail to follow the manual, would we?

And for the OP, I prefer the vertical arrangement for two reasons: less stuff above the deck and better chain wrap on the gypsy. Oops... three reasons... the vertical drum is much more adaptable for warping, as mentioned upthread.

Jim

[Paul L]

More anecdotal info. I've owned a Lewmar, Lofrans and Maxwel vertical windlasses. I'd buy another Lofrans or a Maxwell, but not a Lewmar.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by baccara

Hi,

while realising that this topic has been beaten to death many times before in this forum, i cannot help but to ask for advice and experiences in choosing a windlass.

I have a OE32-cutter, displacing around 7000kg / 15500 lbs. Currently i've got a manual SL 555 windlass, which is fine in itself, but i am stuck with a RCB70 gypsy that accepts 10mm and 3/8 chains (other gypsies exist, but are almost impossible to find), and would very much like to use 8mm DIN chain due to weight. The anchor gear would consist minimum of 60 m / 200 ft of 8mm chain and a 20kg anchor, so that would be at least 105 kg / 230 lbs to haul up, more if i choose to go for full 300 feet of chain.

I have been thinking about buying a vertical windlass with a capstan, perhaps Lofrans X2 or Lewmar VX2+, both with 1000w motors. A couple of other alternatives would be Lofrans Kobra or Tigres, mainly due to budget constraints. Maxwells, Muirs etc. seem to be more expensive.

I do realise that Lofrans' older horizontal windlasses - especially Tigres - enjoy a quite good reputation in terms of reliability, but would probably be a major overkill for my boat (not necessarily a bad thing with windlasses). Kobra seems okay too, at least on the paper. However, vertical windlasses would leave more room at the foredeck and i like the idea of having the motor inside the boat, out of spray and even the wet chain itself. The chain itself will fall all the way down to separate anchor locker under waterline via a large pipe.

Does anyone have any experience in how the Lewmar's new hybrid gypsy will hold up to real life abuse? I know composites can be very tough, but there's a reason why bronze has been used for gypsies for centuries.

Any thoughts on Lofrans X2 vs Lewmar VX2+ ? Any other good choices within the same price range? Haven't been able to find many positive comments on Quick windlasses, but i am willing to change my mind

Interesting enough I was in the same situation 3 weeks ago. My decision was between the Lofrans and Maxwell. I never considered the Lewmar due to the not so good reviews.

Before I made up my mind on a vertical one, I was seriously considering the Lofrans Cayman, my boat displacement is 13K lbs, and my ground tackle weights about 250lbs.

Here in North America, the prices are almost the same, and the Maxwell edged quite a bit lower with a lot of (online) shopping around. But the good reviews on the Lofrans are mostly about the horizontals, the verticals had a lot of issues with corrosion, etc.

I chose the Maxwell, then needed to decide between the RC and VW models. After speaking directly to them, they recommended the RC-8-8 (8mm) 1,000wcatts not the VW for my boat.

The unit is very well made and quite robust, all stainless, except the motor.
Check out the Lofrans Cayman if you want to go horizontal… Maxwells may be more expensive in Europe, but give it some consideration.

That is a hard decision, and long term....Good luck and think hard before reaching for the wallet....