We experienced the same thing down here in
Central America and are currently waiting on
parts.
Our windless is a
Lewmar 1200. It was slow under load and after several minutes of use would pop the curcuit breaker.
The first thing I thought of, and also was advised by fellow owners, was to check the
electrical connections, which sometimes rust, especially arond the conotroller since it is housed under the windless.
The windless
motor and
gear are buried below
deck and convieneantly located behind the
washing machine.
When I got back there, I found the windless was leaking a small amount of
oil. All the
electrical connections were prestine.
I pulled the windless apart and found the the
oil seal had failed, causing the
oil resevior to run dry and the gears were badly damaged. I was really suprized, since it didn't appear to be that much oil below the windless, but found later it contains less than a 8 oz of oil.
Anyway, if the electrical doesn't pan out, you might want to check the gears...