I am intending to replace my two headsail winches. Currently I have two Vantage winches which are past their usedby date. I am looking at the Harken Plain Top size B8 or the Lewmar Plain Top size 8A. The drum size on these is approximately 2&3/4 inches in diameter whereas the Vantages drum size appears to be 3&1/2 inches. I feel the new ones may not work as well as the old ones should. They are on a Southern Cross 23. Please gives me your ideas and why.
Thank you Scruzin, for your helpful reply and very impressed with your article on winches. You should head straight for Rocket Science!
I guess I'm still a little concerned with how the sheet will wind around the smaller diameter. Is it an issue? While crewing on an Alerion 33s I got to use an electric winch for the jib sheet. It certainly saved alot of effort and probably was quicker than manually trimming it. The skipper had marked lines on the jib sheet to ensure that it wasn't pulled in too far! Thanks again.
You should be absolutely fine with a drum diameter of 2 3/4".
My Andersen 28ST and 40ST winches have drum diameters of 2 3/4" (70mm) and 3" (75mm) respectively. I use the former with my halyards for gennaker and mainsail, which are both 47 sq m in area. I use the latter for jib and gennaker sheets.
The design of the drum probably dictates how well the line will wind around more so than its diameter. For example, Andersen winches have these nice ribs which work a charm.
References: http://andersenwinches.com/AW/product_details.asp?prodno=RA2028000000
andersenwinches.com/AW/product_details.asp?prodno=RA2040010000
PS As you can tell, I'm a fan of Andersen winches.
Select to expand quoteBundeenaboy said..
I am intending to replace my two headsail winches. Currently I have two Vantage winches which are past their usedby date. I am looking at the Harken Plain Top size B8 or the Lewmar Plain Top size 8A. The drum size on these is approximately 2&3/4 inches in diameter whereas the Vantages drum size appears to be 3&1/2 inches. I feel the new ones may not work as well as the old ones should. They are on a Southern Cross 23. Please gives me your ideas and why.
if you sail a lot alone , go for self tailors and Andersen are the ducks guts !
+++ For the Andersens, we had them on a 40 footer I sailed on and they never failed with some pretty hard work.
Thanks to Scruzin, Sands and Fiesta. I considered your advice and bought the Andersen 10 flat top. I may be able to get an extra turn on the wince with this make. What do you suggest I use to fill the old winch screw holes with?
Seeing as a few people might be reading about your new winches, I have two decent winches for sail... 
Select to expand quotePoodle said..
Seeing as a few people might be reading about your new winches, I have two decent winches for sail...
I'm in the market for a couple of winches - pics; info???
Scuzin, Sands, Newsailor and Fiesta, thank you for your advice. I finished replacing the winches this week. I had a lot of fun and it all worked out very well.
My biggest worry was drilling the holes in the correct position but Andersen solve this by giving you a template in the bottom of the box. Turns out I made one for practice.
All I want is a couple of hours and good winds to try them out.
