Skip to content

Boat and Equipment Reviews

Stuff for your Boat

Menu
  • Home
  • About the Site
  • Electronics
    • Connecting Raymarine Axiom MFD to Wi-Fi
    • Sailing Instruments
    • Autopilot
    • Cockpit Speakers
    • Better Lighting with LEDs
    • IKEA to the rescue
    • Windlass Mount
  • Improvements on board
    • Fixing a Plugged Holding Tank Vent.
    • Cutting a perfect hole
    • Burgees and flags for lazy people.
    • New Teak and Holly Sole
    • Diesel Heaters
    • Taylor Anchorshade III
    • Teak Cockpit Table
    • Teak Shower Grating
    • More Counter Space
    • Tartarooga Dodger
    • Winchrite vs Electric Winch
    • Stern Line Reel
    • Wine Glass Rack
    • Bowsprit and Spinnaker furler
  • Adventures
    • Naked in the Spring
    • Killer Bichon
    • RNSA Single Handed Race 2018
  • Entertaining Reading:
Menu

Winchrite vs Electric Winch

Posted on April 24, 2019June 18, 2019 by admin

When Tangleberry was ordered from the factory, I made one mistake. I should have ordered the optional electric halyard winch.  To upgrade now would be extremely expensive. We tried a large Milwaukee drill as a way of powering the winches. It was a mixed success. It had enough power but was heavy and cumbersome to handle, recharged only on AC, and the charge didn’t last all that long. When new it would hoist a person up the mast in the Bosun’s chair, but when we tried that recently the battery died half way up. A new replacement Ni-Cad battery was no better. I don’t recommend this unit for the purpose, although it is a good drill.

I considered retrofitting an electric winch. Lewmar makes the most cost effective model, and my friend Pierre has installed one on his X-40. It was a lot of trouble to install, particularly attaching the motor as there was not enough clearance to get the mounting bolts in. He had to use allen head bolts and drill holes through the deck to tighten them. It looked to me as if I would have the same issues. The cost by the time it was all installed would likely be over $4000.

Instead I ordered a Winchrite Electric Winch handle. This was under $1000 CDN, 799 USD. It is more powerful than the drill, and has a better battery, Lithium Ion. It came with a fabric case and a cradle for storage. I haven’t decided where to mount the cradle yet.

The Winchrite is much smaller and lighter than the Milwaukee drill, weighing about 6 pounds. It is reversible so you can use either speed on two speed winches. It easily raises the main sail in the fastest gear.. The manual specifically says NOT to use it for raising a person in the Bosun’s chair but I’m pretty sure they are covering their legal butts! I actually think it is safer for this than an electric which because if it failed to stop you can just yank it off the winch.

It was able to send me (200 lb.) up the mast twice without recharging, and seemed to have plenty of power left.

The best use I found for it is furling the jib. Using the port sheet winch I can hold the Winchrite in my left hand and pay out the jib sheet with my right. Because of the steady pull it is very easy to get a smooth even furl. 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • Add a Coolant Drain Valve to Volvo MD2030
  • Volvo Penta MD2030 Cooling system
  • Loxx™ fasteners versus Lift-at-the-dot
  • Fixing Twisted Anchor Chain
  • What I Learned Servicing My Own Engine.

Recent Comments

  • Grahame on RNSA Single Handed Race 2018
  • Grahame on Wine Glass Rack
  • Grahame on Bowsprit and Spinnaker furler
  • admin on What I Learned Servicing My Own Engine.
  • admin on Winchrite ABT Repair

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019

Categories

  • Adventures and Stories
  • Advice for Sailors
  • Down Below
  • Electronics
  • Mechanical and Electrical
  • On Deck
  • Practical Books
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
©2023 Boat and Equipment Reviews | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme