Winch suggestions.

amayotte · Post by **amayotte** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:04 am

I have been doing some more serious sailing this year and it's been awesome, with lots of adrenaline and excitement and ultimately discoveries of problems to come.

My winches are falling apart and starting to be more of a hinderance than benefit out in the heavier wind, so now i am trying to figure out which type of winch to buy. Price is starting to look like a huge factor now that I've looked over a few of them.

Some things I'm wondering, and I'm sure others do to, what is the best type of winch to buy?

I am mostly a solo sailor so I'm thinking a self tailing would be best but is it worth the extra 400 bucks?
Most sites seem to have their own idea as to what size a guy needs too. Does anyone here have experience as to what would work the best for the C-26?

I gotta say though, its frustrating that I will have to drop $1000 dollars to get entry level self tailing winches....man o man.

Thanks,
Adam

Mario G · Post by **Mario G** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:25 am

Lewmar 6's and there easy to get replacement parts http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... _sku=45320

amayotte · Post by **amayotte** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 5:34 pm

Looks nice.

I'm kinda leaning towards non self tailing. I have been find without till now so I'm sure I'll be fine without and the these look nice and are a lot cheaper.

Thanks,
Adam

hp18carr · Post by **hp18carr** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 6:54 pm

I've got old Lewmar 6's on my c26 overhaul project... to old to find new parts for them, believe me I've looked. My plans are to clean them up, lube them up and see how long they last. When they do die on me, I'll spring for a new pair. They lasted the PO's a good long while, they should be good enough for me.

Terrence
Wilmington N.C.
Chrysler 26 1980
Pandora (for now)

amayotte · Post by **amayotte** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:38 pm

Maybe I should just clean mine. I was kinda just looking for a good reason to put on a pair of nice shiny S.S. ones. However I could clean the existing barlow ones and try them. We will see what Santa brings.

slane1124 · Post by **slane1124** » Thu Aug 12, 2010 5:57 am

my favorite is a red-head, in fact I married her... oh, winch, not wench. sorry, my bad

Windward · Post by **Windward** » Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:38 am

Windward sports a pair of self-tailing Lewmar 14s that I purchased on sale at Defender. These provide roughly the same power as the Lewmar 16s, but are slightly shorter and thus are limited to 3/8" line -- exactly what I use for jibsheets!

Self-tailers are wonderful, particularly if you singlehand, and they've made a huge difference for me. The 14s are just barely powerful enough, though, and there are days I wish I'd shelled out for the next size up.

Sometimes the lee rail isn't a great place to be, and I've considered adding a second set of winches on the coach roof so that I could easily cross-sheet when the breeze is kickin. I have a pair of Lewmar 16s (non-self tailing) that I bought used, and am thinking of installing those along with some of the "tailer" rings that slip on top to kinda sorta do self-tailing. If you go self-tailing, you could transplant your current #6s there if that sort of thing interests you.