Electric windlass? Yea or nay?

[JiminVA]

My venerable Simpson-Lawrence HySpeed manual windlass just broke. I may be able to get the broken parts, but am also wondering if I should just use that as an excuse/opportunity to install an electric windlass.

I have a 30', 12,000 pound sailboat with a 33# Bruce anchor and 40' of 3/8" BBB chain plus rope rode. I normally anchor in the Chesapeake in 8' to 20' of water. (Hope to be venturing further afield next year.) Several folks I know have told me that I will realize how great having an electric windlass and all chain (yup, I'd buy new chain too) can be as soon as I upgrade. Part of me likes the KISS of the manual windlass. But I can see several advantages of the electric...including the fact that my wife could raise the anchor if she wanted to do that instead of taking the helm.

I realize everyone's situation is different, but if you switched to an electric windlass were you happy with the change? Any advantages, disadvantages I haven't thought of?

[Cheechako]

Electric windlasses one of the best things I ever had on a boat. I prefer the vertical windlass by far. Virtually trouble free on at least 4 boats.

[JstaRebel]

Next to the autopilot, my electric windless is my best friend and I'd never do without one again.

[DDabs]

Mandatory.

[JiminVA]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Electric windlasses one of the best things I ever had on a boat. I prefer the vertical windlass by far. Virtually trouble free on at least 4 boats.

Thanks. I'd go with a vertical model EXCEPT for the configuration of my boat. I have a Nonsuch and to access a below-decks windlass motor I'd have to pull the mast. A horizontal model would be better for me as I can access the motor directly.

[Stumble]

An electric windlass is probably the best investment you could make, other than a reliable autopilot.

[Sandero]

Yes... once you have one you don't even give a second thought about re anchoring or even choosing anchor over a mooring.

One of the best and most cherished upgrades to the boat. Don't leave home without one!

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by JiminVA

Thanks. I'd go with a vertical model EXCEPT for the configuration of my boat. I have a Nonsuch and to access a below-decks windlass motor I'd have to pull the mast. A horizontal model would be better for me as I can access the motor directly.

Note that it is not necessary to have a vertical windlass situated on the center-line of the yacht. So long as one can achieve a fair lead, which one can do with vertical guide/turning rollers, the windlass can be off-set to one side or another. I eschewed a powered windlass until I was injured in an accident in 2004 that cost me much of the use of my left arm and so finally switched from an SL 555 Manual to a Maxwell Vertical windlass in 2006. After doing so I found myself wondering why I had waited so long...

FWIW...

[Jim Cate]

Manual windlass enthusiasts often tout reliability as a deciding factor in their choice. Here's some personal experience that bears on that idea:

I had manual windlassses on our previous boat. It came to me with the same hyspeed type that you had fail... and it too failed in the 'low rent district" in Papeete. Innards, which are identical to the Bendix coaster brake on your old Schwinn bike, had ruptured terminally. So, when it became possible I replaced it with a nice Maxwell two speed manual model. A lot better machine for sure, but after around 7 years of usage, one of the sprague clutches in its innards died, again precluding its use until fixed. So, two failures in around 15 years of heavy use.

Our current boat came with a Maxwell VCW1200 electric windlass. Don't know exactly how old it was then, but not brand new by any means. It worked flawlessly for around 5 more years and then failed catastrophically when an aluminium part in the gear housing corroded away, from the inside out, due to a plugged weep hole that I was not aware of. I replaced the whole thing because I was in Vanuatu at the time and getting obscure parts sent in in a reliable manner was difficult. The replacement windlass, a VCW1500 has been reliable for the ensuing 8 years. I replaced the corroded bit when we returned to Oz and now carry the old windlass as a complete spare... just because I could do so with little cost to me. So, one failure, unassociated with the electric parts of the machine, in 13 years.

You are free to draw whatever conclusion you want from this. I think that with even cursory maintenance, the Maxwell VCW series are as reliable as a manual one.

And as nearly everyone above has said, electric windlasses are a valuable safety and convenience feature on any boat. I'll never be without one again (touching wood surreptitiously).

Jim

[roverhi]

Had a manual windlass on our first cruise. Simple pawl windlass that is probably still going strong on some boat as there was precious little to break. Worked fine but not without considerable effort and was relatively slow to retrieve 200' of chain. When the anchor was down, it tended to stay down because of the labor involved in retrieving. Yes, I'm a lazy bastard.

Just before we left Tahiti watched a 28,000# Ingrid drop and hoist it's anchor more than 5 times inside the reef in an afternoon. Kind of strange to see a boat do that so asked them why. They were snorkeling and kept moving the boat around exploring the reef. Their electric windlass made dropping and retrieving anchor so easy they used their heavy boat like a dinghy. Convinced me that an electric windlass was the only way to go.

Now that I'm a bit long in the tooth, push button anchoring really has something to recommend it. Currently have a vertical windlass with rope capstan and chain gypsy. First time I went sailing with it ran aground through stupidity a flat battery. The rope capstan saved the boat by using it to haul the bow off a rock that it was lying against. Without doing that, the boat would have suffered damage from the wakes of passing boats.

[UNCIVILIZED]

They're kind of mandatory, once you've had one, or been on a boat with one. And Jim's got the right idea in terms of spares.

As to mounting, going with a vertical Maxwell is definitely still an option on your boat. It'd just require you to mount the windlass a bit further aft is all.
Which is actually a big perk. As you can keep the electrical bits out of the wet & damp of the chain locker. All while moving the 50lb+ windlass, off of the bow.

The how & why behind such, is further detailed in the linked posts. With a sketch included. And such can also be seen in another variation on the Sundeer boats. Like S/V Jedi's (he has pics in a few of his posts, & Goggle will find images of such also).

All of these boats have their windlasses (& ground tackle) mounted several meters aft of the stem. In order to improve sailing performance (& reducing pitching) by moving weight out of the bows.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-162683.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-159726.html

PS: Mounting a windlass thusly, in some forms, does necessitate having a hawsepipe which isn't integral to the windlass's base. But the series of Maxwells which are built like this are in the above posts, as well as on their web page.

[Dockhead]

I had that same windlass for almost 20 years, and never a lick of trouble. On a 37', 10 ton boat. My father was using it without any problem well into his 80's.

I've used different electric windlasses, and while they are not the most troublesome device on board, there's regularly some kind of problem or another, usually expensive.

On a 30' boat, and I'm guessing no more than 8mm chain (right?), I think I'd probably stay with the manual one, if it were me.

Electric windlass does become mandatory after a certain size of ground tackle, but I doubt you're there.

Electric windlass does save a lot of labor, and adds some safety in that you can get the anchor up much faster. If you install a switch at the helm, you can set the anchor single handed with no problem at all. But expensive and quite a bit of trouble to install. Probably wouldn't be worth it to me, but YMMV.

I don't like vertical windlasses by the way. I would stick with horizontal if I were you, whether you go electric or manual.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

They're kind of mandatory, once you've had one, or been on a boat with one. And Jim's got the right idea in terms of spares.

As to mounting, going with a vertical Maxwell is definitely still an option on your boat. It'd just require you to mount the windlass a bit further aft is all.
Which is actually a big perk. As you can keep the electrical bits out of the wet & damp of the chain locker. All while moving the 50lb+ windlass, off of the bow.

The how & why behind such, is further detailed in the linked posts. With a sketch included. And such can also be seen in another variation on the Sundeer boats. Like S/V Jedi's (he has pics in a few of his posts, & Goggle will find images of such also).

All of these boats have their windlasses (& ground tackle) mounted several meters aft of the stem. In order to improve sailing performance (& reducing pitching) by moving weight out of the bows.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-162683.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...on-159726.html

PS: Mounting a windlass thusly, in some forms, does necessitate having a hawsepipe which isn't integral to the windlass's base. But the series of Maxwells which are built like this are in the above posts, as well as on their web page.

One of the big reasons why I do not like vertical windlasses is because they rust out and rot with the motor and gearbox in the chain locker.

If you do go with an electric, vertical windlass, mount it the way Uncivilized shows in one of the linked posts.

I saw this for the first time just recently on a friend's Jeanneau -- an excellent setup and definitely the way to go for this type of windlass.

[Sandero]

Speaking of weight at the bow.... When I added a Maxwell VWC and 200 feet of chain and a spare anchor all of which was at the bow (most in an anchor locker) I never noticed the bow down... so whatever the weight it did not impact the trim. If that is the case... what was the impact of all this weight at the bow?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Sandero

Speaking of weight at the bow.... When I added a Maxwell VWC and 200 feet of chain and a spare anchor all of which was at the bow (most in an anchor locker) I never noticed the bow down... so whatever the weight it did not impact the trim. If that is the case... what was the impact of all this weight at the bow?

Weight in the bow is very bad for two reasons -- it prevents the bow from rising up over waves, so will make you deck wetter, and will hurt your sailing performance upwind by pressing the bow down. You will feel these effects even if you can't see a difference in static trim.

Don't ask me how I know

says the guy who put 330kg of extra chain in his chain locker soon after he bought his boat