Thoughts on Electric Winches?

[Mush]

Any pro -v- con on adding a couple of Electric Winches to the cockpit?

Some would say I'm getting lazy. I would counter with getting older hurts.

Blessings and thank you.

[leecea]

We would have liked an electric winch for the main halyard. It's hard work for me and a real struggle for my wife.

The cons we found were cost and space needed for the motor etc.

I guess there's also the obvious issue that you have to be extra careful when using them as they can do damage.

We bought a WinchRite handle instead. Clearly not the same but it lets us both raise the main without a problem.

[DougM]

i have electric winches on my boat, which i bought in 2020. its awesome. Can operate manually any time you want (nostalgia, missed the gym in the morning, racing, etc ...). Or press the button. no real reason why not if you can swing it.

[Mush]

Capt: thanks for the info. Quick question: define "Can do damage" please.

Second I have never owned personal a Roller Furling mainsail systems. I have helms a few but if money was not the issue what are your thoughts on Furling Mast -Vs- Electric winches? I have heard that the Furling Mast have had there issues worked out.

Please and thank you
Blessing to you and your Mate

[Mush]

Originally Posted by DougM

i have electric winches on my boat, which i bought in 2020. its awesome. Can operate manually any time you want (nostalgia, missed the gym in the morning, racing, etc ...). Or press the button. no real reason why not if you can swing it.

Thats good news. I will be just fine if I never work another winch handle except for emergencies. Furling main -vs- electric winches?

thanks for the thoughts.

Blessings

[BobFord]

I am impressed with electric winches. Have also used the anchor windlass , via a lead block , to raise Main. Do be careful to monitor the ,"sound ", of the winch motor. I have had a couple of issues with a fouled reefer line . It is easy to over stress a line and create a real foul-up. Winches themselves -12 y.o. and never an overload or failure.

[sogin]

Originally Posted by Mush

Capt: thanks for the info. Quick question: define "Can do damage" please.

Second I have never owned personal a Roller Furling mainsail systems. I have helms a few but if money was not the issue what are your thoughts on Furling Mast -Vs- Electric winches? I have heard that the Furling Mast have had there issues worked out.

Please and thank you
Blessing to you and your Mate

We built our 42 foot Sloop in 2012 and specified electric winches for the Jib and Genoa sheets as well as an electric winch for the main halyard / Leisure Furl system. This setup has made it relatively easy for us to manage our vessel as octogenarians. As pointed upthread, pay attention to sounds that indicate over tensioning of a jammed line i.e. on a roller furling genoa or mainsail. I have owned a similar size vessel with an in mast furling system and would not elect to use an electric winch with that setup. It is simply too easy to jam the sail inside the mast because of the speed and power of an electric winch. Jams on the boom furling system are more rare in our experience and will likely only occur when furling the final 5-10% of the sail if the boom has become twisted. This happened to us one time when the topping lift had become loose and slightly torqued the boom when we started to furl.

[DEAN2140]

To address your question of damage, this can occur if the line being affected is not carefully watched. A typical example would be hoisting the main from a canvas cradle and getting the battens caught on the support lines. I believe most charter boats don't offer power winches because of the damage they can do by inexperienced boaters. But if you have the money and the space, they can extend your senior cruising years wonderfully.

[Jammer]

My boat came with electric winches. The electric primaries are a great luxury. The electric halyard winch is a necessity with the furling boom that I have.


Main drawback is the overall installed cost which is astronomical. The winches, the wiring to support them, rerouting existing wires and hoses to make room, boxing motors that would end up exposed. On my boat they did some fairly extensive boxing that used up more interior space than I would like. Some newer winches have smaller motors, wish I had one.


Otherwise occasionally someone will bump a winch button unintentionally and though I haven't damaged anything from excessive force that would be a possibility.

[pjShap]

When I asked a boatyard about electric winches, the concerns were the space needed below deck for the motor and the electrical wiring (large wires) and electric consumption. I bought an eWincher electric winch handle and have been very happy with it. Much less expensive- one handle with an extra battery vs. a number of winches. You have the same feel as manual winching, since you're holding the handle, and it works great for raising the main and winching jib sheets in heavy weather.

[leecea]

Originally Posted by Mush

Quick question: define "Can do damage" please.

Sorry I didn't get back to you but I think others have already mentioned some situations. I was just referring to the limited feedback of how much line tension you have plus the speed with which they operate making it possible that a bad situation could escalate quickly.

On balance, I'd still like to have one

[Reeve21]

Got to pay attention raising the main. I managed to pull the bottom battcar right off the mainsail on my prior boat

[NorthCoastJoe]

We got one of these works well.
https://www.sailrite.com/WinchRite-A...AaAspiEALw_wcB

[Scorpius]

I'm VERY happy with my M28 Milwaukee angle drill with an appropriate bit (available on EBay) to drive a winch. The torque is phenomenal, it's MUCH cheaper than an electric winch handle, and it can be used for other jobs - like drilling big holes!

[FlyingScot]

Pros: push button and work happens.
Cons: Easily damage something when not paying attention. Also, I instruct everyone that our one power winch, I consider it the most dangerous item on the boat.
I suspect way more poeple have lost fingers from power winches than manual ones.
Of course cost to purchase and install is likely 4-5 times that of a manual winch.