Head Sail Sheet winches

[Dean]

Firstly, a belated happy new year to everyone. )

I'm a relatively recent owner of a Mk III tophat which came installed with 2 Setamar 340/17-1 winches for the furling head sail sheets.
I believe these winches are designed for racing, and being an old fashioned traditionalist, I am wanting to buy and install the more standard winches.

So perhaps a few questions which all lead to the same thing...

Firstly, what would you recommend in terms of make and model for the sheet winches. There seems to be a multitude of options such as single speed or 2 speed, standard or self tailing and also the size (which I presume relates to load stresses). There appears to be a few common names such as harken and lewmar, so is it better to stay with the big names?

Secondly, which is down to plain curiosity, how do you best determine which would be the most suitable winches. Is there an elaborate formula which takes certain factors into consideration or is it based on your experience of what you've used before. I'm coming at this with a very small amount of knowledge and so any info around this subject would be greatly appreciated.

I'm on a fast track to learning about all the ins and outs of tophat ownership, so appreciate any advice both large or small.

As an addition to this post, is there anyone interested in owning a pair of Setamar 340/17-1 winches?

Thanks for your help

[Miker]

Hi Dean,
We're around the corner in Careel, you can see Dulcamara by her 18" lettering along the topsides.

I believe that the standard config was Arco 6 single speed on the cabin top and Arco 8 single speed on the cockpit combing for the headsail winch. That's what I have and they work eminently well enough for me, although self tailing would be an advantage for single handed work.

For the amount of time and effort of changing, you may not really want to in the end.

If you're about have a look when you go past.

Michael

[Dean]

Hi Michael

Thanks for the information and the offer, I'll have a peak when I'm passing by.

I contacted the Hutton-Arco winch company and they suggested I go for the 20 model in either 2 speed or single speed self tailing.
They also offered $190 for each of the Setamar winches, which also brings the price down alot. Camparing with Lewmar and Harken winches, the Hutton Arco winches seem to be really good value for money.

Getting close to making a decision, but also intrigued by your comment of the time and effort in changing. Is it a pain in the bum to change winches?

Cheers
Dean

[mmts]

Hi Dean,

I've just recently upgraded my winches to Arco single speed self tailers, 30st........very easy to instal, only issue was bolt holes from original winches didn't align with new winches, bit of epoxy, new holes, no problem.

BTW I have a Mk1 so access for mounting wasn't an issue

[Miker]

Dean, as Mark said he's on a Mark 1, they have a mounting surface that you can get to without going below.

On your Mark III you'll need to be able to get to the underside of the winch to bolt them up, and as Mark said the holes may not line up so you'll need to fill and drill. It's not that hard really, but unless you're racing and really pushing hard, in my opinon self tailing two speeds are over doing it. I can winch and tail on my own, once I figured it out steering with my knees.



Michael

[Dean]

Great, thanks for the info. Really helps to get a picture of what other people are sailing with.

A friend shipwright who has changed plenty of winches in his time, has kindly offered to help me out, so I'm going to be in safe hands.

I think I'll go for the Hutton-Arco winches due to the value for money plus they have been very good with information too.
They are not too far from Sydney as well.