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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Coaming Winches

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reuben
Navigator

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USA
202 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/17/2006 : 14:06:29

Has anyone installed coaming winches on a 250? Do they, as it would seem, make singlehanding much easier?

This isn't a mod I would make on a whim (check winch prices at WM) but can't help thinking how easy they'd make jib handling for the lone sailor.

Reuben
C-250 WK #499
Bayfield, WI

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2006 : 14:45:24

Reuben,

There appears to be a quite a few topics in the archives.

Check out this topic on [url="http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=2804"]Coaming Winches[/url]

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2006 : 15:16:17

Reuben, I've thought about adding coaming winches several times now but that's as far as I've got. My plan is to remove my 16ST's from the cabin and put them on the coaming and get a cheap set to put back on the cabin.

Its got to make single hand sailing easier. But for now I'll keep using my tiller pilot and trolling e-bay looking for a nice set of cheap winches.

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2006 : 22:44:46

Reuben,

Several 250's have seen winches added to coamings. [url="http://www.stewartfam.net/arlyn/coamingwinch.html"]Coaming Winches[/url]
One of the challenges is routing the sheets for proper entry angle. I'm not sure that the archives weren't purged recently and you may not find an alternative method to the one I used which shows using strakes at the cabin edge to buffer the sheet. At least one owner used a block on the upper midship double stanchion as well as a block on the lower. The upper block was outboard the stancion while the lower block was as mine, inboard.

Check the routing for the sheets and see what you think might work.

Edited by - on

welshoff
Captain

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USA
253 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2006 : 10:40:14

I have the winches on the coaming - mounted just at the forward end of the coaming pocket. The winches are mounted on a wood block that angles them up slightly. The lines then run through one block on the stantion to the jib blocks on cabin top. I find this setup nice. I have a wheel and can reach around the wheel to trim sheets. But they are still mounted forward enough to allow room for a crew member to access easily. Here are the best pictures I have to date. Could take some additional if you want to see more.

Edited by - on

AADIVER
Admiral

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USA
966 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2006 : 11:51:16

I find single handing with the cabin top jib sheet winches fairly easy with a tiller extender, i.e. the type used to extend an engine tiller. A lot more cost effective.

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Tradewind
Admiral

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USA
531 Posts

Response Posted - 01/21/2006 : 13:40:48

The 250WK that I'm buying has coaming winches installed with a track also installed on the coaming for the sheet blocks. Seemed to work very well on sea trials.

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paulb
1st Mate

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USA
29 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2006 : 23:04:21

Hi Reuben,

I am using a 135 Genoa and needed to run the sheets outboard of the shrouds. I added 2ft. of track aft and as far outboard as I could on the cabin sides. As most of my sailing is single handing, I also added a set of winches (purchased on ebay), to the combings.

This setup works great, although it required adding two blocks to the stern railing to reverse the Jib sheets to bring them back to the combing winches.

I ran the other lines aft also including the jiffy reefer.

I do most of my sailing in the Pacific Northwest with my crew consisting of my eight year old daughter.

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mday
Navigator

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197 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2006 : 00:55:27

Reuben,

I have wheel steering, and for single handing (which is how I most often sail) I sit in front of the wheel. This allows me to manage the jib sheets quite well with the winches mounted in the original position on the cabin roof. I also prefer this position to handle the mainsheet.

Max

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reuben
Navigator

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USA
202 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2006 : 14:54:59

Max - wheel steering here too. Guess I've never thought to sit in front of the wheel, and am trying to picture how that would work...

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AADIVER
Admiral

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USA
966 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 00:29:03

Instead of combing winches at 400 plus a pop, how about using cam cleat fairleads like those on pp. 1056-1057 of the WM catalogue?

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AADIVER
Admiral

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USA
966 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 21:57:55

I'm going to install Harken Offshore Cam-Matic #280 cam cleats on the port and starboard combings with the wedge kits to angle them up. I'll then run my jib sheets outside the shrouds and thru the blocks repositioned the furthest aft. This will facilitate single handing. Any contrary thoughts?

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2006 : 08:45:53

I and many others with wheel steering used swivel cams to make jib sheet handling easier while single handing. The normal cams were removed and the swivels set in their place. Those with self tailing winches don't have the cams, but they are located on the high density plastic that frames the companionway.

This location provided easy management of the sheets in up to heavy air conditions (110 jib) where then the sheets were taken around the winches prior to cleating. It worked pretty well.

Your suggestion to mount on the coamings for a 135 jib should work in light air but moderate air might overload with a need to slacken the sheets and route back to cabin top winches.

I've a picture which shows one of the swivel cams we used but it is not in the location used then. That location was just to the right of the winch and as previously outlined, on the companionway frame.

The current use of the swivel cams is for twings as illustrated in the picture below. Twings take the place of adjustable jib cars and allow the sheeting angle of the jib to be adjusted at the twing cleat rather than moving the jib car. A twing is quite simple... it is a length of line 6-8 feet long with a block attached to the end.

The jib sheet is routed from the clew, throught the twing block and then to a fairlead ahead of the winch. The line is routed through the jib car fixed in the most forward position on the track and routed aft to a cleat. To simulate adjusting the car aft, the twing line is eased allowing the twing block to elevate and adjust the sheeting angle. To simulate running the car forward, the twing block is brought close to the car. Twings work very well but require a fairlead ahead of the winch so are much more conducive to working with a coaming compared to cabin top winch.

My desire to use twings is mostly because early 250s had inadequate track length aft to get desired sail twist in heavy air conditions. The prime reason I bring up the twings issue here is because the desire to run them played a part in my decision to invest the big bucks in coaming winches. Going with the coaming winches eliminated the need to replace the short jib tracks as well as providing easier jib cleating, management of drifter sheets and freeing up cabin top winches for drifter tack line, and running baby stay and the occassional use on the furling line in heavy air. So, for me there were many justifications for coaming winches other than simply making sheeting easier...as the swivel cams did a fairly good job at that.

Twings are very nice and serve the same purpose as expensive adjustable jib cars... the sheeting angle can be adjusted easily with a line while on the fly...no heading up, flogging, crawling onto cabin top perhaps several times to get the desired position or after a wind change. Prior to the twings, I was always hesitant to adjust the sheeting angle because it was a hassle...now, I adjust the sheeting angle fairly often because it is so easy to do.

Edited by - Arlyn Stewart on 01/30/2006 10:07:49

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2006 : 12:47:47

note Arlyn's rub strakes, its the little things that make a difference. There are several people on ebay that sell them.

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