Installing new sail Winch

[john isherwoodParticipant @johnisherwood65744]

Hi Guys.

As my ship is sailing well and all as expected I thought it was time to add some sail control. I have therefore bought a factory made torque servo equipped for the task.

I will create an album and upload some pictures. I have a feeling there could be two possible solutions and would like to know what you think would work best.

Option 1: Sail runs as before but connected to a single wire at the end of the boom to wind it in at a single central point.

Option 2: Drill two holes either side of the rear deck and thread a continuous wire around the winch and connected to the end of the boom from both port and Starboard sides. Activation of the winch would then pull the sail to the desired position.

Your thoughts please.

Kind regards

John.

[john isherwoodParticipant @johnisherwood65744]

Servo powered winch to control main boom.

[Kev.WParticipant @kev-w]

Option 2 would only let you get the boom out a very limited amount, this would severely restrict your boats performance.

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

John,

Conventional practice is option 1 and allow the boom to swing out around 80 degrees either side of the centre position.

You will have to take into account the travel you get from the servo when you decide whereabouts on the boom you attach the sheet, or adjust the servo travel using the travel adjustment in your transmitter, or use a servo travel adjuster such as a Servomorph (available from Action Electronics (Component Shop).

The installation will also depend on the type of servo you use – is it a sail arm type or drum type?

Gareth

[john isherwoodParticipant @johnisherwood65744]

Hi Gareth.

Its a drum type winch and I have 80 lb fishing line and some plastic modelling tubes to feed it through. Not sure about the boom travel as I have two mast lines either side which restrict rotation to about 30 degrees.

Any suggestions welcome.

John.

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

John,

Have a look at my album on this site entitled 'Sail winch installations' as it might give you a few ideas how you can implement the system.

Gareth

[john isherwoodParticipant @johnisherwood65744]

Thanks Gareth.

Think I might look at the single line first option as I can rig it so that it doesn't pull beyond a limit.

I'll see how I get on tomorrow.

Thanks.

John.

[john isherwoodParticipant @johnisherwood65744]

Hi guys.

Right the first option with one line out the back didn't work very well as the line would unwind from the spool if the line goes slack which it would from time to time so I rethought the issue and went for option 2 with line operated from both sides of the boat in a loop. This means I can maintain tension on the wire as desired and control the boom's angle directly which seems to work well. The only problem I can see is that fishing wire is rather springy and a bit too smooth for this operation to be optimised. (ie it slips a bit). I'm thinking of rigging line or something similar would be more suited. If anyone has any further tips I'd be more than welcome for your comments.

Regards

John.

[Kev.WParticipant @kev-w]

Can you give us a diagram of how you have rigged it for option 2.

Option 1 would have worked if you had gone for an 'enclosed' spool rather than an open one, as it would have prevented the line looping off when slack.

[john isherwoodParticipant @johnisherwood65744]

Hi Kip.

I've added a couple of pics to my album including a plan of what I've done. It works ok, just looks a bit ugly and not much range.

John.

[Kev.WParticipant @kev-w]

I see the problem now & can understand why you had to do it the way you have.

Having a main boom the length of yours, there is no way to fit a backstay, hence the need for the 2 side stays being where they are to support the mast, all in all I think your solution is about as good as it gets with an open spool winch, but does make tacking upwind slightly more active on the winch stick.

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