Hidden horsepower... Once the exclusive preserve of the mega yachts the benefits of captive
Out of sight and out of mind perhaps, but a new generation of captive reel winches is evidence of a hidden revolution below decks. Market leaders Harken have raised the bar in this field with an electrically powered range that is proving popular aboard boats that you might never expect to have them. But while big boats have driven much of the development in this area, this new wave of modern winch design, along with the application of new technology, is feeding development in other areas of the sport. The new range of innovative winches has provided a catalyst for change elsewhere. Harken has recently supplied several electric captive winches for boats in the 55- 80ft range, a marked departure from conventional thinking where the weight, size and power requirements of a hydraulically driven system would generally point towards larger boats. In addition, the new winches are also proving popular with production builders such as Jeanneau, Beneteau and Southern Wind, which have each installed systems aboard some of their models. Other builders are employing the new winches for boats with design briefs biased towards racing.
A recent custom 68-footer from Baltic is a good example, with a captive reel winch for the mainsheet that has a three-tonne capacity, is unexpectedly light, with an impressive line speed of 65m per
66 SEAHORSE
winch technology are now becoming available to (us) mere mortals... Above: Harkenʼs
minute when unloaded. Even more impressive is that the line can also be eased at this speed for situations where a big ease must happen NOW. The control of the winch is achieved with a joystick that can be mounted close to the helm position, but provides an impressive range of control from high speed during a manoeuvre, to very small increments when trimming.
The winch itself is built from aluminium alloy and weighs only 55kg. It has a footprint of just 350 x 500mm and includes a separate line tensioner that keeps around 10-15kg of load on the line to ensure that there are no overrides when there is little or no load on the sheet. It mounts just aft of the mast base. Nine years ago Harken introduced a range that catered for loads from three to 16 tonnes. Four years later, the concept and product range had developed to accommodate 25-70 tonne loads. But the advances have not just been about load.
‘Today, whatever the size of vessel that is being considered, when it comes to the design of captive winches there are many factors that now need to be addressed in addition to load capacity. Weight is a very important one for racing boats, but there are others including; line speed, control precision, and the overall dimensions of the winch are among the key design issues’ explains Harken Italy’s head engineer Michele Cazzaro.
latest captive winches donʼt just offer an impressive line speed when hauling in. They can also ease a line just as quickly and safely when rapid action is needed, for example to depower in the face of a canapé threatening broach... Unlike deck winches, which have set gears, you can also vary line speed smoothly from an
astonishing 65 metres per minute in high-speed mode down to just three metres per minute for fine trimming
Pulling the line in is one thing, easing it out quite another and here the Harken tensioner system lies at the heart of the performance of their winches. Keeping a constant load on the line is essential to ensure that the rope doesn’t override on the drum. ‘Getting the right grip on the rope to ensure minimum friction, but retaining maximum control is crucial,’ he continued. ‘The system also needs to dissipate heat and remain sympathetic to the rope, especially on large boats, where it is expensive to replace a control line.’ From a user’s point of view, another interesting step forward is the way in which the winch and the line are controlled using the joystick. Unlike traditional push button systems and deck winches with set gears, the line speed scan be varied smoothly from a maximum of 65m/min in high speed mode, to just 3m/min for fine tune and trimming. ‘Another, advantage of selecting a captive winch for sheets, is that you don’t end up having to manage piles of line on deck or in the cockpit,’ said Morgan Gutenkunst, custom sales project manager at Harken. ‘You get a very clean look and the crew have extra space to do their jobs.’ Power was also a large part of the new style of winches. Switching from the more familiar hydraulic system to electrically powered units might not sound like a big step, but the change has opened up new possibilities for designers and builders.
BALTIC YACHTS
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