Any Contessa 25 owners I have a question for you. I've just purchased a Contessa 25 (not the Contessa 26) and one of the sheet winches needs replacing. I was thinking of upgrading to self tailing winches and was wondering if anyone else had done this? What brand and size did you use? I see the diameter of the old which is around 100mm so I'm assuming I'd need to keep to within 10-20mm of that size so it would fit in the area available.

Thanks! And yes, I'm a novice sailor.

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BreakLoose said..
Any Contessa 25 owners I have a question for you. I've just purchased a Contessa 25 (not the Contessa 26) and one of the sheet winches needs replacing. I was thinking of upgrading to self tailing winches and was wondering if anyone else had done this? What brand and size did you use? I see the diameter of the old which is around 100mm so I'm assuming I'd need to keep to within 10-20mm of that size so it would fit in the area available.

Thanks! And yes, I'm a novice sailor.

You may be able to replace, the damaged part. I had a piece of a winch machined for $60.
Think carefully before you commit to putting a lot of money into your boat, as you will probably never get it back.

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BreakLoose said..
Any Contessa 25 owners I have a question for you. I've just purchased a Contessa 25 (not the Contessa 26) and one of the sheet winches needs replacing. I was thinking of upgrading to self tailing winches and was wondering if anyone else had done this? What brand and size did you use? I see the diameter of the old which is around 100mm so I'm assuming I'd need to keep to within 10-20mm of that size so it would fit in the area available.

Thanks! And yes, I'm a novice sailor.

Self-tailing winches are very expensive and you will be seriously overcapitalizing your Contessa. I would suggest pulling down your winch first and giving it a good clean. Re-grease the parts that need grease and oil the parts that need oil. Search for Youtube videos on how this is done. If this does not help then second-hand non-self tailing winches are surprisingly cheap.
Self-tailing winches are really good though and once you have used them it's hard to go without. The Harken range is where I would look.
www.ebay.com.au/itm/HARKEN-40-SELF-TAILING-RADIAL-WINCH-2-SPEED/203203155939?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

I should add that if your going to buy new self tailers you may as well go two speed as well.

Hiya BL,
It is sad that they are so expensive because as Ramona said, they do the job so well.
If you do you will only need the smallest self tailing winch out of the range for a 25'er, so something like the 20ST from Harken. Dead simple to service to boot. My head says don't do it because of the over capitalization, my heart says do it as there is no negatives aside from the cost .
I upgraded to ST's for sheet winches on a 26'er and loved them to bits, especially when short handed. You forget about the price pretty quickly, the enjoyment lasts a long time.
Cheers!
SB

Would consider these;

www.arco-winches.com/products/winch/st

They may have spares for your existing winch;

www.arco-winches.com/products/spares

Food for thought. I agree with the comments about over capitalising, but i did get the yacht for a great price so I'm prepared to put some $$ back into it. I also have to consider my wife. She is petite and I think any help with winding winches on will only help here. But thank you everyone for your comments. I really appreciate it.

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BreakLoose said..
Food for thought. I agree with the comments about over capitalising, but i did get the yacht for a great price so I'm prepared to put some $$ back into it. I also have to consider my wife. She is petite and I think any help with winding winches on will only help here. But thank you everyone for your comments. I really appreciate it.

Problem solved

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BreakLoose said..
Food for thought. I agree with the comments about over capitalising, but i did get the yacht for a great price so I'm prepared to put some $$ back into it. I also have to consider my wife. She is petite and I think any help with winding winches on will only help here. But thank you everyone for your comments. I really appreciate it.

Anything you can do to get your better half on board each sail and participating is more than well worth the expense so just do it.

The Harken 40 I listed above is probably the ones I will buy or the next size up. The Harkens are the best value for money out there at the moment. A properly sized two speed self tailing Harken would certainly suit in your case.
I mentioned over capitalization but I will be spending 50% of what I paid for my new yacht on a pair of winches!

Seriously look at the all S/S range from Andersen.
Due to the S/S drum they actually have less bearings and are much easier to service.

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rumblefish said..
Seriously look at the all S/S range from Andersen.
Due to the S/S drum they actually have less bearings and are much easier to service.

Check out the prices from Anderson! Harken are better value.

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Ramona said..

rumblefish said..
Seriously look at the all S/S range from Andersen.
Due to the S/S drum they actually have less bearings and are much easier to service.

Check out the prices from Anderson! Harken are better value.

You get what you pay for!!

Is this what you are after?

www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/launceston/sail-boats/self-tailing-yacht-winch/1265414324