Darren,
Just for the record. I have fitted a 5-part halyard to the 35sqm sail of my 26’ IF, Ingeborg. This time I have used big, nice ballbearing blocks from Selden, all with 60mm sheaves. These can take 10mm rope but I only use 8mm halyard. As a result, even I can hoist the sail by hand, without using a winch handle (sb. genoa winch is used as a snubbing winch). The sail also comes down fast, so I have to follow it down with the rope around the winch. I have calculated my sail plus batten and yard to be a little over 40kg.
I have to confess, for comfort I also use the Winchrite that I bought for Johanna, on Ingeborg. In practice, I quickly hoist about half the sail by hand, and let the Winchrite do the rest. Any reefing and unreefing is done by hand.
http://www.winchrite.co.uk/
A 5-part halyard may sound like an overkill on a 35sqm sail, but it is rather the ratio between the sail area and the guy or girl at the halyard which decides the needed purchase. In addition, I prefer an odd number purchase; 1,3 or 5, to let me terminate the bitter end of the halyard on the yard.
Now I checked some of those Dewalt angle drills. Their torque does not impress me, compared to the Winchrite’s 130Nm (1150inlb or 96ftlb). However, the torque needed on a 3-5 part halyard is not big, but it depends on the size of the winch drum or if it has several gears.
As for compression loads on the mast; now I dug out a digital luggage scale. That goes to 40kg. I can easily attach it to the fall of the halyard on Ingeborg and see how high the load is with the boat sailing full and by, and with her gunwale in the water. The compression load on the mast should be 6 times the read-out, plus the much lighter loads on the THP and YHP.
I guess I am better at measuring than at making precise calculations...
Arne