David Thatcher wrote:

That is going to be a very large and heavy sail to hoist so the answer to your question, in my opinion, is a BIG winch. The sail on my yacht is 570 sq ft and by the time the halyard is brought back to the cockpit there is quite a load on it. I can normally pull up a third of the sail by hand but the rest must be done with the winch, which I can usually manage on the high gear but sometimes resort to the low gear for the final meter of sail. I have a 4:1 purchase on the halyard, if you go to 5:1 it will be a lot easier but that makes for an even longer halyard. A lot too will depend on the weight of your sail and especially the material used for the yard, battens and boom.

I get by without a sheet winch but it is pushing the boundaries in strong winds but with a sail of the size you are proposing a sheet winch is probably essential unless you perhaps go for split lower and upper sheets. 

Thanks for the response, David. In your opinion, what defines "BIG" when it comes to winches? We talking a 50#?

Justin

Hello All, 

My wife and I have committed 100% to junk rigging our Westsail 32. That means I have LOTS of winches to sell. 

That said, I am considering keeping a few just in case. I've read that there is no need for winches on a junk rig but our main sail is going to be quite large at 752 square feet. It's just going to be my wife and I on the boat and I want to make sure she's going to be able to handle the rig on her own. 

Can anyone make any suggestions regarding winch sizing on a main sail this large? I was thinking that if winches are normally not necessary, an 18# or 20# would be plenty (I have 3 of these in my possession). I've been looking at some of the winch calculations on Harken's site and others like them. It seems they think I'd need a 50# or 53# winch! Holy smokes. Say it's not so...

Any help would be appreciated. 

Justin