I am considering an electric halyard winch for my 30 Ultra. A Lewmar EVO 40 looks like a good option. It should fit perfectly except for having to make a box under the deck for the motor assy. Any advice or comment about this winch? Thanks.
Selden and others make 48 volt winches that contain the motor in the drum - no intrusion inside the boat. No need to build a box.
Comes with a 12 to 48 volt transformer and a controller.
John Batchelor
S/V Wind Rose NS36 #27
Kirkland WA, RVYC SPYC
As another alternative, I and others, have been very happy with the purchase of an electric winch handle as an alternative to installing a fixed electric winch.
There was an excellent article by Helen Dakin on the topic, which you can find in the Winter 2023 issue of the INA Update. (Click UPDATES on the MEMBERS tab of www.Nonsuch.org website if you don’t have a hardcopy handy.)
Like Helen, I bought an E-Wincher handle. I bought an upgraded model from hers, and paid additionally for an extra battery, 12/120/240V chargers, carrying case and handle holder for the cockpit. That cost me about $2900.
For that, I have electric power that I can move to any winch as needed, and take with me in the (highly unlikely) event I sell my current boat.
You’ll likely hear from others with additional suggestions.
John’s suggestion of the Selden winch sounds very tantalizing if you want to go with a built-in electric.
Lewmar 40 electrics were, I believe, the original upgrades and many people have gone with Harken. Both Lewmar and Harken require space underneath. My friend Phil had a Harken on his N36 that died after long service. His rigger recommended the next size down as a replacement, and Phil has NOT been happy with the results.
– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch e26U #233
I have the original one that came with the boat and love it. I would warn you about using a self tailing electric winch. They are quite dangerous and various sailing magazines have had articles about them. I personally know of two instances of losing fingers.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
I have an electric on my 30U and am very happy with it. The intrusion in the cabin for the motor box is minimal. Having said that, if I were doing it now and could get the same ease of hoisting the sail without the intrusion, I would go for it.
Mark Nerenhausen
Cloud Hidden
30U #370
New Bern, NC
I have a Lewmar 40 electric with the motor on port side of my N26C. The intrusion in the cabin is not bothersome. I have two switches. One close to the winch on the cabin top (don’t use it very much) and one mounted in the cockpit that is mounted near my heel on the bottom of the propane locker. I use this heel switch to prevent loss of fingers. Very easy to use and ensurs a clear view of hoisting the sail and clearing obstacles. Bob Horne, 1989 N26C #249, ENCORE, Pocasset, MA
I believe you about the articles, but I’m curious how it would be more dangerous to operate a winch where you stand back and watch than one where you are actively engaged in handling the line as it is hauled in. Do you remember what caused the injuries? My halyard winch (Lewmar Ocean Electric 44) is a self-tailer and it is usually operated by my guests, so I’d like to know what kind of things to watch out for.
And for Larry: I think you’ll really like the power. I doubt that I would even have bought the boat if it had come with a manual winch - I didn’t know electrics existed when I did the sea trial and raising the sail all-manual would probably have sent me walking.
A sample of warnings about self tailing electric winches - https://oceannavigator.com/lewmar-issues-safety-warning-on-self-tailing-winches/
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
I purchased a Lewmar 45 EVO self-tailing electric winch from West Marine for my Nonsuch 30 in 2020 on their Buy-One-Get-One-Free deal that happens each spring. In 2025, the sale starts Feb 27 and runs through March. Delivery came directly from Lewmar about 3 weeks later. I sold the 2nd winch for $2,250 on sailboatowners.com. I also offered the winch on the Nonsuch website but didn’t have any takers. This is a great way to upgrade your boat with a quality winch for very little money.
Installation wasn’t that hard, and my next step is to build a fiberglass or wood enclosure to hide the motor that hangs down into the cabin (see the attached pics).
I don’t understand all the worry about fingers getting caught in the electric winch. The winch switch is far enough away from the winch that no one’s fingers are even close to the winch when operating. I suppose it could happen if you are careless while operating the winch.
Jim Lieder
Nonsuch 30 #350
Cresecent Sail Yacht Club
Lake St. Clair, MI
Andersen sells a compact electric winch that allows the motor to be mounted above the deck. A 30 in our area used one for their halyard. It was a nice looking setup and no intrusion into the cabin.
With a standard electric winch, except in the case of an override turn, if something goes wrong you simply let go of the tail on the line. The winch might continue to turn but nothing else happens. With a self tailing winch if the stop switch fails and the winch keeps turning people will try to free the line from the trailer and can have their fingers or hands pulled into the winch. The safer approach is to flip the breaker off.
Mark Powers
Another option is the Harken Unipower 900 electric winch. The motor extends only 4 1/2” below the winch body. It would not intrude very far into the cabin and because it is a vertical motor it does not cover a large area.
Mark Powers
That looks good, too. I downloaded the manual and took a look. Here’s a drawing with a few dimensions:
Depth: It shows 105mm from the winch base to the bottom of the motor. If your cabintop is like mine, the aft portion of it where you install winches is solid fiberglass, not cored, so the motor will hang down about 100mm from the underside of the cabintop. I seem to remember that I had around 2" from the bottom of the cabintop to the liner, though I might be remembering that wrong. If yours is similar, the motor would hang down about 2" below the liner and into the cabin. The manual says nothing about airflow so you’d want to find out if air needs to flow in/out of the bottom end of the motor. (Most motors have a little internal fan to circulate cooling air through them and it’s common to have intake, exhaust, or both at the ends.) It doesn’t give diameter, but it looks like the bottom of a yogurt tub and some duct tape should cover it.
(Just kidding!) But it looks like it should be easy to find or fabricate something that will make an attractive and unobtrusive cover over such a small protrusion.
Maintenance: It looks more complex to disassemble, grease, and re-assemble than the Lewmar that I’ve got and the others I’ve seen on instructional videos, but they’re still pretty simple machines and should still be easy enough to service. If you get the chrome/bronze one it will probably last forever with just regular cleaning/greasing. I’m not panning the aluminum ones, I just don’t know about them and aluminum as a material isn’t as rugged or durable as bronze. I doubt that an aluminum winch would survive the neglect that the winches on my boat were apparently given by the PO, but if you maintain them properly they are probably just fine.