i know you got a lot of flame in the comments, but sometimes you have to work with what you got. im in a similar situation with my sabre 30. i have no other choice but to do this type of install. i will back it up with a piece of starboard , but probably use the additional hardware like you did. weighing and setting should always be done with boat engine assist anyhow. i have never backed on a hook to set while using only the windlass to hold the strain. same with popping it from the bottom. it is always proper to make off to a cleat and use the boat to pop the anchor. the windlass should be there for one thing only- to pull up the rode . and for this , your install should be plenty
Nice windlass. The anchor whacked the bow as it came up abowe the water at 10:13. I hope it didn't make a huge mark. If the windlass is bolted through the lid where there is a balsa core, you have to watch out for water ingress through the bolt holes. If you get water in there, the wood will rot and the gel coat surfaces will bulge and crack.
Nicolai thanks 🙏 there wasn’t any mark from the anchor I did take a good look. The lid is all fibreglass so no core to worry about. Good shout though! I’m looking at upgrading the anchor with a better swivel so it comes up the right way in future 😁
Hello. If I get it right, that anchor winch is relying on the strength of the hinges of the anchor locker cover. This contraption is looking for disaster. The whole thing will rip off in no time soon. Sorry for the bad news. I suggest to mount it on deck or inside the anchor locker on a strong transversal bar that is securely glassed in. Good luck. Silvano
Hi Silvano, thanks for the comment! The lid is secured all around with a combination of tough hinges & latches keeping it firmly in place. We looked at many different ways to mount it and this worked out best. Everything was professionally installed by an electric windlass specialist. We've used it many many times since so I trust it :) You need to be at the bow to operate it so if anything was wrong you would spot it quickly! Appreciate the concern though, hopefully we can avert disaster for a little while yet.
Also once you are set on the anchor, lock the chain off to a bow cleat that was designed to hold the load of anchoring. Do not leave the load on the windlass. I am doing a similar installation on a 1/4” thick aluminum anchor locker cover on an all aluminum 25’ power boat. 30’ of stainless 1/4” chain to a 1/2” 8 plait nylon rode. The anchor rode will be locked off on a bow cleat, not held by the windless. The windless is only designed to carry the combined weight of the anchor and rode. Cheers 🍻
That is a great idea. I guess to really beef it up you could put a piece of starboard on the bottom side and spread the load out. How has it been holding up?
Hey Joey, yes that’s not a bad idea! It’s still holding up well thanks. I use a snubber too so that there’s no tension on it when anchored. So far so good 🤞
Medway drone exploration I’d used the anchor several times before, but it was very hard getting it back on the boat (particularly when against the wind). I’m not like muscle man Chris on Britaly who does it all by hand 😳
Silvano is absolutely right and you may have gotten away with it thus far but this is potentially disastrous, ask anyone who knows their stuff. And if it does fail it'll be when you're caught out in significantly more gnarly conditions than you were expecting, i.e. when you most need things to work as they should. Anybody can call themselves a marine professional, all it means is they charge crazy prices for working on your boat. This is bodgery pure and simple. You have a lot to learn but please don't take my word for it, ask around & get some opinions from more experienced sailors. Seriously...
Think about it. The SWL of anchor chain is in excess of 1,000 lbs (depending on size), with the actual breaking strain multiples of that. The maximum pull of most windlass's is in the high hundreds to the thousands of lbs.......and yet you have that system secured by a couple of cabinet hinges? No professional would have ever signed off on such a design. OK, i understood that in the text books, the big loads supposedly occur only when at anchor (when tied off to a cleat), but real boating life is never that straightforward, such as in attempting to free a snagged anchor or managing both motoring and raising the anchor, single handed, in a blow. I had my windlass secured to a fully glassed 1/2" thick foredeck (no balsa), as per the manufacturers recommendations and am now in the proess of adding a 1" thick aluminium backing plate, as it proved insufficiently strong (ie was beginning to pull the bolt heads through the fibreglass, dedpite oversized washers). In summry, all the worst advice I have ever received, in boating, has come from so-called professionals who and all the best advice from seasoned sailors, whose only motive is to share what has probably happened to them, or a friend, in the past.
Hi Michael, coming up for 2 years now and it's still working great. Appreciate it's unconventional but I believe the guys knew what they were doing and I've enjoyed stress free anchoring since it was done. I always use a snubber tied off to a cleat as soon as the anchor is set.
Bel video complimenti!
i know you got a lot of flame in the comments, but sometimes you have to work with what you got. im in a similar situation with my sabre 30. i have no other choice but to do this type of install. i will back it up with a piece of starboard , but probably use the additional hardware like you did. weighing and setting should always be done with boat engine assist anyhow. i have never backed on a hook to set while using only the windlass to hold the strain. same with popping it from the bottom. it is always proper to make off to a cleat and use the boat to pop the anchor. the windlass should be there for one thing only- to pull up the rode . and for this , your install should be plenty
Nice windlass. The anchor whacked the bow as it came up abowe the water at 10:13. I hope it didn't make a huge mark. If the windlass is bolted through the lid where there is a balsa core, you have to watch out for water ingress through the bolt holes. If you get water in there, the wood will rot and the gel coat surfaces will bulge and crack.
Nicolai thanks 🙏 there wasn’t any mark from the anchor I did take a good look. The lid is all fibreglass so no core to worry about. Good shout though! I’m looking at upgrading the anchor with a better swivel so it comes up the right way in future 😁
Hello. If I get it right, that anchor winch is relying on the strength of the hinges of the anchor locker cover. This contraption is looking for disaster. The whole thing will rip off in no time soon. Sorry for the bad news. I suggest to mount it on deck or inside the anchor locker on a strong transversal bar that is securely glassed in. Good luck. Silvano
Hi Silvano, thanks for the comment! The lid is secured all around with a combination of tough hinges & latches keeping it firmly in place. We looked at many different ways to mount it and this worked out best. Everything was professionally installed by an electric windlass specialist. We've used it many many times since so I trust it :) You need to be at the bow to operate it so if anything was wrong you would spot it quickly! Appreciate the concern though, hopefully we can avert disaster for a little while yet.
Also once you are set on the anchor, lock the chain off to a bow cleat that was designed to hold the load of anchoring. Do not leave the load on the windlass. I am doing a similar installation on a 1/4” thick aluminum anchor locker cover on an all aluminum 25’ power boat. 30’ of stainless 1/4” chain to a 1/2” 8 plait nylon rode. The anchor rode will be locked off on a bow cleat, not held by the windless. The windless is only designed to carry the combined weight of the anchor and rode. Cheers 🍻
That is a great idea. I guess to really beef it up you could put a piece of starboard on the bottom side and spread the load out. How has it been holding up?
Hey Joey, yes that’s not a bad idea! It’s still holding up well thanks. I use a snubber too so that there’s no tension on it when anchored. So far so good 🤞
Cool video 😎 that chain looks brand new is it the first time you've used it?
Yes the chain is brand new too! Only thing that isn't new is the Anchor which is the same one that came with the boat.
@@sailingsummerbreeze ah makes sense I was thinking you've never weighed anchor because you didn't have a windlass lol
Medway drone exploration I’d used the anchor several times before, but it was very hard getting it back on the boat (particularly when against the wind). I’m not like muscle man Chris on Britaly who does it all by hand 😳
Silvano is absolutely right and you may have gotten away with it thus far but this is potentially disastrous, ask anyone who knows their stuff. And if it does fail it'll be when you're caught out in significantly more gnarly conditions than you were expecting, i.e. when you most need things to work as they should. Anybody can call themselves a marine professional, all it means is they charge crazy prices for working on your boat. This is bodgery pure and simple. You have a lot to learn but please don't take my word for it, ask around & get some opinions from more experienced sailors. Seriously...
Think about it. The SWL of anchor chain is in excess of 1,000 lbs (depending on size), with the actual breaking strain multiples of that. The maximum pull of most windlass's is in the high hundreds to the thousands of lbs.......and yet you have that system secured by a couple of cabinet hinges? No professional would have ever signed off on such a design. OK, i understood that in the text books, the big loads supposedly occur only when at anchor (when tied off to a cleat), but real boating life is never that straightforward, such as in attempting to free a snagged anchor or managing both motoring and raising the anchor, single handed, in a blow. I had my windlass secured to a fully glassed 1/2" thick foredeck (no balsa), as per the manufacturers recommendations and am now in the proess of adding a 1" thick aluminium backing plate, as it proved insufficiently strong (ie was beginning to pull the bolt heads through the fibreglass, dedpite oversized washers). In summry, all the worst advice I have ever received, in boating, has come from so-called professionals who and all the best advice from seasoned sailors, whose only motive is to share what has probably happened to them, or a friend, in the past.
That windlass install is ludicrous. Please tell me you didn't pay for that?
Hi Michael, coming up for 2 years now and it's still working great. Appreciate it's unconventional but I believe the guys knew what they were doing and I've enjoyed stress free anchoring since it was done. I always use a snubber tied off to a cleat as soon as the anchor is set.