Dart 15 Forums

Sorry all, it’s kind of Sprint 15 related (ish) We are looking to replace our electric winch that pulls the boats up our steep shingle beach, could also be petrol. Does anyone have any idea where these can be viewed on line, I have scanned the internet but can find nothing relevant. Looking to pull 3 or 4 boats at a time and at walking pace of course. We are also happy to consider Capstan design. It’s my project apparently......many thanks.

Hi Mike - apologies, but I can't share any wisdom on this. At Marconi we have flagstones rather than a shingle beach - but we do use winches for pulling up our RIBs and also cruiser launching/recovery. But I think they were put together by club members who are good at this sort of thing - rather than being ordered from a supplier. They also would probably not be suitable for the type of recovery that you are seeking to do. Ideally you need to hear from another club with similar beach to N&S.
I do hope you are successful in tracking down the right bit of kit.

Jenny

It might be worth contacting Island Barn Reservoir SC. It's thirty years since I've sailed there, but they had just such a winch to pull boats up what, in retrospect, seemed like a 45 degree slope.

Hi Mike. We bought a new electric winch at the Open Dinghy Club about 6 years ago. It replaced an ancient winch which had been there for 45 years. Sadly within a year or so ODC then lost its site lease and most of our "stuff" was given away to local clubs. The winch was given away, to , I think, Worthing SC. We had a shingle beach, with old conveyor belting mats which we pulled out each time . The winch was used to pull up our ribs, one at a time. I have a feeling that the max load was 500 kg

From what I can remember :
Compared to the ancient winch the new one was tiny in size.
It cost about £4.5K and we took a long time to find the right manufacturer.
It needed a 3 phase electrical supply
It had to be specially specified so that it could be freewheeled when you wanted to pull the cable back down the beach. If you didn't specify this, then it unwound at the same speed as it pulled up.

ODC no longer exists, but Mike, if you need some more info I might be able to find out who we bought it from.

cheers Keith Bartlett FREDDIE 1962 Bognor Regis Sailing Club

Thanks to all for responding. I will reach out to Worthing SC and see if they could let us know what they are currently using and what they acquired. Much appreciated,