Coaming Winches  

Many recent designs have seen the disapearance of coaming winches with jib sheet tracks brought inboard for tighter sheeting angles.  The change from coaming to cabin top winches is not without a few pains. 
  • Sheet winches on a small boat's cabin restrict the boat to two winches
  • Cabin top winches require leaving the helm to attend
Putting the sheet winches back on the coamings requires a little sheet routing effort but is not too difficult.  Doing so, leaves the cabin winches free for other task and puts the sheets closer to the helmsman.  This is perhaps more of a concern on the wheel steered version where it is a hassle to get around the wheel every time a sheet needs trimmed.

drifter sheeting
Drifter Sheeting
coaming winch

To make the necessary sheet angle adjustment to a coaming winch, a block needs to be added at the base of the cockpit stanchion and either a block or rub rail to turn down to this block.  This is necessary to prevent sheet overides.  The sheet comes over the rub rail and thru the turning block to the winch.



Helpfull in managing the mainsheet is a quick nut on the wheel,  which has a groove for keeping the mainsheet close
There is one other way to handle the jib sheets fairly well for the wheel steered boat, that is to replace the cam cleats near the companionway with swivel cams.  They allow direct sheeting of a 110 jib in all but heavy air.  The swivel cams in the picture above had replaced the regular cams near the companionway but no longer used for the jib sheets after the coaming winches were installed, they were moved outboard near the stanchion base and are now used to cleat the "twings" which adjust the jib sheet angle.

 Note:  C250s with self tailing winches on the cabin top
 will not have the cam cleats near the companionway.