Hi Guys.
I’m new to the forum but not to RC Sailing. I’ve been building and sailing RC for 30 years plus. I’ve recently retired and having finished the first list of jobs from she who is to be obeyed I hope now to be able to spend some time in the shed.
I’ve rescaled Bantocks 10 Rater design Status to 48 inch o/a with a waterline of 39 inch and the hull looks great but I want to power it with a fractional rig and a Genoa jib, with the overhangs it should look classy.
I dont want to reinvent the wheel so if practical methods of Genoa winching exist I’d like to look at them before I tax my aging brain. There are traces of old threads arround but I cant find much new or definative. I know it has been done with big AC boats in France and Australia, but I dont have much displacement to play with and I KISS . Can anybody point me in the right direction.
Keith 
Gidday Keith…
I’m an absolute newbie with boats, but it seems your issue is having a winch mechanism that caters for the clew of the jib around the mast in a tack.
I found this and it seems good although a bit pricey.
http://www.rc-sailing.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=40&lang=en
Another idea would be to run two Hitec winches, one for each side of your boat and mix them (reversing one) with your radio if it can do it. My Futaba 12z has been used to do this with aircraft surfaces with 100% success and with a bit of thought seems like a doable solution.
Good luck!
Goose
Check with Larry Ludwig, he’s been working with these. He uses a “string eater” winch, which is like a pair of pinch rollers that move a looped sheet.
Discussion of this arrangement on the old Vortex 60:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=719601
I’m going to do similar experiments for Yankee III (36" J replica) this winter, using a GWS S35/STD “nonstop” servo.
Cheers,
Earl
Thanks guys
Thanks for the link Goose, I had seen this winch but my wallet went into spasm when I saw the price. Ideal for the large French AC’s but the battery to power it would probably weigh more than my fin bulb. I’m interested in your comment about the GWS non stop servo as the other thing I intended to explore was modifying high torque sevos to create the equivalent of the Hitec winch which to my mind is grossly overpriced, but this had probably be better in a seperate thread. I would say watch your gear material and torque as I have stripped more than one winch over the years through inadvertant jybes
I’ve contacted Larry Ludwig, thanks Earl, a string eater sounds interesting.
Regards Keith
Keith -
like any hobby/sport - you do get what you pay for, and while Futaba and Hitec “seem” expensive, keep in mind you can easily send them in to a local (USA - UK) factory for repairs (or replacement) Before you proceed with a GWS (which I have for a couple of my small RG sized voats (65cm /25.5 inches) a good suggestion is to ask the seller how you get service for what you are buying. There are a couple of on-line shops that “LOOK” like they are here - but are really in China.
Do a Google search of your winch name and model for reviews of users.
Be careful, and keep my first sentence in mind.
Dick