Antares

This is recreational sailing, we're not here to suffer

Puh

Wherever I go, the name "Sirius" reflects a bit on "Antares," and because of that, everyone considers it an exceptionally good boat.

No question, it's a good boat, but as someone who learned to work with fiberglass in gliding, some things I find here are... puzzling. Sure, saving weight is not the first rule for boat builders, as airplane manufacturers have different requirements. But a few things do make me think every single time.

The fastening of the old winch from below. Nuts directly on the laminate.

Yesterday, I took down the old Parat P20 winches and once again found myself wondering a bit. The winches are mounted with six M5 screws (or was it M6? I'm not exactly sure right now) and... ok, just take a look at the picture...
Exactly, the bolts are simply passed through the laminate and screwed on with nuts underneath. No pressure plate, no washers, no locknuts, no counter nuts. Well, Sikaflex or something like that.

Of course, the same applies here: what has held up for almost 50 years can't really have been that bad. But I would have wished for a bit more care and a bit more material.

The retaining pin of the defective winch. I had to mill the slot to get it out at all. I have no idea how it got in there.

That was the port side, where the winch was okay and complete. On the starboard side, however, I had recurring problems with the winch. It was also the side where the winch was secured with an M8 bolt in the winch shaft. In April, I finally managed to unscrew the bolt, which was difficult because it was so tightly centered in the winch that there was no room for a regular socket. I first tried with a thin-ground socket, but that didn’t work. It was successful when I ground a slot into the hex head with a Dremel and diamond cutter, then I could tackle it with a large screwdriver. Once the winch was removed and cleaned (which it hadn't experienced in a long time!), it became clear: the aluminum body was too weak, and the cutouts where the pawls sat were mostly worn out. Especially at the upper freewheel, which is for the handle, one pawl was so loose that it could repeatedly push out of the aluminum and jam. Then the handle was firmly connected to the winch. Not good.

After I replaced the old bolt with one that has an Allen head, it becomes apparent how tight the hex head was in there.

I still used the old winch for the 2024 season but only then considered having it repaired. To do that properly, you would have had to weld on aluminum and then mill it back down. In the end, it was an effort that the old parts hardly justified. Over time, the decision to install completely new winches matured

Winches with a 20:1 power ratio (i.e., when you pull with 100N – equivalent to about 1kg – on the handle, approximately 2000N – or 20kg – will act on the line) seem to be quite rare. Many are in the 15 range, and then again from 30. The exception was the Andersen 18ST – with a 18:1 power ratio, exactly the same base diameter, and otherwise a perfect match, plus self-tailing, meaning it essentially has a built-in rope clamp.

There was only one thing that made me hesitate: Andersen also offers the 28ST, which are almost the same size, but designed as two-speed winches, meaning with two gear ratios depending on whether you turn the handle left or right. Otherwise, they are almost exactly the same size, but unfortunately significantly more expensive (listed at over 1400€ each, while the 18ST is under 900€). Luckily, this strange 'Black Week' (or, as SVB calls it, 'Black Chili Week') came, and the 28STs were suddenly available for 960€. Although that’s still 300€ more than the cheapest supplier for the 18ST, it was okay. So, I ordered two 28STs, which were promptly delivered – which is why I’ve now removed the old winches.

How many winches were installed here?

Back to that: on the port side, I got the winch down fairly quickly, and except for the glaring lack of washers and counter nuts, I didn’t find anything unusual. On the starboard side, however...

Surprisingly, I found more holes in the laminate under the Parat than I expected. To be exact: five more. As far as I know, the Sirius 26 was delivered with the Parat P20 winches, but I had already noticed before that the cover on the top of the winch on the port side is light aluminum, while the starboard side is dark anodized. Together with the second hole pattern, a possible story emerges: As far as I know and from photos of other Sirius 26 boats, the boats were originally equipped with the Parat winches by the shipyard. I assume that at some point, the winch on the starboard side broke, and the previous owner couldn't find a replacement (Parat, as a winch manufacturer, seems to have been out of business for a long time; I found little about it on the internet). Apparently, however, a different, smaller winch that fit the hole pattern was used to keep the boat sail-ready. Later, the Parat winch, either repaired or found on the second-hand market, was installed with the dark cover. The holes for the interim winch were properly filled with Sikaflex.

But all of that is should be in the past now; I will install the new winches the way I think it proper. To do this, I will sand down the gelcoat on the winch pedestals, fill the old drill holes with fiber filler, laminate a few layers of glass over it, apply new gelcoat, put a 2mm V4A plate underneath, insert six M6 bolts with stop nuts, and that will be that. So – if, or rather when when it’s warm enough. That may take a while.

The trial fit with the new winches already looks good; the sheeting inlet is a bit too steep, but if that causes issues, it can be adjusted with a higher sheave. Everything else seems to fit perfectly. The fact that the winch is overall a bit higher than the old one also has the advantage that you can now operate the handle better over the lower lifeline. It fits!

Next Post

Leave a Reply

© 2025 Antares

Theme by Anders Norén

en_USEN
Cookie Consent Banner by Real Cookie Banner