Tacking marathons in narrow waters or setting the mainsail - many cruising crews find it difficult to operate the winches, and some simply lack strength and stamina. Or both have been lost with age on board. So why buy a smaller boat with less sheet pull? But apart from the hard work on the winches, everything fits. Electric winches would be an option, but an enormous investment - the power packs cost upwards of 2000 euros each. If sheets are also to be retrieved, most cockpit layouts require two to four of them. Then there are the finger-thick power supply lines, perhaps a separate battery bank with charging technology and, on top of that, the costly installation.
Electric winch cranks, on the other hand, require almost no installation. Their big advantage: one of these devices is usually sufficient for all winches on board, i.e. sheets, halyards and even the anchor winch. And charterers are not restricted in their choice of boat.
A market survey revealed eight test candidates. Three genuine electric cranks are included: the cable-connected Modea from the manufacturer Morea, the Winchrite model from the USA, which has been on the market for around ten years and has recently become available in Europe, and the Ewincher crank from France, which was first introduced five years ago. We also came across three Winch adapters, which can be used to convert cordless screwdrivers into electric cranking aids.
