White is the New Black

Lewmar’s Ceramic drum coating, new sizes and lower profile winches
HAVANT, U.K.- Work on surface coating technology and specialised custom winch finishes has been extensively on trial at Lewmar over the last 12-months resulting in the use of ceramics coating to optimise drum grip.

This year in the TP52 fleet both Artemis and Rusal Synergy (ex USA-17) feature Lewmar’s ceramic-coated winches, which created quite a stir when they were first seen dockside at the first Audi Med Cup event in Alicante, Spain.

“By maximising grip, trimmers are able to run fewer wraps on the drum, explains Matt Johnston, Lewmar custom sales manager. “This has two benefits, one in sail handling and the other reducing the height of the drum, therefore making valuable weight savings and reducing windage.”

Lewmar also gave the TP52 winches a low profile treatment, sinking the gear package deeper into the boat in keeping with the impetus in the class to reduce the centre of gravity.

Modern structural methods and material technology enables the winches to be mounted on flanges as part of the internal boat structure. Bases are mounted from under deck, whilst the drum and centre stem sandwich the hull (as show in the images above).

Typically, this new installation reduces 14% of the primary winch weight, lowers the height by 50 mm above deck and has the advantage of minimising hull and deck structure weight.


The Introduction of the Size 60 Utility Winch

Before the start of the TP52 ‘07 season, driving a utility winch (cabin top mounted) for the spinnaker hoists meant using the equivalent size winch to a primary. Not only was it heavy, it also caused high windage in the jib slot area.

With the help of some of the key sailors in the class, Lewmar compiled a specification for a midsize, compact, lightweight workhorse to act as a utility and mainsheet winch. The new Size 60 GPST (grand prix self tailing) provided a solution that was quickly adopted by designers both in the TP52 and IRC fleets. The driven utility winch allows faster spinnaker hoists for a quicker spinnaker set at the windward mark.
Lewmar’s new 60 this season also features as a lightweight alternative mainsheet winch – being used by TP52’s Bribon, Platoon, Artemis and Ruscal Energy (USA-17) and is a unique offering from Lewmar.

Weight Savings
All winch detailing was run through Lewmar’s FEA (Finite Element Analysis) programme to identify opportunities for weight saving whilst maintaining structural integrity. Gear packages, bases and centre stems all came under the chop.

A typical TP52 winch installation tips the scales at 120 kg. With improved grip, reduced drum height and class specific winch sizing, Lewmar’s optimised winch package offers considerable weight savings in the region of 19 kg less than its competitors.

“Product development for the TP52 fleet continues to drive innovation throughout the business, concludes Johnston. “We are currently working on new products including under deck systems and improved linkage technology for next winter’s build. Certainly in winch terms, white is definitely the new black.”